Introduction
Even if someone does not fully understand this idea, he may still be able to see it everywhere. It denotes that a man and a woman will get married (Cambridge Dictionary, 2023). Polygamy and polyandry are concepts that are the opposite. When a man marries multiple women, it is called polygamy, and when a woman marries multiple men, it is called polyandry. These two sanction polygamy. Bigamy is distinct from a second marriage in that it refers to a person who has once been married getting married to someone else once more. Several nations nowadays and the cultural realm only permit monogamy. Bigamy is typically against the law (WebMD Editorial Contributors, 2021).
Monogamy of the past
A significant evolutionary adaptation from our prehistoric ancestors, monogamy was at the core of successful human social systems (Edgar, 2016). The future of humanity was altered by monogamy. Yet, monogamy was uncommon in the past. According to anthropological records, men were permitted to have more than one wife in 85% of human communities (Henrich, Boyd, and Richerson, 2012). Men in the past typically had a large number of wives and concubines to flaunt their status, riches, and possessions, such as kings and nobles. Contrarily, polyandry has been quite uncommon throughout history. This is due to the fact that, in earlier communities, men enjoyed a higher social rank than women. When there were a disproportionately smaller number of men than women, polyandry was practiced. Because male preference predominated in the past, there were typically more men than women.
Monogamy of animals
Animals are less monogamous than humans are. True monogamy is only demonstrated by a few animal species. More than 4,000 species of mammals, for instance, have not demonstrated that any one species is entirely monogamous, according to studies. Only three to five percent of them, according to information obtained by scientists, are indeed monogamous. (NSF, National Science Foundation, 2013) The majority of birds also struggle to establish monogamy. Scientists are able to understand more about this because of the advancement of DNA technology. Birds establish pairs in 92 percent of cases but have one or more other pairs in more than 75 percent of cases (George, 2021). They are primarily a result of the requirement for animal breeding.
Conclusion
About a thousand years ago, monogamy started to become more prevalent (Meera, 2016). One individual getting married to just one person, however, has now come to be seen as a universal and significant value of this century. Nevertheless, some societies continue to practice polygamy. Animals also don’t typically engage in monogamy.
Reference
Henrich, J., Boyd, R. and Richerson, P.J. (2012). The puzzle of monogamous marriage. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1589), pp.657–669. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0290
NSF – National Science Foundation. (2013). Animal Attraction: The Many Forms of Monogamy in the Animal Kingdom. [online] Available at: https://beta.nsf.gov/news/animal-attraction-many-forms-monogamy-animal [Accessed 16 March 2023].
Cambridge Dictionary (2023). monogamy. [online] @CambridgeWords. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/monogamy [Accessed 16 March 2023].
WebMD Editorial Contributors (2021). What Is Monogamy? [online] WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/sex/what-is-monogamy [Accessed 15 March 2023].
Meera, S. (2016). Why are humans (mostly) monogamous? [online] CNN. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/17/health/sti-infanticide-human-monogamy/index.html [Accessed 15 March 2023].
Edgar, B. (2016). Human Monogamy Has Deep Roots. Scientific American. [online] Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-monogamy-has-deep-roots/ [Accessed 15 March 2023].
George H. (2021). Do Birds Mate for Life? [online] Birds and Blooms. Available at: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/birding-basics/birds-mate-life/ [Accessed 15 March 2023].
