In these contexts, a woman who is monogamous may well be considered prudish, selfish, and deserving of condemnation. But a woman who lines up too many fathers will find that uncertain fathers are reluctant to help. The optimal number of fathers under the environmental and ecological conditions that prevail where the peoples who believe in partible paternity live appears to be two, Hrdy tells us. A notable exception: the Canela of central Brazil, where a woman may have ritual sex with twenty or more men during community ceremonies, leaving her with many “fathers” to choose from and rely upon.
