To begin with, let’s define a few terms:
Polygamy: Marriage to more than one spouse at a time is called polygamy.
Monogamy: Marriage to only one spouse at a time is called monogamy.
Centuries ago, human beings were polygamous in nature as most animals are. The male mated with the female and left her long before any offspring is born. Several studies claim that human beings got rid of polygamy and monogamy began to prevail in the human race, relatively recently, that is some 10,000 years back. While polygamy helped males to sire more offsprings, to be a more organized kind of lifestyle.
Various pros and cons of polygamy in men have been learned and taught since ages. Polygamy in men has been practiced worldwide even today in several different cultures. But women are seldom seen practicing polygamy as its benefits for females were quite unclear. But recently, researchers from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have found thatÂ
“Our work (together with suggestions of others) suggests that marrying multiply may be a wise strategy for women where the necessities of life are hard, and where men’s economic productivity and health can vary radically over their lifetime due to the challenging environmental conditions,” said lead researcher Monique Borgerhoff Mulder from UC Davis professor of anthropology.
For the research, Borgerhoff Mulder collected records of births, deaths, marriages and divorces of all households in a western Tanzanian village over two decades. The demographic data suggested that women who had multiple spouses all these years tended to have more surviving children, reports News 18.
“As evolutionary biologists we measure benefit in terms of numbers of surviving children produced — still a key currency in rural Africa,” explained Borgerhoff Mulder.
“In many parts of rural Africa, reproductive inequality among women emerges not from reproductive suppression as in some other highly social mammals …but more likely from direct competition among women for access to resources.”
“These resources include high-quality spouses, multiple caretakers to help around the house and farm, and (at least in this particular cultural context) helpful in-laws,” she added.
Hence, the researchers concluded that women with multiple spouses can deal with social and economic crisis quite effectively.
While polygamy helps men to have a more efficient reproductive cycle, it helps women to be more stable and secure economically. The study thus challenges the age-old evolutionary stereotypes related to sex and marriages in men and women.