Difference Between Monogamy and Polygamy

Social standards have existed for a long time and respecting them has been a duty of every human being. But there are some cases where people tend to go beyond the limits and overstep the rules, as they believe that human beings are free to do what they want and that any individual has the right to be as they are. There are many arguments and counter-arguments about this, but two terms that have always sparked some debate are monogamy and polygamy. The difference between them is obvious and will be discussed in this topic. Defining the two terms will give a perfect idea of ​​what they are. Monogamy is the type of activity in which a human being is allowed to have only one partner throughout his life. In social and sexual terms, they can mate with one person throughout their lives and this has been the norm for a long time. Polygamy, on the other hand, is different because it is the act where people are allowed to have more than one partner and there is no limit to the number of partners they can keep, this again is for social and sexual activity. This is more common in European countries and America, where people are of the opinion that an individual has no obligation to spend their life with one person and, as in the old days, they are free to mate with anyone they find desirable. This can be further simplified in such a way that if a person marries once in his life, he will be called monogamous, while a person who marries more than once will be called polygamous. The best example of this is the Hinduism, where it is imperative that a man or woman marry only once in their life and spend their life with them until death. In the past, when husbands used to die, women were burned just because they couldn’t marry anyone else. Similarly, in Islam men can marry four times to support a woman who is single or her partner has died.

Comparison table

Definition of monogamy

This is the state where a person is allowed to marry only one person in his life, and in the case of other beings, he only mates with another being to engage in sexual activity. This is considered a natural phenomenon where a person wants to spend their life with another person out of affection and love, but there are many cases where this statement may not be true. The best example is Hinduism, where a man and a woman can marry only once in their life.

Definition of polygamy

This is a state where a person can marry more than once depending on the circumstances, or like in the Western world, can engage in sexual activity with more than one person depending on desire. This is mostly seen as an abnormal feature in some circles, but this is not always true. For example, Islam is in favor of polygamy, so if a woman does not have a partner, a man can marry her to support her. But in other cases, women do not have the right to marry someone else. This case is different in European culture, where both genders are allowed to marry so many times.

Differences in a nutshell

1. Monogamy is the type of system where a person ends up marrying another person in their lifetime, while polygamy is the type of system where people can marry more than one person.
2. Hinduism is strictly monogamous where a person can marry only once while Islam is polygamous where a person can marry up to four times.
3. In sexual terms, if a being mates with only one partner throughout their lives, they are called monogamous, while if they have multiple partners, they are called polygamous.
4. Monogamy is considered a natural phenomenon in terms of sexual activity, while polygamy is considered normal in terms of marriage.

Final Thought

Language can be a difficult subject even though it may seem similar. The reason is that there are many words that have a similar meaning to each other, but very different if you look at the context in which they are pronounced. All in all, the article has explained the terms and differences and made it easy to understand.