Greg paused to see if there would be an objection. There wasn’t one.
“Pair bonding, which is non-obligate in humans gets wrapped up in culture. That makes the topic more about anthropology and sociology than biology. The only parts of it that are in scope for biologists to consider are the parts which are universal across all cultures. Pair bonding itself is a human universal. There isn’t a culture on earth that doesn’t have a concept of marriage as the foundation of a family unit.
“One of the few universal rules within pair bonds are that males get exclusive access to a female. Exclusive access is significant. When pair bonding, the worst-case scenario for a male, biologically, is that his pair-bonded female would allow a non-pair-bonded male to impregnate her. In other words, the male in a pair bond is squandering the support he is giving to the female to support the genetic legacy of another male.”
“What about polyandry?” asked Fatima. “I heard an NPR interview about a group in Tibet which practices polyandry.”
“Polyandry is the proverbial exception which proves the rule,” said Greg. “There have been cultures which supported polyandry. These have mostly abandoned the practice. The people of the Tibetan plateau and the native peoples on the Marqueses islands still practice it on a limited basis. Polyandry is generally considered to be a temporary response to peculiar localized conditions. In both Tibet and the Marqueses, there was insufficient arable land to support the population.
“In Tibet, there wasn’t enough arable land to split the land and support two brothers and their families. Consequently, the brothers ended up a sharing a single wife. If they didn’t do it that way, the younger brother would be sent away and receive no inheritance.
“There was a similar situation in the Marqueses Islands. The main difference is that the husbands who shared women were friends rather than brothers. In both cultures, there was significant absenteeism at play. One husband would travel for a year and the other stayed with the wife. They would then switch up the following year.
“In both cases, culturally, it was a temporary condition. If you eliminate the stress caused by the absence of arable land, the practice dies out. In Tibet, food is no longer scarce and the practice is now in severe decline. On the Marquesas Islands, the practice basically died out after a smallpox epidemic killed off 75% of the population.”
Greg asked, “Everyone follow me on that?” He waited to be nit picked, but there was silence across the table.
Greg could see that several folks at the table wanted to ask about adoption or step-children, but none were brave enough to ask. Their lack of courage suited Greg just fine.
“What is the worst case scenario for a female?” prompted Greg.
Several people had an opinion, but no one wanted to go on the record. Dorotea shouted out, “When a man cheats on his woman?”
“What does cheating mean?” Greg asked. “Copulation outside of the pair bond?”
“Yes!” replied Dorotea.