Polygyny (from neo-Greek: πολύ poly - "many", and γυνή gyny - "woman or wife")[1] is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time.[2] In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist. It is distinguished from relationships where a man has a sexual partner outside marriage, such as a concubine, casual sexual partner, paramour, cohabits with a married woman or other culturally but not legally recognized secondary partner. Polygyny is the most common form of polygamy; the much rarer practice of polyandry is the form of marriage in which one woman has two or more husbands at the same time.[3]
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Polygyny has been practiced in some cultures throughout history. It was partially accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China, and in sporadic traditional Native American, African and Polynesian cultures. In India it was known to have been practiced during ancient times. It was accepted in ancient Greece, until the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church when having one wife, but multiple lovers became the norm. It was accepted in Sub-Saharan Africa for most of the past two millennia.
In the Hebrew Bible, polygyny was a permitted practice (and required in the case of a levirate marriage) whilst polyandry (a woman having more than one husband) was seen as adultery.
In the United States, polygyny or "plural marriage" was allowed in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[4] It ended in 1890 under the president of the LDS Church at the time, Wilford Woodruff.[5] Officially since 1899, members of the LDS Church faced excommunication for being polygynous. There are several sects who separated themselves from LDS Church, and who have no ties nor relationship to the LDS Church that continue to practice polygyny despite polygynous marriage being illegal in the United States.
In historical China a child was considered to have more than one mother. For example, a child might have up to four mothers, the first wife being the "official mother" (嫡母 dímǔ) – in spoken language called "big mother" (大媽 dàmā) – the others being regarded as unofficial mothers (庶母 shùmǔ), in spoken language called "little mother" (小媽 xiǎomā) or "aunt" (阿姨 āyí, 姨娘 yíniáng). However, this custom was primarily a result of the concubinage system, where only the first wife by marriage was considered the wife and the mistress of the household. A concubine did not marry her owner. Her main duty was to provide a son to her owner, and any children from the liaison were not regarded as officially hers. But she was also brought into the household to provide sexual pleasure to the man and servitude to his wife.
In polygynous marriages generally, usually one wife is the “queen wife” who is accorded a higher status than the other wives and has some authority over the other wives.[6]
There is also some research that show that males living in polygynous marriages live longer; 12 percent longer on average. [7]
Women have been more likely than men to be left unmarried or widowed. One current viable reason is that throughout human history males have always had a higher mortality rate. Polygyny ensured that such women were cared for and also helped ensure the births of the large numbers of children required for the survival of pre-mechanized, largely agrarian cultures in which early mortality rates were high.
The required inheritance of widows requires men in some societies to marry the widow of a deceased brother. This levirate marriage helps provide support for her and increases his number of wives.
In some societies only well-to-do men could afford to have more than one wife, particularly if each wife required maintenance of a separate household. The current traditional form of Islam permits as many as four wives, but depending on the man's financial circumstances, fewer wives are more common; indeed, the vast majority of Muslim men are monogamous.
While few present-day states permit polygamous marriages, polygynous male behavior may be observed in the establishment of mistresses, who are openly or secretly supported. In this way, men may be technically monogamous but de facto polygynous.
Economically, polygyny tends to benefit all but the most desirable women, by giving them more opportunities to marry rich men, who are in short supply. Most men tend to be disadvantaged by polygyny, however, since when many women are able to marry a rich man, it leaves fewer women available for the less rich.[8]
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The Hebrew Bible indicates that polygyny was practised in ancient Israelite societies. Though the institution was not extremely common, it was not particularly unusual and was certainly not prohibited but discouraged by the Bible (namely the Mosaic Law recommended that kings should not have many wives, and when Solomon took 1000 wives the Bible cites his polygamy as the reason of the fall of his faith). The Bible mentions approximately forty polygynists, including Abraham, Jacob, Esau, David and King Solomon, with little or no further remark on the institution.
The Torah, the Five Books of Moses, includes specific regulations on the practice of polygyny. Exodus 21:10 states that multiple marriages are not to diminish the status of the first wife, while 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 (implying that he had divorced the first-born son's mother); and Deuteronomy 17:17 states that the king shall not have too many wives.[9][10]
The biblical institution of a levirate marriage was a form of polygyny. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 required a man to marry and support his deceased brother's widow, if he died without her having given birth to a son. The practice has been justified in that it was important for the deceased brother to have an heir to inherit his lands, and to say the prayers for the dead for him. The practice was also a means to ensure that the widow was provided for. If the eldest brother refused to marry the widow then it was the responsibility of the next brother and so on down the family line.
Polygyny continued to be practiced well into the biblical period, and it is attested among Jews as late as the second century CE.[11]
Since the 11th century, Ashkenazi Jews have followed Rabbenu Gershom's ban on polygyny (except in rare circumstances).[12]
Some Mizrahi Jewish communities (particularly Yemenite Jews and Persian Jews) discontinued polygyny much more recently, as they immigrated to countries where it was forbidden or illegal. Such is the case in the State of Israel, which has made polygamy illegal.[13][14] In practice, however, the law is only loosely enforced, primarily so as not to interfere with Bedouin culture, where polygyny is practiced.[15] Pre-existing polygynous unions among Jews from Arab countries (or other countries where the practice was not prohibited by their tradition and was not illegal in the local law) are also not subject to this Israeli law, although a similar cultural concession to the Bedouin is not extended to Mizrahi Jews, and they are not permitted to enter into new polygamous marriages in Israel.
Among Karaite Jews, who do not adhere to Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah, polygyny is non-existent today. Karaites interpret Leviticus 18:18 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives her consent[16] 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: namely, food, clothing, and sexual gratification.
Because of these two biblical limitations and because nearly all western countries outlaw it, polygyny is considered impractical, and there are no known cases of it among Karaite Jews.
Polygyny was not practiced by Christians during the New Testament era. Plural marriage is currently rejected by most sects of Christianity.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]
The current predominant belief among Christians in the United States is that polygyny is wrong and claim there is New Testament Biblical evidence to support that stance, citing for example Matthew 19:4-6 (KJV):
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Some suggest the New Testament Church did ban polygyny for bishops (1 Timothy 3:2). However, the word for "one" is correctly translated as "first" and as an indefinite article as well, which opens other possible interpretations.[29] The First Epistle to the Corinthians of Paul the Apostle concisely addresses each of the two gender forms of polygamy (in the sequence first polyandry and next polygyny) as follows: "But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:2, NRSV)[30] Additional contrasts between 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians on other specific topics are compiled within broader-scale discussions on authorship of the Pauline epistles.
Interviewed by Time magazine about his book, Michael Coogan said that according to Sola Scriptura, the Mormons were right about polygamy.[31] He was chief editor for the Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th Edition[32] (as well as the prececessor 3rd Edition). As to why fundamentalist Mormons are "right in a sense" regarding polygyny, the reasoning he offers does include both "There is no unequivocal statement in the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible, that says that monogamy should be the norm", and also "If you're going to be a strict literalist, there's nothing wrong with polygamy."[31] The Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th Edition[32] in turn does, in comparison, annotate 1 Corinthians 7:2 as "...Paul counsels monogamy..."[33][34]
Having offspring is very important in Chinese culture. China has practiced polygyny for thousands of years. Polygyny had been legal and was written in the law as recently as the end of the Qing/Ching dynasty of the imperial China (1911).
A part of the Confucian tradition indicates the importance of procreation, as it is considered to be part of filial piety. Therefore, it is possible that this type of thinking influenced the view towards polygyny.
In the past, Emperors could have hundreds to thousands of concubines. And subsequently rich officials and merchants could also have a number of concubines besides wives. The first wife is head or mother wife, other wives are under her headship if the husband is away, and others are concubines and have lower status than the full wives. Offspring from concubines did receive equal wealth/legacy from their father.
The original wife (or legal wife) is referred to as the 正室 zhèngshì /정실 (main room) both in China, Japan and Korea. 大婆 dàpó (big woman/big wife) is the slang term. Both terms indicate the orthodox nature and hierarchy. The official wife is either called "big mother" (大媽 dàmā), mother or auntie. The child of the concubine simply addresses the big mother as auntie.
The written word for the second woman is 側室 cèshì /측실 and literally means "she who occupied the side room". This word is also used in both China and Japan. They are also called 妾 qiè/첩 in China and Korea.
The common terms referring to the second woman and the act of having the second woman respectively are 二奶 (èrnǎi / yi nai), literally "the second wife". The terms have been widely used in the media.[35] Though illegal, it is still practiced by many richer men who can afford to support a mistress and her subsequent children. The mass media often report polygyny cases of the rich and the famous.
In modern mainland China, polygamy (and by extension polygyny) is illegal under Marriage Law passed in 1980 which replaced a similar prohibition passed in 1950[36]. Polygyny was seen as a characteristic of the bourgeoisie and as such, many senior Communist leaders who had mistresses and concubines during the Long March were forced to disband them. Because of this, polygyny is virtually unheard of in China today.
However, with the opening up of the country and the increased contact with Hong Kong and Taiwan, certain polygamous activities began appearing. Cross-border polygyny is ever increasing between PRC, Hong Kong and ROC.
Polygyny is illegal in the 1930 ROC civil law.[37] However, it is common for some richer Taiwanese to have secret second lovers who become concubines not living together with the wife. Taiwanese merchants, businessmen and workers are stationed in mainland China during work trips, and it is usual to keep secret lovers or even secret families there.
Polygyny was banned in October 1971 but the practice is still evident. Chinese men in Hong Kong could still practice polygamy by virtue of the Qing Code, which ended only with the passing of the Marriage Act of 1971. A famous example is Dr Stanley Ho who owns the Casino Lisboa in Macau. He has four wives. His uncle has 12 wives.
Kevin Murphy of the International Herald Tribune reported on the cross-border polygamy phenomenon in Hong Kong in 1995.[38] The cost of maintaining a second family is lower in the PRC. Since work pressure in Hong Kong is extremely high and the birth rate is the lowest in the world, many local businessmen keep a secret concubine across the border in mainland China. Girls in mainland China are moreover more willing to be full-time mothers at a younger age.
In a research paper of Berlin Humboldt University on sexology, Doctor Man-Lun Ng estimated about 300,000 men to have mistresses in China. In 1995, 40% of extramarital affairs involved a stable partner[39]
Period drama is performed to this day depicting the former culture of polygamy (usually polygyny). A famous example is the Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron by Hong Kong writer Louis Cha, in which the protagonist Wei Xiaobao has seven wives. The novel and its film and TV series adaptations became immensely popular among Chinese-speaking communities around the world.
Although it is permitted in most Islamic countries under certain circumstances, polygamy is not widely practiced under Islam. In fact, it is claimed that Islam was the first religion to have limited the number of wives a man is permitted to four, and that Islam alone has expressly banned polyandry. Men who marry more than one woman may do so with the constraints that they are responsible for treating all their wives with kindness and dignity as well as for providing for their material needs equally.
Many majority Muslim countries retain the traditional Sharia which interprets teachings of the Quran to permit polygamy with up to four wives, as long as it is practiced under the specified conditions. Exceptions to this include Albania, Tunisia, Turkey, and former USSR republics. Though about 70% of the population of Albania is historically Muslim, the majority is non-practicing. Turkey and Tunisia are countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations that enforce secularist practices by law. In the former USSR republics, a prohibition against polygamy has been inherited from Soviet Law. A current revival of polygamy in the Muslim World has fueled attempts to re-legalize and re-legitimize it in some countries and communities where it is illegal.
Polygamy is illegal throughout the Russian Federation but is tolerated in predominantly Muslim republics such as Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan.[40] Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic, has been quoted on radio as saying that the depopulation of Chechnya by war justifies legalizing polygamy.[41] Kadyrov has been supported by Nafigallah Ashirov, the Chairman of the Council of Grand Muftis of Russia, with the statement that polygamy is already widespread among Muslim communities of the country.[42]
Although non-Muslim Russian populations are historically monogamous, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky offered to legalize polygyny in order to tackle the demographic crisis of Russians. Zhirinovsky made his first proposal to legalize polygamy as early as 1993, after Kadyrov's declaration that he would introduce an amendment to legalize polygyny for all Russian citizens.[43][44]
Although illegal, polygamy is a traditional practice that has been revived in Kyrgyzstan. A proposal to decriminalize polygamy came before the Kyrgyz parliament and on March 26, 2007, despite strong backing of the Justice Minister, the country's ombudsman and the Muslim Women's organization Mutakalim that gathered 40,000 signatures in favour of polygamy, the parliament rejected the bill. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is known as a prominent opponent of legalizing polygyny.[45][46]
Due to a recent increase in the number of polygamous marriages, proposals were made in Tajikistan to re-legalize polygamy.[47] Tajik women who want to be second wives are particularly supportive of decriminalizing polygyny. Mukhiddin Kabiri, the Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan states that legislation is unlikely to stop the growth in polygyny and criticizes the ruling élite for speaking out against the practice while taking more than one wife themselves.[48]
There have also been recent arguments in favour of re-legalizing polygamy in other ex-Soviet Muslim republics like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.[49]
The Muslim communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been traditionally known to practice polygamy at a very limited level. The custom last existed in Cazinska Krajina in the early 1950s.[50] Although illegal in the country, polygamy is encouraged by certain religious circles and there is a current increase in the number of practitioners. This trend appears linked with the advent of Wahhabism in the Balkans.[51]
The Bosniak population in neighbouring Sandžak has also been affected by this trend in Bosnia. There have been attempts to adopt an entire Islamic jurisdiction including polygamy but these moves have been rejected. However, this has not barred the top cleric, the Mufti of Novi Pazar, Muamer Zukorlić from taking a second wife.[52]
Turkey is the only Muslim country located in the Middle East (and one the two along with Israel) that has abolished polygamy, which was officially criminalized with the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, a milestone in Atatürk's secularist reforms. Penalties for illegal polygamy are up to 5 years imprisonment.[53] becoming the first country in the area to do so. Turkey has long been known for its promotion of secularism,[54][55][56] and has continued to introduce measures that have placed even stricter bars on polygamy, also by the ruling moderate Islamist AK Parti as well. The most recent prohibition act, passed in March 2009, by the AK Parti, effectively banned polygamists from entering or living in the country.[57]
Although polygamy is very rare in Turkish society, the practice is still exists in the Kurdish populated South East.[58]
An advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the the ruling moderate Islamist AK Parti, Ali Yüksel, is reportedly polygamous and has made public his intention to take a fourth wife which caused outrage from the Turkish media and also from the AK Parti.[59]
Sororal polygyny is a type of marriage in which two or more sisters share a husband. In Islam, this type of polgyny is specifically prohibited. Reference from Quran (Chapter 4, verse 23):
Forbidden unto you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your father's sisters, and your mother's sisters, and your brother's daughters and your sister's daughters, and your foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters, and your mothers-in-law, and your step-daughters who are under your protection (born) of your women unto whom ye have gone in - but if ye have not gone in unto them, then it is no sin for you (to marry their daughters) - and the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own loins. And (it is forbidden unto you) that ye should have two sisters together, except what hath already happened (of that nature) in the past (before this revelation). Lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
Polygyny is legal according to the Hindu scriptures. Many mythological and epical characters are well known for practising polygyny. Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu had 16108 consorts at his kingdom of Dwarka. Pandu, the father of the Pandavas in Mahabharata had two wives Kunti and Madri.
Polygyny is illegal in the United States and Canada, with some exceptions existing in Canada's provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia
Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century. The principle most often associated with fundamental latter-day saint teachings is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
At times, sources have claimed there are as many as 60,000 Fundamentalist latter-day saints in the United States,[60][61] with fewer than half of them living in polygamous households.[62] However, others have suggested that there may be as few as 20,000 Mormon fundamentalists[63][64] with only 8,000 to 15,000 practicing polygamy.[65] The largest Mormon fundamentalist groups are the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) and the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). The FLDS Church is estimated to have 10,000 members residing in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; and Pringle, South Dakota.[66]
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent.[67] Generally in rural areas with growing populations, the higher the incidence of polygyny, the greater the delay of first marriage for young men, and this creates a surplus of marriageable girls. Widespread polygyny is thus a major source of tension between younger and older men, and also between older husbands and younger wives. The higher the average polygyny rate, the greater the element of gerontocracy. Quite apart from the actual rate of polygyny, the distribution of wives may be uneven, reflecting a source of competitiveness or inequality among married men. Where there is a more even spread of wives, this reflects a more egalitarian and conformist attitude. It follows that comparison between profiles of polygyny for various African societies provides an insight into their inner characteristics.[68]
Several species such as the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus possess a polygamous social order in which males mate with multiple females. Such circumstances result in competition between males during reproductive periods. This competition can extend beyond the superficial scrambling for females and exists at a microscopic level as competition between spermatozoa in the reproductive tract of the female organism.
A variety of methods for practicing polygamy can be observed in the animal kingdom.[69] For example, female defense polygyny is seen in marine amphipods, where the male herds the females into a cluster. This allows them to be protected by the male, while the male has continuous access to the females. Resource defense polygyny is a strategy seen in African cichlid fish, where the male collects empty snail shells which the females use to lay eggs. A third type is scramble competition polygamy, where females are widely spaced or fertility is time-limited, as in orangutans.
Elephant seals are known from long-term behavioral studies to be highly polygynous.[70]
In zoology, the term Harem is used for the social organization of certain species, such as those in the Hominidae and Equidae families, in groups of females surrounding a single dominant male. Non-dominant males will organize themselves in bachelor groups.
Among members of certain species, such as apes (Superfamily Hominoidea), horses (more broadly, Family Equidae), dogs and whales, young non-dominant males can spontaneously form "bachelor groups" or "bachelor bands."
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