ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some ideas on the evolution of kinship, and the implications for gender, in humans. Primates not only recognize certain of their kin, but in many cases kinship forms the backbone of the groups' social structure. In addition, the Westermarck effect has been shown to apply to primates and other animals. However kinship recognition occurs, many primates appear not only able to recognize some of their kin but to develop strong emotional attachments to them. Kin recognition is known to be widespread among insects, birds, and mammals. Ego's maternal aunts and sisters' daughters are in a "gray zone of kin recognition" and apparently maternal cousins are not distinguished from nonkin. In the course of their evolution, humans did not need to rely on exogamous marriage alone to forge nonkin interpersonal and intergroup alliances; they could do so through extension of kinship terms to outsiders or through rituals, acts of feeding.
