112 CHAPTER FOUR
ual, maternal, and paternal attachments are inextricably tied together. The
formula works like this: Mating generates orgasm, which releases oxytocin;
oxytocin initiates a cascade of effects in the brain; the result is pair bonding
and reproduction. Reproduction, as we saw earlier, also involves oxyto-
cin output. At each stage, neurohormonal and other systems work to bind
these behaviors together. Some researchers have argued that among prairie
voles, a single mating can lead immediately to pair bonding, reproduction,
and lifelong monogamy. This packaging of bonds reportedly confers evo-
lutionary advantages. As Kimberly Young et al. argue, “The co- occurrence
of these behaviors in pair- bonded individuals makes sense when viewed
through the lens of evolutionary theory, which suggests, in part, that pair
bonding became adaptive under conditions in which additional parental
investment was required to ensure the successful rearing of young. Indeed,
the same selection pressures that necessitated the presence of both parents
for offspring survival would likely facilitate the formation of a partnership
between mates and mechanisms through which to maintain this partner-
ship (e.g., mate- guarding)” (2011, 54). For prairie voles, a “complex social
bond,” as Young et al. (2011) put it, means something like a nuclear family.
Tied to assumptions of the inherent heterosexuality of individuals and the
functionality of monogamy, this perspective leads to a deterministic vision
of their kinships.
It might be best in the face of this research to declare the incommensu-
rability of nonhuman animal bonds and human kinships. Instead, however,
I want to highlight scientific practices that call into question the heteronor-
mative depiction of nonhuman kinships. These begin with disentangling
the associations between mating, bonding, reproduction, and monogamy.
In mammalian research mating is generally understood as male- female repro-
ductive coupling, and pair bonds are commonly defined as partner prefer-
ences that include heterosexual mating, behaviors like licking and groom-
ing, and cohabitation. They also include “the subsequent development of
selective aggression toward unfamiliar conspecifics, and the bi- parental
care of young” (Young et al. 2011, 53). Monogamy is generally defined as the
formation of exclusive pair bonds. This commonly means that only male-
female reproductive behaviors are counted as matings, only opposite- sex
couplings are counted as pair bonds, pair bonds are assumed to be the
result of heterosexual mating practices rather than cohabitation, and, for