However, when bonobos were studied by scientists, they produced a distinct shock, for the creatures were found to have staggering sexual appetites. As a consequence, they have been depicted as satyrs who will have sex at the drop of a hat or a banana, an apple, or anything else that succumbs to the effects of gravity. And it is true they have a healthy urge to have sex. On the other hand, it should be added that the average copulation lasts only 13 seconds. This behavior has a basic ulterior but unconscious motive.
Sex is used as a substitute for aggression, as a means of defusing tension.
For example, after a female hits a juvenile, the latter's mother may lunge at the aggressor, an action that is immediately followed by genital rubbing between the two adults. And in this nonviolent society, freed from the fear of male aggression, females control food resources and dominate the males. They also thoroughly upset the idea that sex is solely intended for procreation. From now on, any reference to biology in support of this claim will backfire. However, similarities that we have with bonobos, or for that matter chimps, are not sufficient on their own to explain every aspect of human evolution, de Waal acknowledges.