Tuesday 6 September 2011

Is it natural for human being to be monogamous:

Is it natural for human being to be monogamous:
(This post is as a result of the question raised by Mfenekazi KaNdukuma of Friend Of the Closet, and I promised to respon)

Monogamy is defined as an exclusive sexual relationship between a female and a male.... LOL, for lesbians. It should read between female and female.  

 I will assume the premise of the question is about whether it is natural for humans to be monogamous, or is it learned cultured way of life. My approach was to look at the history of human and animal behaviour and form basis of my conclusion about the findings thereof.  Perhaps it wld be important to ask if there  is a kind of  animal that is set to be  sexually exclusive to the partners  forever.

 There have been behavioural researches have conducted the by zoologists/ biologists to conclude whether animals can be monogamous.  And  research also based on evolution, link human behaviour to that of homosapien and primates.


The findings were that monogamous pairs of animals are not always sexually exclusive. Many animals that form pairs to mate and raise offspring regularly engage in sexual activities with partners other than their primary mate. It is called extra-pair copulation, also know to be cheating to monogamists. Sometimes these extra-pair sexual activities lead to offspring. Genetic tests frequently show that some of the offspring raised by a monogamous pair come from the female mating with an extra-pair male partnership . Only 90% of bf birds engaging in social monogamy while only 7% of mammals were known to be socially monogamous instead of being sexual monogamous. The incidence of sexual monogamy appears quite rare in other parts of the animal kingdom. It is becoming clear that even animals that are socially monogamous engage in extra-pair copulation. I gapsed with such finding.
Further to that it also came out that there are other aspects of monogamy that can be defined as social monogamy referring s to two persons/creatures who live together, have sex with each other, and cooperate in acquiring basic resources such as food, clothes, and money. Sexual monogamy refers to two persons/creatures who remain sexually exclusive with each other and have no outside sex partners. Genetic monogamy refers to two partners that only have offspring with each other. Whatever makes a pair of animals socially monogamous does not necessarily make them sexually or genetically monogamous. Social monogamy, sexual monogamy, and genetic monogamy can occur in different combinations. Also a serial monogamist, who engage with one partner after the other in monogamous relationship.

With that in mind, are humans naturally monogamous.  We are mammals before we are human. It is presumed to many that we are supposedly born to be socially monogamous. In the history of mankind that has been wishful thinking about sexual monogamy than in reality.  History has confirmed beyond doubt how intersexed our society is.  Patriarchy culture, copied from our primate brothers promote that man could have as many female partners as possible for basic resources such  as sexual monogamy. Do we do it deliberately? No it is in our nature to be that, it can only be genetically imprinted.

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