A pair of every creature: Why Monogamy won and that's good
Relations / / December 19, 2019
Today, in most countries the right to monogamy and polygamy is forbidden by law. However, in some States, polygamy (but not polyandry) is still practiced on a legal basis. Legally take more than one wife can be in Indonesia, the majority of African countries and in some countries in the Middle East.
So what's the marriage system is more suitable person? First we try to find the prerequisites of choice in its evolution, and then move on to social factors.
How many partners is necessary in nature
In nature, monogamy is common in birdsThe benefit and the doubt: why monogamy?90% of birds create pairs and together take care of the offspring. But among mammals such like to stick to only 3-5%.
The fact that birds lay eggs, which need all the time warm and protected from predators, but something to eat, so as not to starve to death. Therefore, to the offspring survive, we need teamwork. In mammals, the female can take care of sustenance without departing from the bearing, so that in most species the male mating limited and does not care about posterity.
At the nearest human ancestor - chimpanzees - in general promiscuity. This is when everything with everybody and nobody knows from whom the cub. Previously it was thought that this form of mating was in primitive human society, but later it was proved that it is not. Robert Martin in his book "How do we do it. The evolution and future of human reproductive behavior, "explains why people's bodies are not designed to compete for the female.
In primates with social competition sexual relations goes to the sperm level. For example, the male chimpanzee large testicles, a short vas deferens sperm and the ability to form a dense stopper after fertilization. This plug closes the female vagina and prevents the sperm of her partner next to get inside.
In humans, there is no such feature, which means that it is adapted to mate with only one, "his" woman.
However, it is also possible in the harem, and the monogamous family, only in the first case of "their" women are many, and in the second - one.
All mammals, other than humans, marital relations system does not change. Chimpanzees, for example, can not suddenly walk away from promiscuity, create strong couple and live together in sorrow and in joy, and the birds will not lead promiscuous lives, forgetting about their family responsibilities.
Man, however, has a flexible system of marital relations and can adhere to both monogamy and polygamy. This means that features a family should not be sought in the physiological assumptions, and social structures and the needs of society.
Why society prefer monogamy
Polygamy, or more precisely, polygyny or polygamy - a widespread phenomenon in our past. 85% of companies allowedThe puzzle of monogamous marriage men to have more than one wife. A study of the genetic information in the human Y-chromosome showedA recent shift from polygyny to monogamy in humans is suggested by the analysis of worldwide Y-chromosome diversityThat the shift toward monogamy in Europe and Asia, there was a 5-10 thousand years ago. Just at this time spreadJack Goody, Production and Reproduction: A Comparative Study of the Domestic Domain agriculture. People began to live a great community and began to accumulate private property.
Scientists have suggested that monogamy was the best model, because it allows you to save all their belongings in the home. In this perspective, it was necessary to get married, "close", within the community, so as not to squander the wealth. Moreover, monogamy excludedAn Evolutionary Theory of Monogamy real-time protection against the encroachments of their wives to other men, left without brides.
Such protection requires a lot of time and effort that could be spent on something more useful.
Contribute to the spread of monogamy has made the Christian church. In the Middle Ages at the nobles marriedMedieval Monogamy and the fruit of legitimate heirs only the elder brother and the rest had no right to parental wealth and often settled in monasteries.
Legalizing monogamy as the only possible option, the church received its profit if his older brother it was impossible to grow a boy heir (and it is much more difficult to do unless you have a legitimate wife), After his death, all the state of the waste younger brother-monk. In other words, wealth flowed into the monastery.
Of course, the clerics greed is not enough to so widely and for a long time to spread the mating pattern. The fact that monogamy in general is great to live in larger communities.
Why monogamy is more favorable for the development of society
monogamy allowsThe puzzle of monogamous marriage reduce the number of conflicts and crimes in a large community. If the rich men take for themselves all women, increased competition for brides, and with it grows the level of aggression and crime.
Polygamous pastoralist peoples of Asia and Arabia were constantly at war with each other, invading Europe, India, China and Africa, killed the men and took away young women. But what's good for cattle horde, not suitable for a large city, where aggression and crime hamper the development of the economy.
If every man is sure to find a wife, he has a room for other thoughts and aspirations. As a result, a peaceful environment, which arises in the society, creates favorable conditions for trade, investment and the free flow of information, promotes growth and innovation.
In addition, monogamy helps eliminateThe puzzle of monogamous marriage from early marriage and gender inequality.
In the context of polygyny with stiff competition for brides women are married off very early. Do not hurry - you will lose your wife. Relatives girls may perceive it as a commodity, and to profit by selling the wealthy and usually an adult husband. Once in the harem, the girl does not have the right to vote - it is all about her adult spouse. All this increases gender inequality and putting a woman in a subordinate position.
Equally important is the care of their offspring. In a polygamous marriage a man forced to provide all their wives and children, so that the latter gets less resources and attention than children from monogamous families.
Why monogamy is better for women
Perhaps men and arranges plural marriage, but women and children, it is destructive. In such relationships thriveThe effect of polygamous marital structure on behavioral, emotional, and academic adjustment in children: a comprehensive review of the literature conflicts between wives and domestic violence, and children receive less care and more stress than in monogamy.
Most of the women in polygamous families in South Africa has notSocio-demographic and behavioural profile of women in polygamous relationships in South Africa: a retrospective analysis of the 2002 population-based household survey data higher education, money for food and clothing. They are much younger than their husbands and forced to seek satisfaction on the side, feeling a constant stress.
In 2011, the scientists compared the mental state of women in monogamous and polygamous families of Jordan. It revealedA comparison study of psychological, family function marital and life satisfactions of polygamous and monogamous women in JordanThat polygyny is bad for women's mental health, lowers self-esteem, satisfaction with marriage and life in general. The same is observedMental health and polygamy: The Syrian case and in Syria, and in PalestineA study of psychological symptoms, family function, marital and life satisfactions of polygamous and monogamous women: the Palestinian case. The analysis of 22 scientific papers in 2013 confirmedThe impact of polygamy on women's mental health: a systematic review This fact:
Women in polygamous families is more common somatization - the transfer of negative emotions on the physical plane, depression, anxiety, hostility, and mental illness.
Of course, there are also advocates of polygamy. Terry Conley (Terri Conley) from the University of Michigan saysA Critical Examination of Popular Assumptions About the Benefits and Outcomes of Monogamous RelationshipsThat the Western scientific world discriminate against this model of marriage, and argues that in polygamous families, the level of trust, loyalty, passion, and overall satisfaction relationships no less than in monogamous. To make sure to understand who's right, you need to make a qualitative analysis of the research on this subject, but so far such work nobody took.
Monogamy is suitable for people, because it is beneficial for a large community to meet the needs of both men and women and eliminating gender inequality. At the same time people can live in polygamous families, and under certain conditions, humanity can once again return to polygamy.
see also🧐
- 5 kinds of relationships for those who are not suitable monogamy
- "Reproduction in captivity. How to reconcile the erotic and the life "- a book about the nature of passion
- Why do people change and how to avoid it