Busting the Myth of Primate Patriarchy: The Nature of Sex and Gender in Our Ape Relatives

The late world-renowned primatologist Professor Frans de Waal (1948-2024) explores the nature of sex and gender among our cousins the apes, and how gender diversity is a common and pervasive potential on nature’s masculine-feminine continuum. In the quest to overcome human gender inequality, he suggests that our focus needs to be on the inequality. Featuring The late Frans B. M. de Waal, Ph.D., was a Dutch/American biologist and primatologist widely renowned for his work on the behavior and social intelligence of primates. C. H. Candler Professor Emeritus at Emory University, de Waal was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and was declared one of The Worlds’ 100 Most Influential People Today by Time magazine in 2007. The author of numerous highly influential books including Chimpanzee Politics, Our Inner Ape, and Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist. Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Anna Rubanova Resources Read an excerpt from Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist Living Links Center for the Advanced Study of Ape and Human Evolution This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the ⁠radio and podcast homepage⁠ to learn more.