Infidelity and gender differences
Introduction
Infidelity has been happening over the centuries and occurs in many different cultures. Over time it has been adopting different forms and meanings as well as the assessment of unfaithful behavior and the consequences derived from it. In prehistory, where you lived in small groups, hunting, shelter, breeding of children and also sexual activity was shared. It is after the Neolithic, with the appearance of agriculture and the progressive abandonment of nomadic life to settle in stable villages that the concept of monogamy appears. Perhaps to ensure paternity in order to preserve land.
Developing
In ancient Greece and Rome, maintain sex with slaves, prostitutes or concubines was not considered an infidelity, but if they had sex with a married woman. The Greek unfaithful woman could be repudiated and marginalized by society and in Rome she could be sentenced to death. In ancient Egypt, there was polygamy and although it was not a very common practice, a second wife was allowed to ensure offspring. The wife had to be faithful and the adultery was punished with public lashes or mutilation of ears or nose; In the worst case, they were sentenced to die drowned.
In ancient times the Jewish people were also allowed polygamy. The husband of the adulteress woman had the right to punish with the stoning or hanging both the woman and the lover. With the arrival of Christianity in the Middle Ages the Church implemented its power, exercising great control and imposed its norms where sexual relations were allowed only within marriage for reproductive purposes. Adultery was considered a crime, but did not have the same consequences for men as for women.
In the ancient Western society and until relatively recently, marriage was contemplated as a pact of reciprocity of goods that were agreed and paid as a dowry, so infidelity became a loving solution for those who were united for other reasons that It wasn’t love.
Today there is still the death penalty for unfaithful women in some countries. Somalia is an example of this where death is condemned even in cases of rape victims. In Nigeria, women need four witnesses to verify that it has not been unfaithful, otherwise it can be sentenced to death by stoning.
In Mexico it is enough to have the suspicion of an infidelity by the woman to be violated, killed or dismembered. In Iran, despite the fact that for both men and women, infidelity is punished with stoning, women are more vulnerable to suffering from the equal treatment in court. In Afghanistan where marriage is still in force and can be sentenced to death when they are accused of infidelity or try to leave their husbands.
Other countries, on the contrary they are more permissive to extraconygales or simply do not live as an infidelity. A good example is found in the Eskimo culture where the open couple is established in their cultural tradition being customary to the guest, and whenever she is in agreement, the woman herself.
In countries of northern Europe or in Finland where marriage is a highly respected institution, they are contemplated and talked about this type of relations before and during the marriage. Japan is one of the most open countries in relation to sex and it is very common for men to resort to prostitutes to satisfy their sexual pleasures. According to study in 2013 by the PEW Research Center, the French give little importance to infidelity and are the most indulgent nation in the world regarding forgiving it.
conclusion
We also find the occasional country or nomadic groups where there is the ‘polyandria’ where the woman marries several men who are brothers with each other, an example of this we have the Tibetans all of India, to the cingalesses of Sri Lanka, The indigenous people of the Awás of Brazil or the Bari ethnic group in Venezuela. It means then that it occurs when there is breach by the individual by not respecting fidelity.
Having our culture as a reference, in general terms, infidelity can be described as the breach of the commitment of relational exclusivity either sexual or emotional. Naturally, other cultures or certain ideologies exercise their influences, but the truth is that we are western and infidelity affects and much so it can be said that we continue to live in a culture of fidelity.
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