Polygamy

This article is about the marriage practice. For the botany term, see Sexual reproduction in plants.

Polygamy (from πολύς γάμος polys gamos, translated literally in Late Greek as "often married"^[1]) is a form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse at the same time, as opposed to monogamy in which a person has only one spouse at a time.^[1] When a man has more than one wife, the relationship is called polygyny; and when a woman has more than one husband, it is called polyandry. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called group marriage.^[1]

The term is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociobiology, sociology, as well as in popular speech. In social anthropology, polygamy is the practice of a person's making him/herself available for two or more spouses to mate with. In contrast, monogamy is a marriage consisting of only two parties. Like monogamy, the term is often used in a de facto sense, applying regardless of whether the relationships are recognized by the state (see marriage for a discussion on the extent to which states can and do recognize potentially and actually polygamous forms as valid). In sociobiology, polygamy is used in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating. In a narrower sense, used by zoologists, polygamy includes a pair bond, perhaps temporary. In popular speech, polygamy is often mistakenly assumed to refer to polygyny alone rather than including the other forms, as more polygamous relationships in human history have been polygynous.

Forms of polygamy

Close relationships
Types of relationships Family · Marriage Husband · Wife Soulmate · Significant other Siblings · Cousin Domestic partnership Widowhood Boyfriend · Girlfriend Cohabitation · Casual Romantic friendship · Sexual partner Friendship · Kinship Monogamy · Same-sex relationship Non-monogamy · Open marriage Polyamory · Polyfidelity · Polygamy Mistress (lover) · Cicisbeo · Concubinage · Courtesan · Romantic relationship events Bonding · Breaking up · Courtship · Dating · Divorce · Infidelity · Mating · Meet market  · Romance · Separation · Singles event  · Transgressing · Wedding Feelings and emotions Affinity · Attachment · Compersion · Intimacy · Jealousy · Limerence · Love · Passion · Platonic love · Psychology of sexual monogamy Human practices Bride price (Dower · Dowry) · Hypergamy · Infidelity · Sexuality Relationship abuse Child abuse · Elder abuse · Dating abuse · Infidelity · Spousal abuse ·

Polygamy exists in three specific forms: polygyny - where a man has multiple simultaneous wives;^[2] polyandry - where a woman has multiple simultaneous husbands; or group marriage - where the family unit consists of multiple husbands and multiple wives. Historically, all three practices have been found, but polygyny is by far the most common.^[3] Confusion arises when the broad term "polygamy" is used when a specific form of polygamy is being referred to. Additionally, different countries may or may not include all forms in their Polygamy laws.

Polyandry

Polyandry is a practice where a women has more than one husband at the same time. Fraternal polyandry was traditionally practised among nomadic Tibetans in Nepal, parts of China and part of northern India, in which two or more brothers are married to the same wife, with her having equal sexual access to them. Polyandry is believed to be more likely in societies with scarce environmental resources, as it is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival.^[4] It is a rare form of marriage that exists not only among poor families, but also the elite.^[5] In the modern western world, only Saskatchewan Canada has case law in Family Property law which has witnessed judicial authorities providing binding decisions that allowed two women to "become the spouse of a person who has a spouse" {S.51 Saskatchewan Family Property Act} Despite Canadian federal laws against polygamy {s.293 Canadian Criminal Code} Saskatchewan allows its judicial authorities to provide binding consent for polyandry and polygamy.

Group marriage

Group marriage is a marriage where the family unit consists of more than one man and more than one woman, and of whom share parental responsibility for any children arising from the marriage. Group marriage is a form of non-monogamy and polyamory.

Another possibility, which has been conceived in fiction (notably in Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress), is a line marriage, where a deceased or departing spouse in the group is continually replaced by another so that family property never becomes dispersed through inheritance.

Countries which outlaw polygamy

There are many countries which do not permit polygamy, and a person who marries in one of those countries a person while still being lawfully married to another commits the crime of bigamy. In Canada, both bigamy and polygamy are contemplated in the law against polygamy. Often the spouse in the second marriage is unaware of a subsisting marriage, nor is the first spouse aware of the second marriage.^{[6] [7]} In countries where polygamy is outlawed, consent from a prior spouse makes no difference to the validity of the second marriage. In any case, the second marriage is considered legally null and void; though laws exist to protect the rights of an unsuspecting second spouse and any children from the otherwise invalid marriage. The exception in North America exists in Saskatchewan, Canada where the "subsequent" unsuspecting spouse has no recourse to the protections of Canadian Federal laws against polygamy. A person in Saskatchewan can "become the spouse of a person who has an existing spouse(s)" by unilateral judicial decree. This exception in Canadian law is not shared by any other Canadian provinces.

In countries which outlaw polygamy, some people circumvent the prohibition by a practice of serial monogamy, where a person serially marries and divorces multiple partners. This behavior is not illegal in North America and the requirement to become divorced before becoming eligible to take another spouse serves to protect individual property and matrimonial rights.

Patterns of occurrence worldwide

According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, of 1231 societies noted, 186 were monogamous. 453 had occasional polygyny, 588 had more frequent polygyny, and 4 had polyandry.^[3] At the same time, even within societies which allow polygyny, the actual practice of polygyny occurs relatively rarely. There are exceptions: in Senegal, for example, nearly 47 percent of marriages are multiple.^[8] To take on more than one wife often requires considerable resources: this may put polygamy beyond the means of the vast majority of people within those societies. Such appears the case in many traditional Islamic societies, and in Imperial China. Within polygynous societies, multiple wives often become a status symbol denoting wealth and power. Similarly, within societies that formally prohibit polygamy, social opinion may look favorably on people maintaining mistresses or engaging in serial monogamy.

Patterns of occurrence across religions

Samaritanism

Samaritanism is the only monotheistic religion that is monogamous based on the interpretation of the Samaritan Torah. In the book of Leviticus it is stated that, "You shall not marry a woman over another to be a rival to her to uncover her nakedness as long as she is alive." In the Masoretic text, the same verse is interpreted to mean two sisters from the same parents, not any woman.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, marriage is not a sacrament. It is purely a secular affair and the monks do not participate in it. Hence it receives no religious sanction.^[9] Forms of marriage consequently vary from country to country. It is said in the Parabhava Sutta that "a man who is not satisfied with one woman and seeks out other women is on the path to decline". Other fragments in the Buddhist scripture can be found that seem to treat polygamy unfavorably, leading some authors to conclude that Buddhism generally does not approve of it^[10] or alternatively that it is a tolerated, but subordinate marital model.^[11]

Until 1935 polygyny was legally recognized in Thailand. In Burma, polygyny was also frequent. It is still legally recognized but very rarely practiced in modern day and socially less acceptable. In Sri Lanka, polyandry was practiced (though not widespread) till recent times.^[9] When the Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese, the concubines of others were added to the list of inappropriate partners. Polyandry in Tibet as well was common traditionally, as was polygyny, and having several wives or husbands was never regarded as having sex with inappropriate partners.^[12] Tibet is home to the largest and most flourishing polyandrous community in the world today. Most typically, fraternal polyandry is practiced, but sometimes father and son have a common wife, which is a unique family structure in the world. Other forms of marriage are also present, like group marriage and monogamous marriage.^[13] Polyandry (especially fraternal polyandry) is also common among Buddhists in Bhutan, Ladakh, and other parts of the Indian subcontinent.

The 2008 BBC documentary series "A Year in Tibet", recorded three distinct cases of polyandry in and around the city of Gyantse alone (the pregnant farmer's wife in episode 1, "The Visit"; Yangdron in episode 2, "Three Husbands and a Wedding"; and the young monk, Tsephun's, mother in episode 5, "A Tale of Three Monks"). In "Three Husbands and a Wedding", a 17-year-old girl is also shown being forced into a marriage that would have been polyandrous, except that the younger, 12-year-old, brother had to attend school on the wedding day (his parents hint that he will marry his older brother's new wife at a later date). The programs include statements from the women involved that indicate they did not enter the polyandrous marriages willingly, and commentary that indicates young women in Tibet are routinely forced by their families into polyandrous marriages with two or more brothers.

Hinduism

Polygamy was practiced in many sections of Hindu society in ancient times. Concerning polyandry, there was one example of polyandry in the ancient Hindu epic, Mahabharata, Draupadi marries the five Pandava brothers as a message to human society. Regarding polygamy, in Ramayana, father of Ram, King Dasharath has three wives, but Ram has pledged himself just one wife.

The Hindu god, Lord Krishna, the 8th incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu had 16,108 wives and several other mistresses at his kingdom in Dwarka. Although there is controversy regarding this because some Hindu scholars argue that Krishna left Brindabon (where he spent his childhood with some female company) at the age of 12 to save his birth place from the evil king, Kans. In the post-Vedic periods, polygamy declined in Hinduism, and is now considered immoral,^[14] although it is thought that some sections of Hindu society still practice polyandry, in the areas of Tibet, Nepal, and China.

Marriage laws in India are dependent upon the religion of the subject in question. Although the Vedas and the Hindu religion itself do not outlaw polygamy, the terms under the Hindu Marriage Act has deemed polygamy to be illegal for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, and Sikhs^[15]. Muslim men in India are allowed to have multiple wives, since they are governed under Sharia law.^[16]

Judaism

Biblical practice

Multiple marriage was considered a realistic alternative in the case of famine, widowhood, or female infertility^[17] like in the practice of levirate marriage, wherein a man was required to marry and support his deceased brother's widow, as mandated by Deuteronomy 25:5–10. Despite its prevalence in the Hebrew bible, scholars do not believe that polygyny was commonly practiced in the biblical era because it required a significant amount of wealth.^[18]

The Torah, Judaism's central text, includes a few specific regulations on the practice of polygamy, such as Exodus 21:10, which states that multiple marriages are not to diminish the status of the first wife (specifically, her right to food, clothing and conjugal relations). Deuteronomy 21:15–17, states that a man must award the inheritance due to a first-born son to the son who was actually born first, even if he hates that son's mother and likes another wife more;^[19] and Deuteronomy 17:17 states that the king shall not have too many wives.^[20] The king's behavior is condemned by Prophet Samuel in 1Samuel 8. Exodus 21:10 also speaks of Jewish concubines. Israeli lexicographer Vadim Cherny argues that the Torah carefully distinguishes concubines and "sub-standard" wives with prefix "to", lit. "took to wives."^[21]

The monogamy of the Roman Empire was the cause of two explanatory notes in the writings of Josephus describing how the polygamous marriages of Herod were permitted under Jewish custom.^[22]

Modern practice

In the modern day, Rabbinic Judaism has essentially outlawed polygamy. Ashkenazi Jews have followed Rabbenu Gershom's ban since the 11th century.^[23] Some Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews (particularly those from Yemen and Iran) discontinued polygamy much more recently, as they emigrated to countries where it was forbidden.

Among Karaite Jews, who do not adhere to Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah, polygamy is almost non-existent today. Like other Jews, Karaites interpret Leviticus 18:18 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives her consent (Keter Torah on Leviticus, pp. 96–97) and Karaites interpret Exodus 21:10 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if he is capable of maintaining the same level of marital duties due to his first wife; the marital duties are 1) food, 2) clothing, and 3) sexual gratification. Because of these two biblical limitations and because nearly all countries outlaw it, polygamy is considered highly impractical, and there are only a few known cases of it among Karaite Jews today.

Israel

Israel has made polygamy illegal,^[24][25] but in practice the law is not enforced, primarily so as not to interfere with Bedouin culture, where polygamy is common. Provisions were instituted to allow for existing polygamous families immigrating from countries where the practice was legal. Furthermore, former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef^[26] and Israeli columnist Greer Fay Cashman^[27] have come out in favor of legalizing polygamy and the practice of pilegesh (concubine) by the Israeli government.

Christianity

Saint Augustine saw a conflict with Old Testament polygamy. He refrained from judging the patriarchs, but did not deduce from their practice the ongoing acceptability of polygamy. On the contrary, he showed that polygamy of the Fathers, tolerated by the Creator because of fertility, was a diversion from His original plan for the human marriage. Augustine wrote:That the good purpose of marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife, than by a husband with several wives, is shown plainly enough by the very first union of a married pair, which was made by the Divine Being Himself.^[28]

Augustine taught that the reason why patriarchs had many wives was not because of fornication but because they wanted more children. He proved it by showing that their marriages, in which husband was a head, were arranged according to the rules of good management: those who are in command (quae principantur) in the society are always singular, while subordinates (subiecta) are multiple. He gave two examples of such relationship: dominus-servus - master-servant (in older translation, slave) and God-soul. The Bible many times says that worshipping multiple gods, i.e. idolatry is a fornication. Augustine relates to that: On this account there is no True God of souls, save One: but one soul by means of many false gods may commit fornication, but not be made fruitful.^[29]

Since the fullness of time arrived, fertility has no longer been regarded as a reason justifying polygamy: it was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce (utrum et nunc fas sit, non temere dixerim). For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful.^[30]

Augustine saw marriage as sacrament - friendly covenant between one man and one woman, which may not be broken. It was the Creator, who established monogamy: Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife.^[31] Such marriage was confirmed by the Saviour in the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 19,9) and by his presence at the wedding in Cana (John 2:2).^[32] In the Church - the City of God - marriage, is a sacrament and may not and cannot be dissolved as long as the spouses live: But a marriage once for all entered upon in the City of our God, where, even from the first union of the two, the man and the woman, marriage bears a certain sacramental character, can no way be dissolved but by the death of one of them..^[33] In chapter 7 he points out that also the practice of the Roman Empire forbids polygamy, even if the reason of fertility would support it: For it is in a man’s power to put away a wife that is barren, and marry one of whom to have children. And yet it is not allowed; and now indeed in our times, and after the usage of Rome (nostris quidem iam temporibus ac more Romano), neither to marry in addition, so as to have more than one wife living. Further on he notices that the Church's attitude goes much further than the secular law regarding monogamy, it forbids re-marrying as a from of fornication: And yet, save in the City of our God, in His Holy Mount, the case is not such with the wife. But, that the laws of the Gentiles are otherwise, who is there that knows not .^[34]

The New Testament does not specifically address the morality of polygamy. 1 Timothy, however, states that certain Church leaders should have but one wife: "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach" (chapter 3, verse 2; see also verse 12 regarding deacons having only one wife). Similar counsel is repeated in the first chapter of the Epistle of Titus; however, the author of 1 Corinthians (chapter 7, verse 2) writes, "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." In modern times a minority of Roman Catholic theologians have argued that polygamy, though not ideal, can be a legitimate form of Christian marriage in certain regions, in particular Africa.^[35][36] The Roman Catholic Church teaches in its Catechism that

"polygamy is not in accord with the moral law. [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive."^[37]

Periodically, Christian reform movements that have aimed at rebuilding Christian doctrine based on the Bible alone (sola scriptura) have at least temporarily accepted polygamy as a Biblical practice. For example, during the Protestant Reformation, in a document referred to simply as "Der Beichtrat" (or "The Confessional Advice" ),^[38] Martin Luther granted the Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who, for many years, had been living "constantly in a state of adultery and fornication,"^[39] a dispensation to take a second wife. The double marriage was to be done in secret however, to avoid public scandal.^[40] Some fifteen years earlier, in a letter to the Saxon Chancellor Gregor Brück, Luther stated that he could not "forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture." ("Ego sane fateor, me non posse prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris literis.")^[41]

"On February 14, 1650, the parliament at Nürnberg decreed that, because so many men were killed during the Thirty Years’ War, the churches for the following ten years could not admit any man under the age of 60 into a monastery. Priests and ministers not bound by any monastery were allowed to marry. Lastly, the decree stated that every man was allowed to marry up to ten women. The men were admonished to behave honorably, provide for their wives properly, and prevent animosity among them."^{[42][43][44][45][46]}

The trend towards frequent divorce and remarriage is sometimes referred to as 'serial polygamy'.^[47] In contrast, others may refer to this as 'serial monogamy', since it is a series of monogamous relationships.^[48] The first term highlights the multiplicity of marriages throughout the life-cycle, the second the non-simultaneous nature of these marriages.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, there has often been a tension between the Christian churches' insistence on monogamy and traditional polygamy. In some instances in recent times there have been moves for accommodation; in others churches have resisted such moves strongly. African Independent Churches have sometimes referred to those parts of the Old Testament which describe polygamy in defending the practice.

Mormonism

The history of Mormon polygamy (more accurately, polygyny) begins with Mormonism founder Joseph Smith stating that he received a revelation from God on July 17, 1831 that some Mormon men would be allowed to practice "plural marriage". This was later set down in the Doctrine and Covenants by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).^[49] Despite Smith's revelation, the 1835 edition of the 101st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, written after the doctrine of plural marriage began to be practiced, publicly condemned polygamy. This scripture was used by John Taylor in 1850 to quash Mormon polygamy rumors in Liverpool, England.^[50] Polygamy was illegal in the state of Illinois^[51] during the 1839–44 Nauvoo era when several top Mormon leaders, including Smith,^[52][53] Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, took plural wives. Mormon elders who publicly taught that all men were commanded to enter plural marriage were subject to harsh discipline.^[54] On June 7, 1844 the Nauvoo Expositor criticized Smith for plural marriage. The Nauvoo city council declared the Nauvoo Expositor press a nuisance and ordered Smith, as Nauvoo's mayor, to order the city marshall to destroy the paper and its press. This controversial decision led to Smith going to Carthage Jail where he was killed by a mob on June 27, 1844. The main body of Mormons left Nauvoo and followed Brigham Young to Utah where the practice of plural marriage continued.^[55]

In 1852 Brigham Young, the second president of the LDS church publicly acknowledged the practice of plural marriage through a sermon he gave. Additional sermons by top Mormon leaders on the virtues of polygamy followed.^[56] Controversy followed when polygyny became a social cause, writers began to publish works condemning polygamy. The key plank of the Republican Party's 1856 platform was "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery".^[57] In 1862, Congress issued the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act which clarified that the practice of polygamy was illegal in all US territories. The LDS Church believed that their religiously-based practice of plural marriage was protected by the United States Constitution,^[58] however, the unanimous 1878 Supreme Court decision Reynolds v. United States declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution, based on the longstanding legal principle that "laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices."^[59]

Increasingly harsh anti-polygamy legislation in the US led some Mormons to emigrate to Canada and Mexico. In 1890, LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a public declaration (the Manifesto) announcing the official discontinuance of polygamy. Anti-Mormon sentiment waned, as did opposition to statehood for Utah. The Smoot Hearings in 1904 spurred the LDS Church to issue a Second Manifesto against polygamy. By 1910 the LDS Church excommunicated those who practiced polygamy. Even so, many plural husbands and wives continued to cohabit until their deaths in the 1940s and 1950s.^[60]

Enforcement of the 1890 Manifesto caused various splinter groups to leave the LDS Church in order to continue the practice of plural marriage.^[61] Polygamy among these groups persists today in Utah and neighboring states as well as in the spin-off colonies. Polygamist churches of Mormon origin are often referred to as "Mormon fundamentalist" even though they are not a part of the mainstream LDS church. Such fundamentalists often use an 1886 revelation to John Taylor as the basis for their authority to continue the practice of plural marriage.^[62] The Salt Lake Tribune stated in 2005 there were as many as 37,000 fundamentalists with less than half of them living in polygamous households.^[63]

Islam

In Islam, polygamy is allowed for men (making it polygyny), with the specific limitation that they can only have up to four wives at any one time. The Qur'an clearly states that men who choose this route must deal with their wives justly. If the husband fears that he cannot deal with his wives justly, then he should only marry one. Some Islamic scholars opine that it is mandatory for the husband to tell the first wife if he wants to marry a second one. However, her acceptance is not mandatory for him to go through with the subsequent marriage.^[64] Women, on the other hand, are only allowed the one husband (no polyandry), although they are allowed to remarry after a divorce, unlike many other cultures further east. Although many Muslim countries still retain traditional Islamic law which permits polygamy, secular elements within some Muslim societies challenge its acceptability. Polygamy is prohibited by law in some Muslim-majority countries that have not adopted Islamic law for marital regulations, such as Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Tunisia and Turkey.

Polygamy, and laws concerning polygamy, differ greatly throughout the Islamic world and form a very complex and diverse background from nation to nation. Whereas in some Muslim countries it may be fairly common, in most others it is often rare or non-existent. According to traditional Islamic law, a man may take up to four wives, and each of those wives must have her own property, assets, and dowry. Usually the wives have little to no contact with each other and lead separate, individual lives in their own houses, and sometimes in different cities, though they all share the same husband. Prophet Muhammad, who had a monogamous marriage with Khadija for twenty five years till her death, married many of his wives because they were war widows who were left with nothing and took care of them. Thus, polygamy is an exception rather than the rule and is traditionally restricted to men who can manage things, and in some countries it is illegal for a man to marry multiple wives if he is unable to afford to take care of each of them properly.

In the modern Islamic world, polygamy is mainly found in Saudi Arabia, West and East Africa (In Sudan it is encouraged from the president as female population is high).^[65] Among the 22 member states of the Arab League, Tunisia alone explicitly prohibits polygamy; however, it is generally frowned-upon in many of the more secularized or Westernized Arab states, such as Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon. Few other countries including Libya and Pakistan require the written permission of the first wife if her husband wishes to marry a second, third, or fourth wife.

Canada

Polygamy is illegal in Canada. s.293 of the Criminal code of Canada states:

Everyone who practices or enters into or in any manner agrees or consents to practise or enter into any form of polygamy, or any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage, or celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract or consent that purports to sanction a relationship mentioned in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

The exception to this Federal law of Canada is Saskatchewan province. s.51 of the Saskatchewan Family Property Act has successfully been utilized by federally appointed Queens Bench justices to sanction polygamy in Saskatchewan. To date, no family court justice in Saskatchewan has been charged with "assisting or being party to a consent or sanctioning" of simultaneous multiple conjugal unions. Saskatchewan Family law s.51 states:

Where a person becomes the spouse of a person who has a spouse, the rights pursuant to this Act of the subsequent spouse are subject to the rights pursuant to this Act of the prior spouse.

All other provinces in Canada maintain family laws that void "subsequent and simultaneously existing marriages", whether "common law marriage", "cohabitation as spouses" or "civil marriages". "Conjugal union" has been used to describe both civil marriages and common law marriages in Canada for over 40 years.

Africa

Polygamy existed all over Africa as an aspect of culture or/and religion. Plural marriages have been more common than not in the history of Africa. Many African societies saw children as a form of wealth thus the more children a family had the more powerful it was. Thus polygamy was part of empire building. It was only during the colonial era that plural marriage was perceived as taboo. Esther Stanford, an African-focused lawyer, states that this decline was encouraged because the issues of property ownership conflicted with European colonial interest.^[66] Polygamy is very common in West Africa. However, the diffusion of Islam to this region has (rather counterintuitively) decreased the prevalence of polygamy in this region ^[67]

South Africa

In South Africa, traditionalists commonly practice polygamy.^[68] The president, Jacob Zuma is also openly in favor of plural marriages, being married to five wives himself and rumored to be courting a sixth. He has a total of twenty children with all these wives.^[69][70] The wives live in small houses in a circle around the master compound.^[71]

Sudan

Polygamy is encouraged in countries such as Sudan, where President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has encouraged multiple marriages to increase the population.^[72]

Asia

The Chinese culture of Confucianism and thus the practice of polygamy spread from China to Korea and areas that are now Vietnam. Before their modernizations, East Asian countries permitted similar practices of polygamy.^[73]

South Asia

Polygyny, permitted under Islamic law, is present amongst some Muslims in South Asia. Polygamy is considerably more widespread among Hindus in Nepal than in India.

India

Polygamy is illegal in India for Hindus and other religious groups under the Hindu marriage Act. It remains legal for Muslims under the terms of The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937, as interpreted by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Nevertheless, according to the 1961 census (the last census to record such data), polygamy was actually less prevalent among Indian Muslims (5.7%) than among several other religious groups.^[74] Incidence was highest among Adivasis (15.25%) and Buddhists (7.9%); Some Indian communists like Ram Puniyani claim that Hindus had an incidence of 5.8%.^[75][76]

Polygamy is generally quite rare in urban areas, and among the cosmopolitan middle classes.

Thailand

Until polygamy was outlawed by King Rama VI, it was expected that wealthy or upper-class Thai men were historically recognized to maintain mansions consisting of multiple wives and their children in the same residence. Among the royalty and courtiers in the past, wives were classified as principal, secondary, and slave. Today, the tradition of minor wives still remains, but the practice is different from that of the past. Due to the expense involved, minor wives are mostly limited to the wealthy men. While a "proper woman" (Kulasatrii; Thai: กุลสตรี) must remain faithful to her husband, there were no equivalent rules in history mandating fidelity in the "virtuous man."

Regardless of the historical acceptance, male polygamy or plural marriage is no longer legally or socially acceptable in the contemporary Thai society. However, the practice of having "minor wives" (Mia-Noi: เมียน้อย) continues in modern days in secrecy from the "primary wife" (Mia-Luang: เมียหลวง).^[77] Almost all married Thai women today object to this practice, and indeed for many it has been grounds for divorce.^[78] Minor wives are viewed with contempt by the Thai society along the lines of being amoral women or home breakers.^[79]

China

Technically, ever since the Han Dynasty, it had been unlawful for Chinese men to have more than one wife. However, throughout the history of imperial china, it had been common for the rich and influential Chinese men to have one wife and various concubines. Polygamy in China is considered to be a by-product of the tradition of emphasis on procreation and the continuity of the father's family name. Although the establishment of the Republic of China made it explicitly unlawful for a man to have multiple spouses/concubines, such legislation were generally not enforced, especially among the societal elites whom were most likely to live such lifestyles. The most serious changes occurred during and after the Communist Revolution, where traditions considered backward and feudal (such as concubinage, foot-binding, slavery, prostitution, etc.) were thoroughly outlawed and severely punished for. However certain forms of concubinage and prostitution survived during the Communist era, and again found full bloom once again since China's "opening up", due to the revival of certain traditional values and market forces. In Confucianism, the practice of taking concubines was allowed, but a man must have just reasons for doing so. For example, if his wife is not able to give birth to a son, he would be allowed to take a concubine. If a man wants more wives for sexual indulgence, it would be unacceptable. It is illegal in modern China to have more than one spouse for either sex. Polygamy, however, remain seen and tolerated in southwest China among Chinese minorities such as Tibetans etc..

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, polygamy was banned in October 1971.^[80] Some Hong Kong businessmen have concubines across the border in mainland China, but concubines do not have the legal or social status of wives and so this should not strictly be called "polygamy". Kevin Murphy of The International Herald Tribune^[81] reports the cross-border polygyny phenomenon in Hong Kong in 1995.^[82]

The traditional attitude toward mistresses is reflected in the saying: "wife is not as good as concubine, concubine is not as good as prostitute, prostitute is not as good as secret affair, secret affair is not as good as the affair you want but can't get" (妻不如妾, 妾不如妓, 妓不如偷, 偷不如偷不著).

Current proponents and opponents

Legalization

In North America, only Saskatchewan Canada has legalized polygamy. The caveat exists that if the "subsequent spouses" moved to another province in Canada their conjugal union would not be recognized by other provincial Family Law courts in Canada.

All other provinces in Canada maintain family laws that stipulate married persons must first become divorced before becoming eligible to become the legal spouse of another person.

Secular

David Friedman and Steve Sailer have argued that polygamy tends to benefit most women and disadvantage most men, under the assumption that most men and women do not practice it. The idea is firstly that many women would prefer half or one third of someone especially appealing to being the single spouse of someone that doesn't provide as much economic utility to them. Secondly, that the remaining women have a better market for finding a spouse themselves. Say that 20% of women are married to 10% of men, that leaves 90% of men to compete over the remaining 80% of women. Friedman uses this viewpoint to argue in favor of legalizing polygamy, while Sailer uses it to argue against legalizing it.

This same result of polygamy is used to justify it as a way to improve the genetic characteristics in a population. The logic being that women will generally tend to marry men of wealth and health. Wealth has a high corrolation with intelligence, thus polygamy has the effect of increasing the intelligence inside the population that practices it.

In the US, the Libertarian Party supports complete decriminalization of polygamy as part of a general belief that the government should not regulate marriages.

Individualist feminism and advocates such as Wendy McElroy also support the freedom for adults to voluntarily enter polygamous marriages.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, USA, is opposed to Utah's law against cohabitation.^[83]

Those who advocate a Federal Marriage Amendment to the American Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage generally word their proposed laws to also prohibit polygamy. Many proponents of same-sex marriage are also in favour of maintaining current statutory prohibitions against polygamy.

Stanley Kurtz, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, lamented the modern arguments increasingly being made by various intellectuals who call for de-criminalizing polygamy. Kurtz concluded, "Marriage, as its ultramodern critics would like to say, is indeed about choosing one's partner, and about freedom in a society that values freedom. But that's not the only thing it is about. As the Supreme Court justices who unanimously decided Reynolds in 1878 understood, marriage is also about sustaining the conditions in which freedom can thrive. Polygamy in all its forms is a recipe for social structures that inhibit and ultimately undermine social freedom and democracy. A hard-won lesson of Western history is that genuine democratic self-rule begins at the hearth of the monogamous family."^[84]

Religious

The Roman Catholic Church clearly condemns polygamy; the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists it in paragraph 2387 under the head "Other offenses against the dignity of marriage" and states that it "is not in accord with the moral law." Also in paragraph 1645 under the head "The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love" states "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive."

The illegality of polygamy in certain areas creates, according to certain Bible passages, additional arguments against it. Paul of Tarsus writes "submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience" (Romans 13:5), for "the authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1) St Peter concurs when he says to "submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." (1 Peter 2:13,14) Pro-polygamists argue that, as long as polygamists currently do not obtain legal marriage licenses nor seek "common law marriage status" for additional spouses, no enforced laws are being broken any more than when monogamous couples who similarly co-habitate without a marriage license.^[85] In Canada, no person can assist with the creation of, the sanction of, or legally recognize under family law a polygamous conjugal union.

At the present time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) supports enforcing laws against polygamy, although historically this denomination practiced polygamy—which it considered to be a principle revealed by God, through the church's founder Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenents Section 132—and fought vocally against those seeking to establish anti-polygamy laws. The LDS Church renounced polygamy in 1890 as part of the events enabling Utah to become a state of the United States. Today, the church will excommunicate any member found to be practicing polygamy, even in countries where polygamy is legal.

Controversial Christian vegetarian activist and leader Nathan Braun implies a positive stance towards polygamy in his fourth edition of The History and Philosophy of Marriage.

Polygamy in fiction and popular culture

The quip "Bigamy is having one spouse too many. Monogamy is the same." is popularly misattributed to Oscar Wilde.

A popular joke with Mark Twain has Twain asked to cite a Scripture reference that forbids polygamy, and he responds with, "No man can serve two masters."

Science fiction, utopias, dystopias

A number of writers have expressed their views on polygamy by writing about a fictional world in which it is the most common type of relationship. These worlds tend to be utopian or dystopian in nature. For instance, Robert A. Heinlein uses this theme in a number of novels, such as Stranger in a Strange Land, as well as his later works such as Time Enough for Love, Number of the Beast, and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Polygamy is practiced by the Fremen in Frank Herbert's Dune as a means to pinpoint male infertility. It is socially accepted as long as the man provides for all wives equally. Cultures described within the Dune novel series have intentional similarities to Islamic, Arab, and other cultures – i.e. desert cultures. Similarly, the Aiel society in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series practice a form of polygamy, in which multiple women may marry the same man; in that fictional culture, women are the ones who propose marriage. Among Aiel, sisters or very close friends who have adopted each other as sisters, will often marry the same man, so that he will not come between them. Ursula K. Le Guin describes a planet O, where the cultural norm is a "sedoretu" or four-person marriage (a set combination of both genders and sexual orientations). Dan Simmons describes a culture of three-person marriages (any gender ratio) in his book Endymion. In David Weber's Honor Harrington series, the inhabitants of the planet Grayson practice polygamy (polygyny) due to the human colonists to the planet acquiring a genetic defect that gave rise to a large women-to-men birth ratio combined with a high infant mortality. Honor Harrington herself is married to Hamish Alexander as his second wife alongside Emily Alexander. Their surname then becomes Alexander-Harrington. Wen Spencer's science fiction novel A Brother's Price describes a society where men are very rare and protected, and multiple sisters typically marry one man. In the novel Ruins of Isis, mention is made of a culture where a type of group marriage is performed-a group of 4 people minimum, two men, two women to start.

In the Star Trek television series Enterprise, the ship's physician, Dr. Phlox (who is a Denobulan) has three wives, each of whom has three husbands of her own (including him). One of his wives seemed to be interested in having extramarital relations with a human, which Phlox himself did not oppose, and even encouraged. It has also been stated that the Andorian species enter into group marriages (although whether this is due to societal custom or biological necessity has not been established onscreen, but left to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine relaunch original novels.) In the Sci-Fi television series Babylon 5 the Centauris allow for men to have more than one wife. In Star Wars Expanded Universe, it is explained that Cereans (like Ki-Adi-Mundi) have a much higher birth-rate of girls than boys. Thus, every male Cerean must have one wife and multiple "honor wives", to increase the chance of giving birth to another male. Jedi Cerean Ki-Adi-Mundi was allowed to marry multiple times, although Jedi were not supposed to marry at his time; but Ki-Adi-Mundi got a dispense of that norm.

Prehistoric and historic fiction

Jean M. Auel in the pre-historic Earth's Children series depicted several instances of "co-mating," where a person could have more than one mate. Examples included the headwoman Tulie in the Mammoth Hunters, and a man who married a pair of twins in the Shelters of Stone. Also of note was Vincavec, the headman of the Mammoth Camp who wished to mate with the protagonist Ayla and was willing to take her Promised, Ranec, implying a bisexual relationship as well.

In the Chinese Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron by Hong Kong writer Louis Cha, set in the Qing Dynasty era during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the protagonist Wei Xiaobao has seven wives. The novel has spawned numerous film and TV series adaptations since the 1960s, with renowned actors such as Tony Leung, Jordan Chan, Stephen Chow and Dicky Cheung playing the role of Wei Xiaobao.

Contemporary setting

Noted libertarian author L. Neil Smith included a character married to two sisters in his book The American Zone. The dominant culture in the novel sees one's religion and personal living accommodations as no one else's business, and "acts of capitalism between consenting adults" as the norm instead of something immoral. A Home at the End of the World is a novel by Michael Cunningham about a polygamous family. It was later adapted into a film. Both explore issues of homosexuality and families. Big Love is an HBO series about a polygamous family in Utah in the first decade of the 21st century. In the series, Bill Henrickson has three wives and eight children, who belong to a fundamentalist Mormon splinter group. Big Love explores the complex legal, moral, and religious issues associated with polygamy in Utah. Henrickson's three wives each have separate houses beside one another, with a shared backyard. By outward appearances, he lives with his primary wife, and has two "friends" living close by, while in reality taking turns sleeping at a different house each night. Henrickson effectively balances his work, the continuing demands of his wives, and his wives' relatives. Random House published David Ebershoff's novel The 19th Wife in 2008. It is about Ann Eliza Young, one of Brigham Young's wives, and the legacy of Mormon polygamy in the United States today.

See also

References

Bibliography

• Cairncross, John (1974). After Polygamy Was Made a Sin: The Social History of Christian Polygamy. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7730-0. 
• Campbell, James (1869). The History and Philosophy of Marriage. First published in Boston. 
• Chapman, Samuel A. (2001). Polygamy, Bigamy and Human Rights Law. Xlibris Corp. ISBN 1-4010-1244-2. 
• Hillman, Eugene (1975). Polygamy Reconsidered: African Plural Marriage and the Christian Churches. New York: Orbis Books. ISBN 0-88344-391-0. 
• Korotayev, Andrey (2004). World Religions and Social Evolution of the Old World Oikumene Civilizations: A Cross-cultural Perspective (First ed.). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-6310-0. 
• Main Street Church (2007; Video Documentary). Lifting the Veil of Polygamy. Main Street Church. http://www.mscbc.org/video/vid_lvp.htm. 
• Van Wagoner, Richard S. (1992). Mormon Polygamy: A History] (2nd ed.). Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 0-941214-79-6. http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/mp.htm. 
• Wilson, E. O. (2000). Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Harvard Univ Pr. ISBN 0-674-00235-0. 

External links

• The Four Major Periods of Mormon Polygamy
• Polygamy in Africa
• History of Polygamy in Judaism