Value of monogamy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The value of monogamy refers to people's views about the contributions monogamy makes, good or bad, to individual and social well-being.
Some cultures value monogamy as an ideal form of family organization. However, many cultures prefer other forms of family organization. Anthropological data suggests a majority of societies prefer polygamous marriage as a cultural ideal. There are multiple forms of nonmonogamy that are used to organize families, as well multiple forms of monogamy such as marriage, cohabitation and extended families.
People disagree strongly about the value of monogamy, and monogamy has been criticized and supported. Two common criticisms of monogamy are that socially monogamous marriage oppresses women and that lifelong sexual monogamy is unrealistic. Supporters of monogamy have argued that a society that supports monogamous marriage can promote women's equality and that sexual monogamy facilitates intimate and lasting relationships.
See also
- Varieties of monogamy
- Incidence of monogamy
- Evolution of monogamy
- Pair bond
- Hypergamy - 'marrying up'
- Psychology of sexual monogamy
