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The term polyandry (Greek: poly many, andros man) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology.In social anthropology, polyandry is a marital practice in which a woman has more than one husband simultaneously. The practice is common in Tibet, Zanskar, Nepal, the Himalayan regions of India, and in Sri Lanka. It is also encountered in some regions of China (especially Yunnan), and in some Subsaharan African and American indigenous communities. In various other societies, including those of the modern West, there are people who live in de facto polyandrous arrangements that are not recognized by law. The form of polyandry in which two (or more) brothers marry the same woman is known as fraternal polyandry,and this is by far the most frequently encountered form.
Polyandry is a controversial subject among anthropologists. For instance, Pennsylvania anthropologist Stephen Beckerman points out that at least 20 tribal societies accept that a child could, and ideally should, have more than one father. On the other hand, in Tibet, which some consider the most well-documented cultural domain within which polyandry is practiced, the testimony of certain "polyanders" is that the marriage form is difficult to sustain. Others counter that if polyandry were so difficult to sustain or in any way unnatural, it would hardly have survived throughout epochs of human history and to our own day. Many anthropologists hold that polyandry is practiced in few societies, has a high failure rate and is never the only accepted form of marriage. Others look to the high rates of infidelity and divorce in Western societies, and point out that monogamous marriage fails more often than it succeeds. Consequently, some criticize the view that polyandry is somehow uniquely unworkable as unsupported by evidence and possibly agenda-driven. Moreover, due to widespread Westernization via colonialism and imperialism, most traditional societies have been drastically altered or destroyed. For example, polygamy has been extremely common throughout history yet the effects of Westernization can give a false impression to the contrary. It is quite possible that like other forms of polygamyPolygamy or many marriage is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). The term is often used in a de facto sense, applying regardle, polyandry appears rare only when viewed through a kind of cultural or ideological tunnel vision. Even in modern Western society, it is common for married women to bear children sired by men other than their husbands. The rate of female adultery can be high, often rivalling or exceeding that of men. In light of these facts, some anthropologists refuse to dismiss polyandry as a rare aberration. They point to the substantial female participation in fornication, adultery, swingingSwinging sometimes referred to in North America as the swinging lifestyle or simply the lifestyle includes a wide range of sexual activities conducted between three or more people. Swinging activities can include watching others have sex; having sex with, pornography consumption, and promiscuityPromiscuity is the practice of making relatively unselective, casual and indiscriminate choices. It is most commonly applied to sexual behavior where it means sex that is not in the framework of a steady sexual relationship (instead of that or in addition as strong evidence against the view that women are naturally monogamous.
Some forms of polyandry appear to be associated with a) the perceived need to retain aristocratic titles or agricultural lands within kin groups, and/or b) with frequent male absence, for long periods, from the household. As to the former variety, consider that in Tibet where the practice is particularly popular among the wealthy Sakya priestly nobility as well as poor small farmers who could ill afford to divide their small holdings. As to the latter variety, as some males return to the household, others leave for a long time, so that there is (was) usually one husband present.
The term has been taken over into sociobiology, where it refers, analogously, to a mating systemIn sociobiology and behavioural ecology, the term mating system is used to describe the ways in which animal societies are structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The mating system specifies what males mate with what females under what circumstances. in which one female forms more or less permanent bonds to more than one male. It can take two different forms. In one, typified by the Northern JacanaJacanas Comb-crested Jacana' Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family Jacanidae Genera Microparra ''Actophilornis ''Irediparra ''Hydrophasianus ''Metopidius ''Jacana The Jacanas are a group of and some other ground-living birds, the female takes on much the same role as the male in a polygynous species, holding a large territory within which several males build nests, laying eggs in all the nests, and playing little part in parental care . In the other form, typified by the Galapagos Hawk , a group of two or more males (which may or may not be related) and one female collectively care for a single nest. The latter situation more closely resembles typical human fraternal polyandry. These two forms reflect different resource situations: polyandry with shared parental care is more likely in very difficult environments, where the efforts of more than two parents are needed to give a reasonable chance of rearing young successfully.
