Sample
  • The Bonobo Sisterhood

  • Revolution Through Female Alliance
  • By: Diane Rosenfeld
  • Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
  • Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Bonobo Sisterhood

By: Diane Rosenfeld
Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Foreword by Ashley Judd

“Rosenfeld’s tour-de-force takes the power of female alliances to a higher level, giving us a road map for a new vision of women’s equality through the relationships and bonds we form among one another. The gift of this book is that it gives us hope.”—Valerie Jarrett, New York Times bestselling author of Finding My Voice, and former senior advisor to President Barack Obama

The Bonobo Sisterhood is a revolutionary call to action for women and their allies to protect one another from patriarchal violence. Internationally recognized legal expert Diane L. Rosenfeld introduces us to a groundbreaking new model of female solidarity; one that promises to thwart sexual coercion.

Urgent, timely, and original, The Bonobo Sisterhood harnesses the power of the #MeToo movement into a road map for sex equality in humans. Our closest evolutionary cousins, the bonobos have a unique social order in which the females protect one another from male aggression. The takeaway? Evolutionarily, bonobos have eliminated sexual coercion and enjoy a more peaceful, cooperative, and playful existence. We have much to learn from them.

Rosenfeld explores the implications of the bonobo model for human societies and systems of governance. How did law develop to elude women’s rights so consistently? What difference does it make that we live in a patriarchal democracy? And what do bonobos have to offer as living proof that patriarchy is not inevitable? Most important, how can women break down barriers among themselves to unleash their power as a unified force? Rosenfeld has answers.

The Bonobo Sisterhood takes us through real-life stories from the courtroom to the classroom and beyond, charting a new vision of a collective self-defense among women and their allies. It offers an action plan accessible to everyone immediately. This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to challenge the status quo. It starts with the power inherent in each of us knowing that we have selves worth defending, and awakening that power for ourselves and for our sisters. We now have a new model for real change, Rosenfeld reminds us. It’s time to use it.

The Bonobo Sisterhood forges a path to create and discover a new meaning of equality, liberty, and justice for all.

©2022 Diane Rosenfeld (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Bonobo Sisterhood

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

LOVE!

such a smart book. very common sense topics that everyone should know. definitely gonna reread several times. every woman AND man needs to read this!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read!

Definitely looking forward to joining the Bonobo Sisterhood! Great envisioning of a world without patriarchy and how to get there

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good read

An excellent book. It made me think about our place in the world as a species and what we can do as individuals to make a better place for all of us.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing perspective

This book is an incredibly eye-opening call to arms. Prepare to change your thinking for the better!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Reawakened

This book has stirred me from a slumber. I forgot how passionate I feel about my sisters and our power. Left it behind somewhere in my 20s, I think. Totally inspired and inspiring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Empowering book

This book is really empowering for people who are helpers by nature and want to do something to better our world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This author knows nothing about bonobos

This title is a garden-variety feminist rant, filled with the same-ol', same-ol'. Nothing unique here. Rosenfeld is a lawyer who knows absolutely nothing about primatology. Summary: 'we need to gang up more on men, kind of like apes do'. That's basically it.

It was clever marketing to put bonobos in the title, because much of the audience she is marketing to has heard an interesting little factoid that stuck in their heads -- something about bonobo females being able to control the males through coalitions. The way the manuscript reads suggests she stuck a few paragraphs about bonobos here and there, after it was written. She clearly does not know the first thing about primatology -- nor care, besides this nifty, marketable factoid.

A couple facts she left out:
--Bonobo females have hierarchies every bit as despotic as the patriarchy she rallies against.
--DNA evidence proves that in order to reproduce successfully, a bonobo male has a much better chance if he is the son of a high-ranked female. They are sexually quite despotic. Yes, they might rub their genitals with any other troop member, male or female, but when it comes to fertilization, it is a status hierarchy more exclusive than anything humans could come up with. The only difference is that the males inherit status from their moms instead of their dads. They use sex to manipulate the social order. That's progress?

I am not surprised that the title is not selling particularly well. I am not sorry I bought it, though, as it provides a good overview of the boilerplate that is coming out in this corner of the market. Really, it could have been written with ChatGPT though. (hmmmm.....).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!