Female bonding
Encyclopedia
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
, social science, and in general usage to describe patterns of friendship
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
, attachment
Attachment theory
Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
, and cooperation in women; or in the case of ethology, associations between females of various species. The exact meaning of the term differs across contexts.
Overview
In ethology, a species is said to have female bonding if the females regularly form coalitions in which they mutually support each other, especially if such coalitions are used to attack other groups or individuals.Female animals such as chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s occasionally participate in raiding groups that kill others, but are normally a minority in a coalition that is composed mostly of males.
In the context of human relationships, female bonding is used to describe friendship between women, or the way in which women befriend each other. The expression is sometimes used synonymously with the word camaraderie. Friendships among women are stereotypically based not only on shared activities, as with men's friendship, but also on emotional sharing.