Polyandry is more common than previously assumed

The award-winning study “A survey of non-classical polyandry” by Katie Starkweather and her co-author Raymond Hames shows that polyandry can be found in more societies as previously thought.

It occurs worldwide and is mainly found in egalitarian societies. According to her results Starkweather maintains that “polyandry likely existed during early human history and should be examined from an evolutionary perspective.” ^{Sex at Dawn” by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá.}

Summing it up, Starkweather said in an interview: “This research shows that humans are capable of tremendous variability and adaptability in their behaviors,” said Starkweather. “Human marriage structures aren’t written in stone; throughout history, people have adapted their societal norms to ensure the survival and well-being of their children.” ^{The institution of marriage will change, like it has for thousands of years“.}

Starkweather goes so far as to say some aspects of U.S. society resemble aspects of polyandry: “In America, we don’t meet many of the criteria that tend to define polyandrous cultures,” she said in a statement. “However, some aspects of American life mirror polyandrous societies. Child support payments provide for offspring when one parent is absent. Life insurance allows Americans to provide for dependents in the event of death, just as secondary husbands support a deceased husband’s children in polyandrous societies.” ³.

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Notice: This article is translated – and some contents might have been added or left out to better meet the needs of an international audience – from an original article on one of my german websites Viktor-Leberecht.de or Polygamie-ist-gut-fuer-sie.de (engl:Polygamy is good for you). How i do my translations.
Last updated: May 13, 2013 at 22:04 pm
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What do you think? Leave a comment here or send me a question through the contact form or the FAQ. You may also use your Facebook or your Twitter account for commenting (Twitter and Facebook login is above the comment field. The plugin that is used for this will ask for permission to access your respective account, but only in relation to your comment here.). All comments will be moderated due to legal regulations and to avoid Spam.

This article was mentioned by @IamOneBusyMomma in August 17th edition of IAmOneBusyMomma’s Daily Muse (through Paper.li, which unfortunately does not seem to store editions older than three months, so the link might not be working anymore at some point)

Tags: Cacilda Jethá, Christopher Ryan, Katie Starkweather, Marriage, Polyandry, Polygamy, Raymond Hames, Sex, Sex at Dawn