Especially when there is a pregnancy outside of wedlock. Androgynous men may only suffer ridicule for their failure to achieve the difficult goals of machismo . This sort of double standard over sexual fidelity is common in male dominated cultures. A ll societies have rules to regulate marriage partner selection. In North America, for example, the important social constraints are mostly implicit.
Explicit rules are in the form of formal laws.
Typically in North America, these only require that a mate be of the opposite gender, over the age of consent, willing, alive, and not a close family member. Single, independent women I n small-scale societies , most people are expected to get married. Unmarried adults are usually pitied if they are women and distrusted if they are men. Urban centers of large-scale societies are more likely to provide an acceptable status for unmarried adults. Such societies are also likely to be somewhat more tolerant of deviant dress and uncommon life styles.