http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/02/01/polyandry-more-common-than-previously-thought Comments On: Polyandry More Common Than Previously Thought by Dan Savage en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 19 May 2013 15:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss I wasn't really addressing the research I was addressing this little tidbit about conclusions.

Recognizing that at least half these groups are hunter-gatherer societies, the authors conclude that, if those groups are similar to our ancestors—as we may reasonably suspect—then "it is probable that polyandry has a deep human history."

Which I feel is unfounded. We don't have much evidence for paleolithic societies participating in marriage, at least not marriage as we would define it. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means we can't go about telling people it happened, that's bad history.

You seem to have misread a lot of my post. I know what Polyandry is, I know hunter gatherer isn't synonymous with tribal and I wasn't talking about the Tibetan tribes (who are polyandrous). I was making a specific statement about the quality of the conclusion they came to about historical (I am assuming specifically paleolithic) Hunter-Gatherer groups.

Sorry I wasn't clearer
Posted by wachow]]> Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:42:31 -0800 The Stranger
Furthermore, the studies on so-called "primitive" societies are usually contaminated by the researchers having to interact with these societies. Esp. regarding the Yanomami and their supposed violence, there has been quite a debate on the validity of the reports:

"Researcher contamination in Yanomamö findings
Chagnon wrote that the Yanomamö were "innately violent" and engaged in "chronic warfare". Other anthropologists argued that the Yanomamö became violent after Chagnon arrived to conduct his research and offered machetes, axes and shotguns to selected groups to elicit their cooperation.[11][12]
In the television documentary film The Trap, Chagnon walks off-camera in disgust during an interview after having been asked if his presence in the village could have affected his study." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Ch…
Posted by migrationist]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:09:58 -0800 The Stranger
I'm illiterate in anthropology, so I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of some horticulturalist groups being quite violent. So much for the Flower power...
Posted by sissoucat]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 01:26:26 -0800 The Stranger Polyandrous does not just mean a woman fucking more than one man, people. It means 2 or more men MARRIED to one woman.
"Hunter-gatherers" encompasses literally thousands of cultures. To say "they didn't [try "don't" - they're not extinct!] practice marriage like most settled societies do" is a gross generalization. And for the record, those polyandrous Tibetans mentioned in the article? They're farmers, i.e., "settled societies."
"Hunter-gatherer" is not synonymous with "tribal." A "tribe" is a specific form of social organization, larger than bands (most hunter-gatherer groups live in bands) but smaller than chiefdoms or states.
Also, while Steven Pinker is a brilliant linguist, he's no paleoanthropologist and a lot of his claims about hunter-gatherers being so violent are completely bogus, based on data from groups that aren't even hunter-gatherers (like the Yanomami, who are mainly horticulturalists).
Sigh... on some perfect planet they teach anthropology instead of [pseudo] economics in high school.
Posted by danfan]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:03:30 -0800 The Stranger
This is sort of like the whole thing about the "mother goddess" statues. Where people try to fit historical data to paint a picture of a higher form of human nature in history when none probably existed. The "mother goddess" statues were probably just neolithic skin mags.
Posted by wachow]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:51:52 -0800 The Stranger Posted by seeker6079]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:59:17 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Ricardo]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:29:43 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Ricardo]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:19:27 -0800 The Stranger
Posted by seeker6079]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:13:29 -0800 The Stranger
But isn't calling yourself after the inventor of a gun "just so boring"? (And many other negative adjectives I could think of...)

Maybe he should toke. That would certainly make him more productive than being a gun junkie, which is only destructive.
Posted by Ricardo]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:58:14 -0800 The Stranger was. Mr. Stoner reached the end of the 74-round magazine that God issued him some fourteen years ago.
Posted by seeker6079]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:58:07 -0800 The Stranger Posted by seeker6079]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:52:04 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Ricardo]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:41:13 -0800 The Stranger
Still, count me among the dubious. Hunter/Gatherer societies were on average very violent (see Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature). If you count gang-raped women captured or stolen in inter-tribal raids, skirmishes and wars as "polyandry", then sure, okay--it was likely widespread.

But I don't think that's the sort of polyandry that has captivated Dan's imagination.
Posted by Functional Atheist]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:21:40 -0800 The Stranger I, for one, am very much for this.


Posted by Velvetbabe]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:19:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by beccoid]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:08:37 -0800 The Stranger
Your sexuality only matters to you. As subjective as what kind of food you like. BFD.

This straight/gay/bi/chicken-humping/whatever propaganda that Savage spews here is just so boring. Get over yourselves people and become productive for goodness sake.
Posted by GeneStoner]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:35:38 -0800 The Stranger Savages would have been sooo much better if the boys kissed too.
Posted by Ophian]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:20:07 -0800 The Stranger X Polyandry More Common Than Previously Thought

And yet still not very common.
Posted by seandr]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:03:34 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Helix]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:02:16 -0800 The Stranger Posted by OutInBumF]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:02:11 -0800 The Stranger
@3 for the Unicorn win.
Posted by Will in Seattle]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:52:22 -0800 The Stranger Posted by STS]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:43:26 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Alice Dreger]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:33:46 -0800 The Stranger Posted by seeker6079]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:23:58 -0800 The Stranger