Marriage is construct that’s in direct opposition with our animal instincts.
Few animals mate for life because natural instinct dictates that their biological imperative is to spread their genetic material with multiple mates in order to propagate their species.
Of course this kind of behavior in higher, reasoning species who are part of society causes problems. Envy, jealousy, and conflicts tend to arise.
Plus, there are issues about housing, division and sharing of resources and raising children. So, a very long time ago, some wise, religious leader figured out that promoting monogamous relationships would create a more harmonious, prosperous condition for everyone.
Plus, if he told people that a higher power spoke to him and told him that’s how it should be – lest you incur the wrath of that higher power – people would actually do it.
But even as the institution of marriage was created and evolved, it integrated reminders of our true, animal nature. Like wedding rings, for example.
Women’s engagement rings and wedding rings are expensive and showy. They say to the world, and specifically other men, “I am in a committed relationship with someone. I am not available to you.”
Plus, depending on how expensive the ring appears to be, also tells other men just how prosperous their spouse might be in relation to any potential suitor. It sorta says: “You must be wealthier than THIS to even attempt to tempt me away from my spouse.”
Some of this tradition surely comes from a time when women were regarded more as property acquisitions or family treaties than an equal partner.
Men’s wedding rings are traditionally plain and not showy. (I said, traditionally, Guido.)
This is because they are not there to show other women that this man is in a committed relationship with a particular woman. It is there to REMIND the man that he is in a committed relationship with a particular woman.
Kinda like a string tied around the finger to help you remember something.
Thousands of years into our social evolution, men are still fighting that natural instinct to seek out multiple mates. It’s biology that also makes us notice healthy, good-looking women that may be younger than we are. After all, men remain capable of their half of the reproductive equation well past the age that women are able to successfully bear children.
Cultures that are more in-tune with their animal instincts may also have measures of relative attractiveness for women that are directly related to reproduction, like large breasts or large “child-bearing” hips and buttocks.
Biology makes them catch our eye, but socialization makes us not turn our head.
And those rings on women’s and men’s fingers remind MEN to resist our animal instincts.
Tags: Animal Instincts, Biology, Marriage, Multiple Partners, Wealth/Status, Wedding Rings
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