Changing gender roles in chimpanzees

            The film Chimpanzee captures a remarkable behavioral change in Freddy, the alpha male of a pack of chimpanzees in an African forest. The plot revolves around the development of young Oscar, who becomes an orphan because frequent wars with the neighboring rival tribe displaced his mother, Aisha. The film emphasizes observed behaviors of chimpanzees, such as the mothers nurturing their children, the younglearning survival skills from the elders, and the pack’s territorial attitude towards other groups of chimpanzees. Throughout the film, I found that chimpanzees practice gender roles similar to humans. Surprisingly, Freddy’s initiative to adopt Oscar and become a surrogate to him is very interesting because it is comparable to the shifting roles of humans that drift away from the traditional gender norm.

            In chimpanzees, Freddy took on the motherly role of carrying Oscar and letting him ride on his back, because other members of the pack constantly rejected Oscar as he searches for an adopted family. When Freddy developed a “mother-son” relationship with Oscar, other members of the pack became more accepting of Oscar. Freddy’s role as alpha male is to serve as a leader and protect his pack, including taking care of Oscar because he needed guidance and support. As Freddy normalizes this behavior, it became more acceptable to his pack. Throughout the film, I began translating scenes into the current status of women in society, because today’s women are becoming more self-sufficient and men are taking on the role of taking care of their homes and children. As society normalized the shift in gender roles, they became more acceptable and common throughout society.

The shift in gender roles is circumstantial and detrimental to the survival of the pack. I believe that Freddy’s shift in gender role is significant to the relationships he built with each member of the pack, and it was beneficial in overcoming the violent attacks of Scar’s gang. In humans, the shift in gender roles benefited society as a whole—especially in social, economic, and political aspects of living. The trend in changing gender roles may be considered as signs of adapting to new environments and challenges in life, both of which I find comparable to humans. Perhaps it is in human nature that we all live harmoniously despite the differences.  The shift in gender roles is representative of the idea that gender is fluid and the gender spectrum reveals that each individual does not belong to 100% masculine or 100% feminine, but we all belong in between this binary. I found it refreshing to witness the similarities of chimpanzees and humans; more specifically, I was very interested in the shift in gender roles because I believe that it is a sign of our progressive state.

xoxo,

Jas