BRIFFAULT’S LAW

When Melinda Gates saw no more purpose in staying with Bill Gates, she divorced him. The same thing happened to Jeff Bezos and millions of other men. This has led men to coin this expression that if you are a married man, it is only because your wife still finds you useful.

This brings us to Briffault’s law.

This law was formulated by Robert Briffault (1876-1948), an English surgeon, anthropologist, and author. In the field of sociology, many experts treat it as a scientific law.

Briffault’s law says that “The female, not the male, determines all the conditions of the animal family. Where the female can derive no benefit from association with the male, no such association takes place.”

This law also implies the following (also called Corollaries):

1. Past benefits provided by the male do not provide for continued or future association.

2. Any agreement where the male provides a current benefit in return for a promise of future association is null and void as soon as the male has provided the benefit (see corollary 1).

3. A promise of future benefit has limited influence on current/future association, with the influence inversely proportionate to the length of time until the benefit will be given and directly proportionate to the degree to which the female trusts the male.

Now, In economic terms, Briffault’s law means that the male within a relationship is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Meaning he continually has to offer something. Benefits in the past are rendered void, and his promise to do so is worthless if he fails to provide future benefits in time.

That benefit can be various things: companionship, status, money, good genes for offspring, protection and so on. Briffault’s law holds true for whatever kind of relationship: a long-lasting marriage, or one that ends in divorce (in that case the man always fails to deliver benefits (i.e. loses his jobs, gets ill, can no longer keep her satisfied)), or a one night stand, or seeing a prostitute (for the transactional relationship ends as soon as the paid for act is done).

Briffault’s law highlights both female hypergamy and the non-reciprocal nature of most relationships.

Our fathers did not teach us this .