http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/27/ryan.promiscuity.normal/index.html?hpt=C2 * Christopher Ryan: True nature of our sexuality silenced by religious authorities, society * For 95 percent of our evolution, men and women shared partners, children, Ryan says * Ryan: Advent of agriculture brought idea of private property, women as possessions * Nonpossessive sexuality is natural, but we can opt to be monogamous, he writes
Sitting in a metal box that flies 15,000 feet in the air isn't normal either. Nor is equal rights, electric light and Twinkies.
With the advent of birth control (also not "natural"), it's not immediately clear to me that monogamous partnerships are inherently superior, personally or socially. Certainly, within our current social framework (with current expectations and beliefs), monogamous relationships are probably most stable. But that's because we condition people from the start to feel that way. If we had different base assumptions (which obviously doesn't require changing human nature, since non-monogamous relationships were once the norm), non-monogamous relationships could be more fulfilling. Or equally so. Or perhaps not. It's hard to say.
