The Promiscuity NormHuman beings generally accept the idea that when in a relationship, both people must be faithful. Monogamy can be defined as “the state or practice of having only one sexual partner for a given period of time” (Merriam-Webster.com. nd). Promiscuity is on the opposite end of the spectrum from monogamy. Promiscuity can be defined as having more than one sexual partner at a time. People like to believe that humans are among the few creatures that remain monogamous throughout their lives. This idea of ​​monogamy between two people, however, is not the human norm (Small, 1995, p. 19). Promiscuity can be observed in everyday life by promoting reproductive capacity, complicating bonds between humans, and examining primate behavior. Reproductive capacity can be defined by the number of times healthy offspring are successfully produced from an individual (Birkhead, 2007, p. 13). In this sense, the more children who can continue to pass on genes, the more capable a person is of reproducing. Having sex with multiple partners will increase the likelihood of coitus leading to pregnancy. Men are physically capable of having more children than women because sperm production never stops. Women, however, are much more limited in the number of children they can have. The only factor limiting the number of children a man conceives is based solely on the number of mates he has (Birkhead, 2007, p. 13). This suggests that as long as there are a variety of women willing to breed with him, he will be able to conceive as many as he wants. This directly shows how promiscuity is a cultural norm in human society. Men have this advantage of passing on their genetic heritage to any woman willing to engage in sexual selection. San Diego: Academic Press. Birkhead, T. (2007). Promiscuity. Daedalus, 136(2), 13.Drea, C. (2005). Bateman revisited: the reproductive tactics of female primates. Oxford Journals, 45(5). Retrieved November 13, 2013 from http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/5/915.fullGoodall, J. (Performer) (2002). Wild Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall [Theater]. Larsen, C.S. (2011). Our origins: discovering physical anthropology (2 ed. Ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Monogamy. (nd). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved November 20, 2013 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monogamy O'Neil, D. (2000). Social structure. Informally published manuscript, Palomar, San Marcos, CA, retrieved from http://anthro.palomar.edu/behavior/behave_2.htmSmall, MF (1995). What does love have to do with it? : The evolution of human mating. New York: key books.