\[ **BT: [[marriage laws and customs]]** ] \[ **RT: [[non-monogamy]]** ] --- # monogamy [[Amatonormativity places monogamous romantic relationships upon a pedestal as the personal and societal ideal.]][^1] - ↬ [Monogamy isn’t biblical; it’s Roman](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2015/03/monogamy-isnt-biblical-its-roman.html) ## monogamy and gender norms [[Monogamy has often applied different rules to women; this is unsurprising in a patriarchal society with property inheritance making paternity key.]][^1] [[The language we use when discussing relationships—particularly romantic monogamous relationships—betrays our society’s gender-based norms.]][^2] ## non-human monogamy ### birds [[Ravens mate for life (and they live a very long time).]][^3] [[Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are monogamous; they use signature mixes to recognise their partner by scent.]][^4] --- [^1]: Carrie Jenkins, ‘[[Jenkins, ‘How a Hackneyed Romantic Ideal is Used to Stigmatise Polyamory’, 2017|How a Hackneyed Romantic Ideal is Used to Stigmatise Polyamory]]’, *Aeon*, 3 February 2017, [https://aeon.co/ideas/how-a-hackneyed-romantic-ideal-is-used-to-stigmatise-polyamory](https://aeon.co/ideas/how-a-hackneyed-romantic-ideal-is-used-to-stigmatise-polyamory). [^2]: Carrie Jenkins, ‘[[Jenkins, ‘How a Hackneyed Romantic Ideal is Used to Stigmatise Polyamory’, 2017|How a Hackneyed Romantic Ideal is Used to Stigmatise Polyamory]]’, *Aeon*, 3 February 2017, [https://aeon.co/ideas/how-a-hackneyed-romantic-ideal-is-used-to-stigmatise-polyamory](https://aeon.co/ideas/how-a-hackneyed-romantic-ideal-is-used-to-stigmatise-polyamory). [^3]: Betty Coon Wainwright, ‘[[Coon Wheelwright, ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, *Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche*, vol. 7, no. 1 (2013), p. 6, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26596516. [^4]: Tristram D. Wyatt, ‘[[Wyatt, ‘Pheromones’, 2017|Pheromones]]’, *Current Biology*, vo. 27, no. 15 (2017), R740, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.039.