Monogamy interpreted by Bersani

One idea not specifically examined by Bersani is the general purpose of marriage in a historical context. In the complete male-dominated society of the past 2000 years, marriage functioned partly as a way to bind two people together in order to raise a family. In the past, raising children effectively required two parents. One parent had to work and one parent had to watch the children based upon the specified gender roles. Although there may have been exceptions in the past, this was generally unavoidable. Therefore since birth control was not available, and since condoms were not prevalent or commonly used until later time periods, people had to be more concerned with possible offspring when dealing with sexual relations. Marriage was a promise between the woman and man to remain together in hopes to raise a child. Without marriage, there was no protection for one parent to abandon the child and the other parent. Marriage served as a failsafe to start a family.

Now in current times there are obviously single parent and divorce parent relationships. But these family set ups are arguably less effective than the classis two parent family. It is also difficult to gravitate away from a tradition, which has lasted for over 2000 years. Therefore marriage serves as the commitment to raise a family. Although there are couples that have no plans to have children, but still continue to participate in the tradition of marriage. Social expectations play a role, but the fear of being alone in old age is also substantial. As Bersani states people need to feel a general “connectedness.” As a child the connectedness may come from family and friends. As an adult, the connectedness is redesigned through relationships and children. A general fear of many is to be alone while other people pair off with significant others. Therefore monogamy persists because monogamy is the usually the most useful way to raise children and since the expectation to pair off persists, people feel they need to follow suit.