Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (10:13): Let me tell you the term ‘alpha’ is not synonymous with ‘male’, and it never has been. Matriarchal societies where women rule include in spotted hyenas, birds of prey and elephants. In seahorses and pipefish it is the male that gets pregnant and gives birth, and if that happened in humans, I think abortions would be free and on every street corner. The praying mantis, black widow spider and jumping spider are women who ate – quite literally. They serve and lick the plate by swallowing their male partners when they are done with them. With clownfish the largest, most aggressive female is the one with the highest authority. Ring-tailed lemur females are often more involved in the peacekeeping of the colony than the males, and in the lion kingdom lionesses are the first to eat, with the men simply getting mere scraps.

You have probably heard about penguins mating for life, and it is true that the male chooses the smoothest pebble he can find to give to a female as a gesture of longevity – and she will likely accept it. But females are also known to have up to three partners in one season. A female penguin would tell you that you can simply have it all.

Why am I sharing this with you all? Well, there has been a lot of talk about patriarchy lately as we continue to confront the epidemic of men’s violence in our country. It is most certainly a human construct that we need to fix, and I think we could learn a whole lot if we just paid more attention to the societies and constructs of our animal friends.