Are women the beneficiary of monogamy?
Posted by: zeebees on: April 9, 2010
Robert Wright in The Moral Animal illustrates that, in a patriarchal society, monogamy is really there to warrant the equality for men, not women.
Excerpts:
“Consider a crude and offensive but analytically useful model…. One thousand men and one thousand women are ranked in terms of their desirability as mates … in a monogamous society and each woman is engaged to marry the man who shares her ranking. … before these engaged couples get married, let’s legalize polygyny and magically banish its stigma. And let’s suppose … a woman with a ranking of, say, 400 — dumps her fiancé … and agrees to become the second wife of … male #40. …”
“… this first trickle of polygamous upward mobility makes most women better off and most men worse off. All 600 women who ranked below the deserter move up one notch to fill the vacuum; they still get a husband all to themselves, and a better husband at that. Meanwhile 599 men wind up with a wife slightly inferior to their former fiancées–and one man now gets no wife at all. … even many women who will choose not to share a husband, have their options expanded when some women are free to share a husband.”
“… The only underprivileged citizens who should favor monogamy are men. It is what gives them ccess to a supply of women that would otherwise drift up the social scale.”
4 Responses to "Are women the beneficiary of monogamy?"
October 6, 2010 at 8:07 am
This model is flawed because it if polygyny is legalized, I guarantee that polyandry will also. Which assuming the stigma is removed from both of them would lead to a still balanced “ecology” of relationships.
Honestly, this kind of relationship math doesn’t work, for example, I am a man in a low wage field(traditionally female job) yet am in a relationShip with two women who are both more attractive and fiscally sound than I am. For some stupid reason, even though I fall low on the the scale technically I am still somehow successful romantically.
I assure you also, It also doesn’t relate to charm, because I ain’t that either.
November 17, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Seconding Mikael’s comment. You imply that the only alternative to monogamy is polygymy. This doesn’t reflect reality.
July 25, 2011 at 11:28 am
your argument for you theory is flawed, becasue sex is competitive for men
May 7, 2010 at 10:42 am
Dan … that is a real generalisation if I’ve ever heard one! You will be surprised how many women are out there that have probably had it all, money, love and more and now find themselves on their own due to their partner cheating! There are many rich men out there that “play” coz they have the money and end up losing their loves … and vice versa. Money does not buy love and perhaps a lot more women out there know this! I would choose love over money any day, but men like you … you are guarded for a reason so get off the dating sites if that is your perception of women!