For those who believe (accept?) that our species is sexually promiscuous and that social monogamy is a cultural phenomenon, it would seem necessary to think about two problems. First, why would social monogamy arise in apparent contradiction to the biological tendency? One possible answer:
I'm reading a new book, Sex at Dawn, and there's an article in 3 + parts at Psychology Today, which is series of questions and answers from the author, and a bit of a 'contest' to win a copy of the book by posing a question of the author. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn
Having very recently joined this network, I am very thankful for all the contributions I have read.
One issue I am trying to balance is the tension between a life of less and less orgasm and monogamy. While I think we all agree that frequent orgasm has the affect of making one's feeling toward one's spouse lessen over time due to the habituation effect. However, I am also noticing the powerful affect a person can have on the opposite sex when one abstains from orgasm for a period of time. For those on the young side, that affect can happen rather rapidly, a few days or so.
I have this little question, would it be better if we have one long term partner with whom to explore and experiment? Or would sacred sex and intimacy work just as well with multiple partners? It seems some people like to have a couple of partners at the same time. Or just have not long lasting or on-off relationships.
I don't know why, but for some reasons it often makes me feel uneasy when someone mentions that they have more than one sexual partner, or that they are often intimate and sexual with friends. Maybe it's just my conditioning, I dunno.
