This must be viewed in the context of a polygamous society in which the mother/child bond is likely to be much stronger than the father/child bond.

"Nigeria is essentially and fundamentally a polygamous society," said Gani Fawehinmi, a Moslem lawyer with two wives.

The lower portions of a Centaurian home were especially designed for a polygamous society in harmony with itself.

Women are better communicators, it is said, because in some prehistoric polygamous societies they stayed home and taught the young to survive.

Cendri's first thought-is this a polygamous society, is he the husband of all these women and father of all these children?

For example, in polygamous societies, a few members of the gender allowed to have multiple mates will have many, while some of that gender will have none.

Women in a polygamous society probably enjoyed bathing together, "but all this stuff has been taken over by men."

And, in polygamous societies, low-status males weren't exactly pacifists either.

Ownership of a harem has both practical and symbolic uses for leaders in traditional polygamous societies: harems spread genes and symbolically demonstrate wealth and status.

Because an average of ten females were born for every male, a polygamous society had been the norm since civilization evolved on the planet.