Aunting

The aunting behavior in a captive group of 22 squirrel monkeys containing three infants was done in terms of the age/sex classification of those animals involved. The time course of the aunting phenomena and the type and intensity of the interactions between the mothers and the aunts were recorded.

Such kidnapping rarely results in serious injury or death (i.e. 'aunting-to-death') with infant patas monkeys.

I found that aunting, or the care and nurture of children by aunts and great-aunts, is gendered and invisible work that, at the most basic level, salvages children’s lives.

Many of the strong connections with aunts exist because this role is more negotiable, flexible, and adaptable than parenting, Sotirin says. And aunts don’t necessarily have to be related, either, hence the new verb, aunting, a set of practices that supports personal, familial and community bonds through material, emotional, and symbolic means.

Aunting speaks to the ways in which women can influence the children in their lives – and I don’t believe it is limited to biological aunties.