2009-02-07

In Case There Was Every Any Doubt That a Scientist's Politics and Assumptions Can Invade Their Work

Observe the radically different descriptions of what is essentially the same behaviour in males and females, from Animal Behaviour 8th Ed. by John Alcock, page 369:

Male satin bowerbirds, as we saw in the previous chapter, are capable of copulating with dozens of females in a single breeding season, although they rarely have the good fortune to do so. In other words, males of this species have the capacity to be polygynous. In contrast, most female satin bowerbirds are monogamous, mating with just one male per nesting attempt. But the satin bowerbird's mating system (males potentially polygynous, females mostly monogamous)...
Because girls and boys is different, see...