Is monogamy natural for humans?

Question

Poo Poo - that doesn't make any sense at all. If all the advantages of monogamy for women are wiped out by the fact that the man is NOT monogamous, there is no point in women being monogamous in the first place.

Answer 1

If you have s*x with the right person, then yes.

Answer 2

Yes and no.  Poo Poo is correct in some respects.  

Women are the ones who have the most "instinct" in this case.  Women will search for a man who is a good provider.  I mean, let's face it, we have the babies.  We need a man who can provide and protect our family.  If he's out boinking some other chick, then he's not paying much attention to his family.  

Men, on the other hand, have a need to spread their seed in as many places as possible.  This is "instinct."

However, with the surge of STD's like herpes, AIDS, certain cancers, etc, the need for monogamy sounds a lot more "natural" doesn't it?

Answer 3

Yes. It was Adam and Eve.  Not Adam, Eve and Jane, and not Adam, Bob, and Eve.  I was faithful to my first wife.  She chose to divorce me anyhow.  I have a good wife now to whom I am faithful.  These are the only two women I have EVER been with.  Placing a p***s into a v****a, or accepting a p***s into a v****a is a deliberate thing.  I do not buy into the "it's complicated" stories.  I've been cheated on and have been man enough to forgive it, but it is not complicated.  We know whose parts belong to us and who ours belongs to.

Answer 4

Humans have the most complex mating behaviors of all the animal kingdom. We are naturally monogamous and polygamous.

I hear it all the time that women are naturally monogamous, this is a mistake guys, I'm sorry. It's not even true that women have to carry a baby from just one father at a time. It's possible to have fraternal twin babies at once fathered by two different fathers.

A woman who mates with more than one man is polyandrous. It often happens in the animal kingdom that s*x is traded by females for protection and food.

Think prostitutes, why is this the oldest profession?

Do you men actually know what's going on down there? Why is there millions of sperm? Well some of them are there to fight the sperm of other men that can live in the women for days after intercourse

Answer 5

Anthropology has demonstrated human behavior is not based on natural process but cultural ones. So is our decision to op for monogamy.

Answer 6

If you are in the right relationship, neither of you will want another.  So yes,  I find that perfectly natural.

Answer 7

Natural, no. Being naked is natural. Dying in your thirties is natural we have manipulated the natural order in many ways to benefit our species. Monogamy is one of a range of choice in human relationships and is not historically or quite often culturally the norm

Answer 8

Not all the time; depending upon the individual man or woman.  For instance; I heard tell of a woman who had 7 kids all from different daddies; along with that you heard about the guy who had 4 girl friends; lo and behold they were all pg at the same time.  Natural is what natural does.

Answer 9

Aww, someone cloned me, I'm so honored!

Answer 10

No. Humans are not monogamous by nature. If we were then marriage would be redundant and divorce would be nonexistent. Some humans choose to exert more effort to be monogamous, but no human is immune to desiring multiple partners.

Females tend to be more sexually selective since they invest more in reproduction than do males and because testosterone, the hormone primarily responsible for s*x drive, is lower in females. In societies that communally raise young (tribal), and in societies that are matrilineal there is little reason for females to tend toward monogamy. Monogamy is a feature of male-dominated societies in which paternity must be ensured through the control of female sexuality. It should be noted that in such cultures males are not expected to be monogamous, only females.

Luckily paternity is a rather new idea for the human species, since monogamy tends to limit genetic variation over time. In-group breeding (which is common in royal bloodlines - the height of hierarchical patriarchy) leads to birth defects as a result of too little variation in the genetics.

In egalitarian and female-run societies, females have multiple partners, which has led to the evolution of specialized sperm which defend the female's reproductive tract from the sperm of other men. This leads to sperm competition (and also male-male competition) in which weak men and sperm are weeded out.

Evolutionarily speaking, our species is better off being polyamorous and polysexual, which nature has wisely designed us to be.

Answer 11

I think it depends on the human. Some people can take monogamy, some cannot handle its responsibility.

Answer 12

I know this will annoy you ladies, but monogamy is vital for women but makes no sense for men. Women need a mate who stays with them to help guard, provide for and raise the offspring. Men on the other hand need to spread their seed and there is no evolutionary advantage is staying with one female. That's how nature works. Then came divorce laws and stuff to distort the natural order and ensure women get what they want, but at the man's expense.

Answer 13

Monogamy is a choice;

you choose to honor and be faithful to your mate, or you choose to betray them by cheating.

Answer 14

<laughing at the guys' double standard>

No it is not natural, and when humans lived communally neither gender was or needed to be monogamous.

Monogamy as an ideal relationship is socially constructed and it actually benefits MEN with respect to the assurance of that any offspring of their partners (that he is obliged to provide for) are biologically his.

Answer 15

as unfair as this sounds i think women were designed by nature to be monogamous and men to have multiple partners.

one characteristic of life is that it procreates/reproduces. one would assume that both sexes would want to procreate as much as possible in order to ensure that their genes have a better chance of continuing. men have the tools to procreate more than women.

men produce millions of sperm in their lifetime and are able to impregnate more than 1 woman in a month.

women only produce, on average, less than 1000 eggs and they can only fertilise an egg once a month.

in the context of society today i believe that if a man wanted to have more than one partner, he should have his partner's permission/blessing.

poo poo - i started my answer before i saw yours. keep the honour though. its on me ; )

Answer 16

Monogamy is down to individual attitude towards each other.When talking about what is natural for humans.Nothing much in our western world.We live in an enviroment of manmade rules that are primarily based on the logic that wealth gives power over the not so wealthy ,and the not so wealthy have no power at all.I hope for all our sakes that the money mountain never erupts.I sense some rumblings.