Feminism is just an individual voice, a force of nature that cannot be restrained, a Ball State Women's Week speaker said Monday afternoon at the Burkhardt Building.
In a lecture titled "The Biohistory of Feminism," associate history professor Abel Alves emphasized how women's efforts to shape themselves in today's patriarchal society mirror the behavior of female primates.
"The biohistory of feminism is the study of primate females as they seek resources and status like males, and as they react to male attempts to restrain their behavior," Alves said.
He said feminism is not a Western cultural construct, as women in traditional Africa and Asia have also taken stands as individuals and coalitions against male dominance.
A coalition of women called the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan also include men who continue to help show the atrocities of the Taliban, he said.
Alves said feminism is a natural primate behavior because females in both human cultures and animal societies display the desire to react to oppression.
Charles Darwin's book, "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals," further shows that humans share emotions with animals, Alves said. He said a zookeeper at Arnhem Zoo in the Netherlands even described how chimpanzees stuck together, hugged and kissed after being captured in Africa.
"We are that much alike in how we see the world and interact," he said.
Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall further proved this when she noted how her chimpanzees created tools and hunted, Alves said. He said she noticed that they behaved in various fashions like human beings.
While Goodall was criticized for producing statements "filled with too much emotion," many historical females like her have continued to succeed despite sexual oppression, he said.
"Queen Elizabeth I used verbal display and built coalitions around her quite effectively," Alves said. "Men were drawn to her power, authority and ability to hold England together."
He said other women like Hannah Wolley, a servant who expressed herself publicly through her own cookbook, take traditional roles and use them for self expression.
Alves has just completed "The Biohistory of Feminism" and also wrote "Brutality and Benevolence." His work in helping to develop the field of biohistory was recognized in a New York Times article in February 2001.
Sophomore Heather Copeland, a Ball State Women's Studies intern, said she enjoyed the message Alves communicated to students about the value of feminism.
"It's very enlightening to see that the tendency of women to speak out against oppression is very natural," Copeland said. "[Women] can and will assert power."
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