Polygamy refers to a situation in which a Man is legally married to more than one Woman at a time. But, before anyone goes postal on me and complains that I am not addressing Women with more than one Husband, which is known as Polyandry, let me say that this Post IS meant to address both. Most people in the World are familiar with Polygamy, fewer are familiar with Polyandry, so I used Polygamy as a cheap ploy to attract these less knowledgeable people to my self-indulgent Post.
The photo Posted at the top is actually a photo of Young Muslim Women in Indonesia protesting against the Idea of Polygamy as part of a "Forced Marriage" issue. In fact, most of the Human Rights Groups around the World who are opposed to multiple spouses being legal are actually opposed abuses entailed the "Forced Marriage" and "Slavery" aspects of Polygamy, rather than on any actual Anti-Polygamy Philosophies.
Interestingly, few countries around the World actually allow Polygamy or Polyandry. Outside of South Africa, no Western Nations allow for a Man or Woman to marry more than one Spouse, but Australia and the United Kingdom do legally recognize Polygamy and Polyandry for Humanitarian and Public Assistance related purposes. Most of the Countries that have fully legal status for Polygamy are in the Middle East and Africa. Polyandry is not really an issue for most because we actually DO in a Paternalistic-Inclined World, where most Women would not even consider trying to marry more than one Man.
Religions have tended to reinforced the idea of a Monogamous Role for Marriage in the World. Few Religions formally allow Polygamy or Polyandry, with the Mormons being a notable exception of the Past, here in the Western World. We will get to the Mormons and more on Religions later, however.
What is actually interesting to consider though, is that most countries in the World actually do support Polyarmory, being in multiple relationships or being in Love with Multiple People, in the form of Serial Monogamy. Technically, unless a person is MARRIED to more than person at once we are not discussing actual Polygamy or Polyandry, but the net effect of most of the World's cultural treatment of Serial Monogamy is pretty much the same. People FREQUENTLY get Divorced and Remarried around the World.
In the West, Polygamy and Polyandry are more than just illegal, they are genuinely Socially Taboo. Romantic Love is thought to be the domain of a Man and a Woman, and more recently for a Man and Man or a Woman and Woman as well. Even in the Gay Community of the West, Polyarmory is a "no no," and all loving people should "Pair Up."
Most People who even suggest that they would be interested in Polygamy or Polyandry are usually assumed to be interested in a Lifestyle of having irregular and romantically unattached Sexual Adventures. Those people are commonly known as Swingers. There is actually no credible research available that suggests that this is the case, but Reverend Stickinthemud at the local Church, and Rabbi Putzenheimer at the local Temple are rarely wrong.
The question that some of us ask however is, why are Polygamy and Polyandry so widely demonized? Is it solely because of the "Forced Marriage" or "Abuse" concepts that many associate with them, or are there other more salient reasons?
This Link to the Blog is particularly good for this discussion, because it contains the most commonly made arguments against Polygamy. The Blog Post is long on assumptions, but extremely short on actual Facts about Polygamy.
The Guardian Story presents a slightly different take on Polygamy than the assumptions made in the Blog Post. That story suggests that the legalization of Polygamy might actually expand State Sponsored Benefits and Rights for some Women in Russian and Mongolia. That being the case, why is it still illegal there?
Here, we catch up to the Mormons, who have until very recently in American History, made Polygamy a central part of their Religious Practice.
If you start with the Wikipedia Article to gather basic information, and fan out into Cyberspace to look up more on the "Mormons and Polygamy," you will find that the overwhelming majority of the opposition to Polygamy, as practiced by the Mormons in the United States, has to do with Religious Bigotry and not too surprisingly, the struggle by White Anglo Saxon Protestant Males to retain Political Power.
The Morill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862, actually made Polygamy illegal in the United States. What is striking about this Law, however, is that it also severely limited the amount of Land that Churches and Nonprofits could own, to a limit of $50,000. What does limiting Land Ownership have to do with stopping the "evils of Polygamy"? The Law does seem to have been targeted at directly limiting Mormon Power and Influence.
There has been, for many years, fear that Mormons and other Non-Protestant Religions would take over Power in the United States. While that fear of Catholics has lessened somewhat recently [at least until it was found that Priests were molesting children around the World], the fear against Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Mormons actually has not.
And, in spite of all the Political Nonsensical Babbling of Pundits about Newt Gingrich winning the 2012 South Carolina Republican Primary, one thing should be obvious: the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon played a role in him losing to Newt Gingrich. South Carolina is one of the Notches on the Bible Belt, and no "Northeastern Yankee Mormon" is likely to beat out a True Christian there. I mean nothing BUT disrespect to the Political Pundits too.
There are still many errant beliefs about Mormon Polygamy being supported in the 21st Century United States. Some of them are even supported by "Reality Television."
The Show follows a rebellious Mormon-Splinter-Group Family, that practices a form of Polygamy which does not involve the Husband on the Show being legally married to multiple Wives, but does show the Family conducting their lives as though he were.
While the show never comes out directly and states their editorial opinion on the situation, the manner in which the show is edited clearly demonstrates that the Producers view the Family as they might view Sideshow Freaks. The situation is an unusual one, but the Producers also clearly shopped for someone of note from a Mormon Splinter Group that adheres to older Mormon Ideals, and the Husband in the Group is something of a Media Hound, who really is not representative of anything more than a typical Reality Show Oddity.
Much of the show delicately tiptoes around the subject of Sex, which I am guessing might be one of things that draw Viewers to the show in the first place. Just as much Discussion and Criticism of Polygamy centers on questions of Sex and Jealousy, it seems only logical to assume that people watch the show to either voyeuristically fulfill secret desires, or confirm their own unknowing suspicions about such a situation.
So, interest in Polygamy and Polyandry is treated similarly to interest in Adult Themed Concepts, and Pornography. Even though Porn is legal in all 50 States of the United States, and over much of the World, it still conjures up dark images of perversions for many. Polygamy and Polyandry seem to inspire similar fears.
The manner in which people present such occurrences tells us a lot about why they are viewed that way. Read the Abstract of that Case Study from the Link above. The language suggests that Polygamy and Incest are joined as a Practice. The fact that a Father would marry his Daughter is the real issue. Incest can have serious Biological and Psychological Consequences. There is no credible scientific evidence that Polygamy presents any of those same risks. Deeper investigation of the Case Study also reveals some very poor Methodologies employed in the Study. The references to broader relationships between Incest and Polygamy are tied to assertions which have some Anti-Mormon overtones at least. And at worst, The Case Study really stretches very little data into a big conclusion - even about the nature of the individual Case.
There are interesting, if not baffling, legal arguments being made against Polygamy and Polyandry.
So, after plodding through the previous Links, including the two articles, and the legal arguments in Canada, there does seem to be a lack of actual concrete practical objections to Polygamy and Polyandry. The rest of my research on the Subject, which as actually been fairly extensive, has failed to locate any arguments substantively stronger than the "Ten Reasons" shown in one of the Links above. So then, what is driving the Belief that Polygamy and Polyandry are so dangerous?
Could religious prohibitions against Polyarmory be at least part of the cause?
The Editorial at the Link above expresses opinions that are fairly common in Christendom about Polygamy, Polyandry, and Polyarmory in General. It is a "Transgression against God," and therefore cannot ever be acceptable in our Society. Should those of us who are not Christians, living in a supposedly Religion-Neutral Nation like the United States, be forced to conform to Religious Ideals, however?
As someone studying to be a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, I would not consider myself Anti-Religion. However, I do find it hard to imagine a situation where any good can arise from a single religion dominating the practices of all others. Buddhism has a wide vary of Flavors and Sects among its many adherents. Some emphasize stronger controls on behavior than others. Even some famously "Liberal" Buddhist Leaders, such as the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk and Engaged Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, are very clear about their views on Sex, for example, seeing little use for it outside of reproduction. That alone would tend to bias Him against Polygamy or Polyandry, since many see them as further vehicles towards expansion of Sexual Liberties.
But, even accepting that there are contributing religious reasons for the Taboo on Polygamy and Polyandry, these reasons do not appear to be even the dominant reasons for the Taboo. So, what other reasons could be in play here?
The Legal Discussion at the Link above is a bit long-winded and somewhat technical. However, if you can follow some of the Legalese that the Libertarian Lawyer Author presents, it makes some rather interesting arguments for overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). He even extends the argument to suggest that Polyarmorous Relationships should not be excluded from the same protected legal status Monogamous Marriages currently enjoy. The rationales for upholding DOMA, as he describes them in the Discussion, are actually quite weak and laden with Religiously Inspired Moral Judgments. So, if good legal arguments can be made for legalizing Polygamy and Polyandry can be made, why is no one listening to them?
Initially, when the Joseph Smith presented translations of his "Golden Plates" that he believed he had been divinely directed to discover, many of the Community Members where he lived were impoverished. By the time that Brigham Young was a central figure in the Mormon Church, the persecution and isolation had taken a toll on the Followers of their Religion. Just as it is now, women and children disproportionately suffered under the crushing poverty.
Brigham Young saw the Polygamy as a way to "gather up" and "protect" the women in their faith who did not have income or protection. While not meaning to sound a like Lobbyist for the Mormon Church, I can say that there may actually be some traction to the argument, as imperfect and Patriarchal as it is.
Smith's arguments and rants at the National Government about Polygamy yielded no results, however. In spite of the fact that the rise of Polygamous Mormon Families actually did reduce some of the Poverty in their Communities, the dominant voices in the Federal Government were not interested in allowing them to prosper through Polygamy to a point where they would be economically sound enough to challenge WASP control of Power. As mentioned before, Laws against Polygamy were passed, and the practice eventually was rejected by even the Mormon Elders themselves.
There is actually a strong correlation between the demise of the American Family, and the Rise of Poverty. However, how that notion of "Family" is actually defined is a not immediately apparent to many. The Rugged Individualism of the United States creates the Narrative of what the "American Dream" is supposed to be: "A Wife, Two Children, and a Home with a Picked Fence." Extended Families where multiple generations of Family share a Household to assist and support each other, are not actually part of that Narrative - even IF they tend to assist in diminishing the debilitating impacts of Economically Tough Circumstances on Family Members.
So apparently, any deviation from the American Dream Narrative is unacceptable. But why? Wouldn't it be better for everyone if people banded together, in whatever way they could, to assist each other economically and emotionally?
It may be good for the Majority of Economically Disadvantaged People to band together in any way they can, but probably not so good for those who create inequality for the own profit.
Polygamy and Polyandry clearly create Extended Families. Often, in the Polygamous Families living outside the Laws, multiple parties in the Family work to provide resources to Family Members. Economic Empowerment can actually arise from this situation. Even if there are intrinsic difficulties in the logistics and psychologies in such family structures, it is probably at least better than being Homeless or Starving.
Does that mean that I am wholesale ignoring the issues pointed up by the Women in Indonesia the Picture at the beginning of the Post? No, not at all. Forced Marriage is clearly WRONG, whether it is Polygamous or Monogamous. We see far less acrimony in our society around a Marriage of Convenience than about Polygamy or Polyandry. That is both perverse, and baffling.
I would suggest that Economics plays a much larger role in the Taboo status of Polygamy and Polyandry than any other factor alone. While I do not support seeing any Man or Woman forced into ANY MARRIAGE that they do not wish to engage in, I also see that Polygamy and Polyandry do not cause the Social Conditions that allow Forced Marriages to exist and flourish.
It is time to stop conceding the World to Greedy Victorian Notions of Sexual Correctness, and Religious Inspired "One Size Fits All" Morality. The Power of Choice could actually allow for even Group Marriage, if that is what a number of Consenting and Mentally Competent People wish to do. Let's stop disguising Greed and Prudish Morality as the "Common Good," and move forward to more practical and tolerant understanding of Relationships. That is just one Writer's view, however.
It is time to stop conceding the World to Greedy Victorian Notions of Sexual Correctness, and Religious Inspired "One Size Fits All" Morality. The Power of Choice could actually allow for even Group Marriage, if that is what a number of Consenting and Mentally Competent People wish to do. Let's stop disguising Greed and Prudish Morality as the "Common Good," and move forward to more practical and tolerant understanding of Relationships. That is just one Writer's view, however.
Peace and Compassion to you.
Jeffrey
