Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer

Animals' Adaptive Mothering Strategies

As a graduate student at Harvard, Hrdy spent several years studying the langur monkeys of India. From her observations that female monkeys were often quite promiscuous, she proposed that this promiscuity was actually a political strategy on the part of mothers. When a new male monkey entered a tribe, he systematically killed unweaned infants, forcing their mothers to ovulate again and thereby creating reproductive opportunities for himself. To circumvent this infanticide, some mothers would mate furiously with a new male tribe member in the hopes of confusing him into thinking the infant was his own.

Her proposal that sexual promiscuity could be an adaptive strategy of good mothering was met with criticism. At the time, sociobiologists generally accepted Darwin's notion that females were coy, submissive, sexual partners. Over time, however, her hypothesis that mothers are not passive caretakers, but are in fact aggressive, manipulative managers of their reproductive success, proved true for a variety of species.

Among her other controversial theories, Hrdy suggested that the behavior of primate mothers could explain human behavior as well. This assertion was consistent with the understanding of human evolutionary theory. Since caring for a human infant is energetically expensive, mothers throughout history have chosen when, how, and whether or not to rear them. This trend is exemplified by modern-day birth control, which gives women power over their reproductive options, and also explains why a woman who does not want to be a mother at one point in her life can also be a devoted, dedicated mother when she chooses an appropriate time to have children.

According to Hrdy, a mother's love varies depending on her age, physical condition, degree of social support. Many primates rely heavily on allomothers (nonmother care providers) and choose not to rear infants if sufficient social support is unavailable; Hrdy suggests this phenomenon might explain why some young mothers abandon their infants. She advocates that mothers are entitled to excellent daycare and childcare options, which she considers a modern-day equivalent of tribal allomothers. Hrdy's work has reshaped the way scientists and the public view female participation in reproduction, from conception on.

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