Monogamy Vs Polygamy
I was walking back today from watching "The Devil Wears Prada" (good movie btw!) with my housemate and she was upset and frustrated with her boyfriend who apparently screwed up once again (you get the picture) just as they are working through their trust issues after his last infidelity. And naturally, she posed that old age question that every female I know has asked many times, why do they cheat?
So, that got me thinking. Are we built to be a monogamous or polygamous species? The age old tradition and value of monogamy was set generations ago and has stuck. We’ve always been told that each person is destined for one person, the person that they will spend the rest of their lives with. And I fully believe that. I’m all for monogamy and can’t wait to find the love of my life.But then again, with the number of divorces and failed marriages being so large now, one wonders, maybe the human species, like many other animal species, is not meant to be monogamous.
I remember one of the lecturers from my good old days of undergrad (3rd year biomed sci: Animal Behaviour) saying that it is the ultimate goal of any species to preserve the species. Males in many species are driven to maintain their line i.e. spread their seed as widely as possible to ensure that their line is preserved (yes, I know that’s slightly crude but I can’t think of any other way to put it right now! :p). Females, on the other hand, in ’survey and sample’ the available choices before settling on the male they see as the fittest and strongest as to ensure that their young will have the maximum chance of survival.
Right, so with that in mind, one could say that this could apply to us as well. I mean, we are mammals and therefore animals after all. Maybe we are suppose to be polygamous. I mean, a shift towards polygamy seems to be occurring, hinting at the possibility that those long valued traditions of faithfulness and loyalty to your chosen life partner will no longer exist.
But then again who knows? This is just some of my random speculations at 1:05 in the morning. Let me know what you think. Mmmm…I should stop here and actually get some sleep.
October 27th, 2006 at 12:34 am
Men are assholes. Always have been, always will be. So just keep in mind, he’s not good enough for u. Dont buy all that shit when he’s trying to put the blame on u and make in infidelity your fault. Dump his ass off and move on to better men. Muah! U rock Jess!
October 27th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Consensus Jess most certainly rocks!! Hmmm it’s an interesting question…. I DON’T think guys’ cheating can be justified by species-saving tendencies, cos mostly its just horniness that drives them. On the other hand..there could feasibly more than one person we are emotionally ‘ngam’ with.. Faithfulness however is still a worthwhile trait to cultivate and maintain..but.. then again, unhappy relationships are wrong. So. DUNNO! O..i know. I think we should be monogamous at any one time, but ur right - most ppl are polygamous over their lifetime