Their story shows us that males are not genetically programmed to aggressively dominate females. Their ability to do so depends on environmental and social factors. The key ingredient for female empowerment is the strength of the sisterhood, from family to friends, to overthrow an oppressive patriarchy and foster a more egalitarian society. Parish agrees. ‘We have a lot to learn from bonobo females. The feminist movement argues that if you behave with unrelated females as if they are your sisters, you can gain power. The bonobos show us that that’s true. It gives us a lot of hope.’
