I agree with your larger point, but I have to take issue with your suggestion that our current fixation on monogamy is an element of "Puritanical repression." It's not. It's a necessary element of the liberation of women. I'm not saying this because I think that women are more monogamous than men; I think everyone finds monogamy a bit difficult at times. I say this because, in addition to being naturally non-monogamous, people are also naturally jealous and possessive. As a result, most people (not all) would enjoy being able to sleep with anyone they took an interest in, but they wouldn't want their spouse to behave the same way. For most of human history, men dominated women to such an extent that it was more or less socially acceptable for men to sleep with multiple women and still demand fidelity from their wives. In modern societies, we try to hold men and women to the same standards, which means that if men want to have multiple partners, they have to accept that their wives and girlfriends will behave the same way, which most men aren't willing to do. Some people work out other arrangements by mutual consent, which is great, but the "monogamous ideal" is the natural consequence of living in a society where women can be unfaithful almost as easily as men can.
Marya
I disagree with you about monogamy.
I agree with your larger point, but I have to take issue with your suggestion that our current fixation on monogamy is an element of "Puritanical repression." It's not. It's a necessary element of the liberation of women. I'm not saying this because I think that women are more monogamous than men; I think everyone finds monogamy a bit difficult at times. I say this because, in addition to being naturally non-monogamous, people are also naturally jealous and possessive. As a result, most people (not all) would enjoy being able to sleep with anyone they took an interest in, but they wouldn't want their spouse to behave the same way. For most of human history, men dominated women to such an extent that it was more or less socially acceptable for men to sleep with multiple women and still demand fidelity from their wives. In modern societies, we try to hold men and women to the same standards, which means that if men want to have multiple partners, they have to accept that their wives and girlfriends will behave the same way, which most men aren't willing to do. Some people work out other arrangements by mutual consent, which is great, but the "monogamous ideal" is the natural consequence of living in a society where women can be unfaithful almost as easily as men can.