Walking Marriages

Here's a youtube clip of the Mosou, who also practice the "walking marriage."  The clip provides an extended illustration of the practice, its consequences and changes into contemporary life.

Pair Bonds and Promiscuity

This is my attempt to retroactively make the end of class today in anthro 101 a bit more coherent.

What I was attempting to argue was that, as a biological species, human beings have both a heritage of pair bonding and promiscuity...and every possibility in between.  For those interested in a highly readable and complete review of some of the evidence for the biology of human sexual interactions, check out Patrick Clarkin's series of blog posts beginning here.

Our specific cultural background(s) then shape how that plastic/flexible sexual predisposition is expressed.  That's what we'll get into on Friday when we discuss the diversity of forms of marriage found in the ethnographic record.