Monogamy: Friend or Foe?
I have been busily dissecting monogamy.
How did it evolve? Is it really a means of expressing your love and commitment to your significant other? Or is that just the modern - romanticised - interpretation of an ancient practice that evolved to settle the chaos surrounding inheritance? Why is monogamy - and her sister, fidelity - still so highly valued in a society with access to an array of scientific evidence proving it is an unnatural practice for humans?
It seems only around 3% of mammals are monogamous and guess what? Humans aren't one of them! So why are we socially confining and restricting ourselves? Forcing ourselves into a corner for the sake of an outdated notion. A little like forcing a square peg into a round hole.
All these questions. So little answers.
Why all this philosophising? I am continuing to debate the merits of reconciling with my husband, who I have started to appreciate again, but questioning whether in so doing I am likely to practice sexual monogamy again.
And what if I can't? What if I continue to feel that emptiness only a lover can fill? Or is this the only solution to an awkward situation: be with the best man I know without denying myself those heated moments you find in illicit encounters?
-xox-
How did it evolve? Is it really a means of expressing your love and commitment to your significant other? Or is that just the modern - romanticised - interpretation of an ancient practice that evolved to settle the chaos surrounding inheritance? Why is monogamy - and her sister, fidelity - still so highly valued in a society with access to an array of scientific evidence proving it is an unnatural practice for humans?
It seems only around 3% of mammals are monogamous and guess what? Humans aren't one of them! So why are we socially confining and restricting ourselves? Forcing ourselves into a corner for the sake of an outdated notion. A little like forcing a square peg into a round hole.
All these questions. So little answers.
Why all this philosophising? I am continuing to debate the merits of reconciling with my husband, who I have started to appreciate again, but questioning whether in so doing I am likely to practice sexual monogamy again.
And what if I can't? What if I continue to feel that emptiness only a lover can fill? Or is this the only solution to an awkward situation: be with the best man I know without denying myself those heated moments you find in illicit encounters?
-xox-
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