Is the belief that monogamy is a natural thing just a folklore. The practice of monogamy where a couple pair bonds to raise their offspring is in many cases is not just the norm, but also the law. Society along with our culture dictates the path we take towards our relationships. For centuries the practice of monogamy has been ingrained in popular culture. .
The rate of divorce is continually going up at rates that are alarming. Just about anyone today can recite the statistics on the amount of marriages that fail and lead to divorce. One of the biggest grounds of divorce is due to infidelity. With the exception of a few cultures monogamy is something that is practiced all over the world. Society tells us that this is the right thing to do or is it. A few cultures practice polygamy where the men are allowed to have several wives. According to studies of the animal world, most of us are naturally inclined to "cheat" or at least have more than one mate in a lifetime. For most biologists, the fact that the Rev. Jesse Jackson had an illegitimate child by one of his staffers is neither surprising nor a revelation. We've known for a long time that males from many species tend to be interested in sexual variety, particularly in having more than one partner. (Barash, 107).
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To understand monogamy we have to look on different animals to their practices outside of social pressures. Some animals practice this as a means of survival. This is evident in birds where both parents are needed to perform the prodigious labor of incubating eggs and feeding nestlings. However research has shown that in these pair-mates the males are not necessarily the father. In fact a 10 year study of 180 monogamous songbirds' offspring's DNA proves that only 10% are indeed monogamous. The other 90 percent of them stay and tend to the chicks regardless of the biological father. On the other hand the red fox has an average of five offspring's of which she can not support by her self.