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This article proposes a structural hypothesis linking the evolutionary origin of bipedalism to the emergence of symbolic exclusion and the figure of the “Other.” Building upon the idea that bipedalism arose not primarily for locomotor or mechanical reasons, but as a female-driven adaptation to conceal genital signals of estrus, the model suggests that such concealment marked the beginning of a broader reorganization of the human body as a symbolic surface. By shifting sexual signaling from visible genital swelling to indirect and frontal cues—such as facial expression, voice, breast morphology, and ornamentation—early hominins developed new forms of social cohesion based on ambiguity, shared codes, and narrative bonding. However, this very system of symbolic belonging necessarily implied the creation of an outside: those who do not share the code, who cannot be read, and who thus become excluded. In contexts of ecological or social stress, this exclusion may be ritualized or intensified into collective violence, including genocidal acts. Far from being an anomaly, the Other may be an inevitable structural by-product of the symbolic system that began with the concealment of sex. The article thus explores a deep evolutionary and anatomical root for the human capacity to create, expel, and destroy symbolic outsiders.
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Title Bipedalism and the Birth of the Other: A Structural Hypothesis on Symbolic Exclusion
This article proposes a structural hypothesis linking the evolutionary origin of bipedalism to the emergence of symbolic exclusion and the figure of the “Other.” Building upon the idea that bipedalism arose not primarily for locomotor or mechanical reasons, but as a female-driven adaptation to conceal genital signals of estrus, the model suggests that such concealment marked the beginning of a broader reorganization of the human body as a symbolic surface. By shifting sexual signaling from visible genital swelling to indirect and frontal cues—such as facial expression, voice, breast morphology, and ornamentation—early hominins developed new forms of social cohesion based on ambiguity, shared codes, and narrative bonding. However, this very system of symbolic belonging necessarily implied the creation of an outside: those who do not share the code, who cannot be read, and who thus become excluded. In contexts of ecological or social stress, this exclusion may be ritualized or intensified into collective violence, including genocidal acts. Far from being an anomaly, the Other may be an inevitable structural by-product of the symbolic system that began with the concealment of sex. The article thus explores a deep evolutionary and anatomical root for the human capacity to create, expel, and destroy symbolic outsiders.
Work type Narrative, Essay
Tags bipedalism, genital concealment, the other, symbolic exclusión, structural anthropology, social cohesión, body symbolism, group identity, human evolution, genocide (as symbolic violence)
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Registry info in Safe Creative
Identifier 2507312665333
Entry date Jul 31, 2025, 11:15 PM UTC
License All rights reserved
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Author. Holder Fernando Olalla Carabias. Date Jul 31, 2025.
Information available at https://www.safecreative.org/work/2507312665333-bipedalism-and-the-birth-of-the-other-a-structural-hypothesis-on-symbolic-exclusion
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Registration: 2507312665333
