We explain what monogamy is and what forms it takes. Why it is criticized, and differences with polygamy. Monogamy in animals.
What is monogamy?
Monogamy is a type of marriage, the most common in the legislation of most countries, which contemplates the union of two individuals through an exclusive, unique and singular sexual and loving bond.
This concept can also be applied to animals who maintain a bond of this type with their partner, at least during the breeding and growing season of the young.
The term comes from the Greek bow ("one and gámos ("marriage"). Monogamy however is not synonymous of marriage. There may be other types of marriage arrangement, such as polygamy (polygyny or polyandry).
Although the monogamous model is the traditional and customary in the West, in the 21st century alternative forms of erotic or loving organization have emerged, such as polyamory. However, none of them have formal recognition of any kind, nor are they of great social acceptance yet.
Broadly speaking, one can speak of two forms of monogamy:
- Strict monogamy. The one that stipulates that a single person must have an erotic and romantic link during the entire life, except in the event that said person dies (and sometimes even so).
- Serial monogamy. The most common in the West, establishes that the erotic and romantic nexus must occur in a unique and exclusive way between two determined individuals at the same time, although for a weather determined by mutual agreement. Once either party decides to break the union, they will be free to build a new one with another person.
Monogamy in humans
There is much debate around the inherent nature of monogamy in our species. It can be considered part of a set of cultural and historical impositions, the result of the religious domination of the society western over the long period medieval, which would have left its mark.
It is even associated with the logic of private property, the capitalism and the status quo western of the 21st century. This judgment is made primarily on the basis of the oppression of women, since in many societies monogamy is reinforced and watched over women, but it becomes more flexible around men.
There are also those who affirm that the polygamous logic, of multiple sexual partners, is the most faithful to our biology and the fundamental principle of spreading the genetic seed as much as possible.
On the contrary, others assure that there is even a genetic basis for monogamy, because throughout the history of the species, this behavior sexual appears linked to the expression of a set of 24 genes related to brain development. Therefore, species smarter in the nature they cultivate this kind of bond.
However, it should be noted that it is not biology but culture the one that determines our behaviors. That is to say that both monogamy and its variants have in the history of humanity various reasons and contexts of appearance linked to the religion, the tradition and historical conditions.
Paradoxically, according to studies anthropological16% of human societies embrace monogamy, but only 5% disapprove of extramarital sex.
Monogamy in animals
Monogamy is uncommon in animal species, being seen in just 3% of the animals. mammals known, according to some scholars. Some of them are killer whales, some rodents; but also some species of birds such as penguins, crows, parrots and eagles.
In any case, for a species to be declared monogamous, it must meet the following five conditions:
- Male and female should cohabit and be selectively chosen over the long term or during periods of reproduction and parenting.
- The individuals Non-relatives must be repelled from the nest, burrow or familiar territory, even if they belong to the same species.
- The parents pay extensive attention to the young.
- Reproduction is regulated at the social level by the individuals of the species themselves.
- It avoids the incest among adult individuals.
Monogamy and polygamy
If monogamy implies the exclusive sexual and romantic bond between the individuals of a couple, polygamy instead proposes a multiple but regulated bond. In other words, it is about the possibility of marrying several people at the same time or successively.
When it comes to a man married to several women, it is known as polygyny. Much less frequent is polyandry: a woman married to several men. Polygamy is accepted by cultures such as the islamic or the Jewish, in its most traditional variants.
Criticism of monogamy
As we said before, there is a lot of dissent regarding the desirability of monogamy for Humans. Broadly speaking, he is criticized:
- Sexism. Given the macho cultural patterns of most human societies, monogamy is observed and monitored in the case of women, but it is made more flexible in the case of men, allowing the latter greater quotas of sexual and romantic freedom.
- Link with private property. Monogamy appeared in our species at the same time as farming and the idea of private property, which makes women part of the heritage of man, of the objects he possesses, since he loses the Liberty to choose with which male she wishes to reproduce, being generally delivered by her parents according to motivations materials.
- Link with religion. It is no secret to anyone that many religions foster an exclusive monogamous bond, punishing extramarital affairs instead. This was particularly intense during the Middle Ages European, when the Catholic Church ruled with an iron fist. Hence the considerations moral on monogamy are linked to values conservatives.
- Divorce rates. Monogamous marriages have shortened their usual period of life in most modern societies, allowing the interruption of the relationship and the beginning of a new one, exceeding 70% of marriage cases in some countries. Thus, serial monogamy is embraced, which does not exclude extramarital sex (infidelity) and which, on a general level, makes the citizens monogamous "repressed polygamists", as stated by Sigmund Freud.