“When are two dads better than one? - When the women are in charge”
[edited] Patrick Wilson - University of East London - P.Wilson@uel.ac.uk

Explaining the significance of this discovery, Paul Valentine said: "The conventional view of the male-female bargain is that a man will provide food and shelter for a woman and her children if he can be assured that the children are biologically his.

Our research turns this idea on its head, by showing that in reality, there are many different modes of family life, and in societies where women control marriages and other aspects of social life, both men and women have multiple partners and spread the responsibilities of child rearing.

When a child is born among the Bari, the mother publicly announces the names of the one or more men she believes to be the fathers, who, if they accept paternity, are expected to provide care for the mother and child.

Valentine believes that the differences can be explained by the conflict of interest between the sexes. "In small egalitarian societies, women’s interests are best served if mate choice is a non-binding, female decision; if a network of multiple females to aid or substitute for a woman in her mothering responsibilities exists; if multiple men support a woman and her children; and if a
woman is shielded from the effects of male sexual jealousy.

"In contrast, men’s reproductive interests are best served by male control over female sexual behavior. To do this, men must choose the spouses either for themselves or their children, marriage must be for life, female ‘More Then Just One’ sensual activities are forbidden, and support networks of women for women are disrupted, or male support by other than a husband and his family is forbidden. "It is obvious that neither sex can fully win this contest," says Valentine. In cultures where women chose their mates, women have broad sexual freedom and partible paternity is accepted, women clearly have the upper hand.

In 'Victorian'-style societies where women’s sexual activity is controlled by men, marriage is exclusive, and male sexual jealousy is a constant threat, men have the upper hand. In between is a full range of combinations and options, all represented in the varying South American cultures.

If you have difficulty choosing a suitable Father's Day gift this week, spare a thought for the Bari people of Venezuela, where multiple paternity is the norm. And in such societies, children with more than one 'official' father are more likely to survive to adulthood than those with just one Dad, according to new research. The findings have now been published in a book that questions accepted theories about social organization, the balance of power between the sexes and human
evolution.

Cultures of Multiple Fathers: The Theory and Practice of Partible Paternity in Lowland South America (University Press of Florida, 2002) by Dr Paul Valentine of the University of East London (UEL), and Dr Steve Beckerman, associate professor of anthropology at Penn State University, draws on more than two decades of fieldwork among South American tribal peoples. The central theme of the book is the concept of 'partible paternity' * the widespread belief that fertilization is not a one-off event and that more than one father can contribute to the developing embryo.

The book is already creating waves in anthropological circles on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Carneiro, curator at the American Museum of Natural History said: "Rarely does a book thrust open a door, giving us a striking new view.” Leading evolutionary thinker Sarah Hardy of the US National Academy of Sciences said: This book challenges long-held dogma in fields like evolutionary psychology, anthropology and sociobiology. People in these fields will now HAVE to deal with partible paternity and polyandry."

Cultures of Multiple Fathers: The Theory and Practice of Partible Paternity in Lowland South America – Non-Fiction - 288 Pages -                          $40.46 Paper Via Amazon