Key Terms in Evolutionary Biology of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: Anthropomorphism

= Anthropomorphism =

''' Definition'''

The conscious or subconscious attribution of human traits, behaviors, and emotions to non-human entities including animals, plants, organisms, inanimate objects, or abstract concepts.

''' Example(s) of use in context, Debates &amp; Criticism'''

It is typical human behavior to observe and interpret the behaviors, traits and emotional expressions of others, as it is essential to our survival. However, when people believe they see human behaviors, traits, or emotions in other non-humans, it is called anthropomorphizing.

Often anthropomorphism occurs subconsciously. In most situations, a person is unaware that they are anthropomorphizing, or they are ignorant to the meaning of anthropomorphism in the first place. Anthropomorphism often befalls domestic animals and household pets.

Anthropomorphism also has its applications in storytelling, proverbs, and sayings. Many times these applications are used to convey a moral message. Classic examples of this include sayings like “curiosity killed the cat” and children’s story books like “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”. The saying is used to warn people to mind their own business, but it implies that cats must experience the human emotion, curiosity. Children adore the stories of Pooh Bear and his animal friends, but outside the pages of the books, these stuffed animal toys would never talk or interact with people as they do in a child’s imagination.

Another example is the connections people have with their pets. After a dog grabs a piece of bacon off the kitchen counter and is caught, the pet’s owner often witnesses the dog displaying a “guilty” look on its face. Most people are unaware that their interpretation of their pets “feelings” may just be in their imagination, and that dogs may not even be able to feel the emotion they believe they are witnessing.

Further, even inanimate objects and concepts can be anthropomorphized. Examples are naming your car a human name like “Penelope”, or descriptions of the weather such as “the wind was whistling through the trees” or drawings of the sun wearing sunglasses.

In the context of our class and sex, gender, and evolutionary biology, it is important to be aware of the meaning, uses, and misuses of anthropomorphism. It is important to remember that animals and other organisms may not be subject to the same interpretations of sexual and gender behavior criticisms as humans are. Just the same it is useful to keep in mind that some of our behaviors and traits may be similar or even equivalent in some aspects. This mainly applies to areas of cognitive science such as animal cognition.

It can be a terrible mistake to use anthropomorphism in the wrong situation, such as an experiment of animal behavior. The wrong application or being unaware of it can lead to errors and misleading results. However used in the correct, informed situation, anthropomorphism can lead to exciting discoveries or intriguing discussions about animal cognition and human behavior.

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism. This page was last modified on 25 February 2010 at 21:10.

Herrnstein Smith, ""Animal Relatives, Difficult Relations”. 2006.

http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/anthropomorphism. ©2004-2007 Lexiteria LLC All Rights Reserved.

''' Author'''

Zoe Bidell