"In the Shadow of Man"

Paper Summary:

This paper details Goodall's extensive research into primate behavior, which began in the early 1960s and would continue for many years. This paper reviews Goodall's groundbreaking book, in which the author found many similarities between chimpanzee society and human society. This book delves into how Goodall began her research by fitting into the primate society. This paper discusses the manner in which Goodall personalized her subjects by giving them names and in some ways anthropomorphizing them in her description of their behavior, which runs counter to any scientific study of primate behavior in itself. Goodall's book also delves into how the chimpanzees began to accept the author and researcher as one of their own. Goodall did not write this book as a scientific report but as a popular account of her life in Africa and her interactions with chimpanzees. The writer of this paper explains why author and anthropologist Jane Goodall has become a key figure in the field of primate research.

From the Paper:

"Goodall found many similarities between chimpanzee society and human society, noting how interesting it is when she finds something that is different about chimp society in the exclusion of the male from familial responsibilities, calling this "perhaps one of the major differences between human and chimpanzee societies, for most human family groups look upon the father not only as the begetter of the children but as the protector, and usually as the provider of food, or land, or money." However, she also notes that at the time, women were demanding more equality so that the role of the males was being questions, though she also says this is only happening in a very small minority of cultures." It is not clear what it would mean if this were more widespread, whether it would reflect something innate in primates that only emerged when society changed, or whether it occurs in chimpanzee society for some similar reason."

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