Response to “Apes of Wrath”

Barbara Smuts’ “Apes of Wrath”, makes an intriguing and analytical connection between animals and humans about prevalent and unethical issue of attacks on females. Published in Discover Magazine in 1995, the essay compares the problems that female chimpanzees and baboons and humans face in a patriarchal society. A writer, researcher, and professor of psychology and anthropology, Smuts spent countless hours in the jungle with chimpanzees and baboons, observing and studying the behavior of these animals in their respective communities and societies. Opening up her essay with one of her experience in the hills of Tanzania, Smuts describes an assault by a male chimpanzee on frail and innocent female chimpanzee. She began to extend her research on such attacks and witnessed weekly attacks by adult male baboons on estrous females. She links her studies and observations on male aggression to our own similar problems in our society.

There is no question that abuse, threats, and coercion exist in a society that is dominated by males. Males perform such reprehensible acts to display power and dominance. Smuts makes an analogy between the animals and humans by illustrating the similar behavior that both communities exhibit. This makes an impression that humans are acting like “wild animals” as domestic violence and sexual coercion still exists today. Humans are the most advanced, matured, and developed species in this world. We should know better that everyone deserves to be treated equally. Smuts did not write this article to bash on a prevalent sexist topic or promote feminism, but tried to educate the readers about the similarities between us and our supposed closest living relatives. She did so by juxtaposing each scenario that a female nonhuman primate faces and compared it to how women deals with the same exact injustice. Without a doubt, Smut addresses the problems that females face in patriarchal society and hopes to incite the readers to think of ways to help challenge them. However, in this article, there is a hint that Smut is not only talking about male aggression towards female, but also about how closely related and similar we are to nonhuman primates who fight the same problems.