What are your thoughts on polygamy?

[xsadiex]

I'm not a fan. I don't think I'd enjoy being in a relationship like that. I love my partner and he loves me and we don't want anyone else.. And that's how I like it!

 

[Dk1234]

I wouldn't personally like it I'm too jealous but I don't see how people who fight for rights of homosexuals to marry can then Deny polygamists the right to marry whoever they want.

 

[socitycourty]

i'm not religious so don't care on that front but here in the USA it is mostly illegal,and also the families take advantage of welfare/aid, even if we don't believe in it we are paying for it. any wife who is not the 1st wife can pass herself off as a single mother and collect benefits. I believe that this is wrong, and the majority of them are doing it. They were infilitrated by an FBI agent who then made a documentary about them.

Really? Sounds very interesting, do you remember what it was called?

I've been trying to think of the title so I could watch it again....It was on the National Geographic channel, I remember that much. The guy was an ex FBI agent who was investigating child marriages and in the meantime discovered a lot of other things...

 

[Larkspur]

Some days I feel like I could do with a couple of wives! More than one husband definitely more trouble than its worth though.

 

[despttc]

It always amazes me that polygamy is a male preserve. Has there ever been a situation where a wife takes several husbands?

When a woman takes more than one husband, it is called polyandry. It's common in other cultures around the world.

Is it? Where?

According to the Discovery Channel, it is practiced in Nepal, and according to the New World Encyclopedia, it is practiced in Tibet, Sri Lanka (although it is not legal), Kerala, and in the Amazon.

Kerala??????

 

[minties]

Some days I feel like I could do with a couple of wives! More than one husband definitely more trouble than its worth though.

Haha, I love this!

Polygamy isn't for me but I don't care if others do it. I would hate to live in a house full of women.

I would think Christians would be keen on it, the bible has a lot of polygamy, rape, incest etc. Adam and Eve surely had to practice incest and a polygamous type situation as they would have been having sex with their children?

 

[Fizzyfefe]

It always amazes me that polygamy is a male preserve. Has there ever been a situation where a wife takes several husbands?

When a woman takes more than one husband, it is called polyandry. It's common in other cultures around the world.

Is it? Where?

According to the Discovery Channel, it is practiced in Nepal, and according to the New World Encyclopedia, it is practiced in Tibet, Sri Lanka (although it is not legal), Kerala, and in the Amazon.

Kerala??????

I'm not sure what you mean by all the question marks. If you are wondering about the location of Kerala, it is a state located in the southwestern region of India.

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

I wouldn't want to share my husband but I think for me the bigger issue is that I wouldn't want to live with another woman. I don't have many girl- friends because I find women in general a bit too bitchy after a while and I really think if clash. I prefer spending time with blokes

Provided everyone goes into the relationship as a consenting adult I think they should be allowed to do what they want.

 

[emyandpotato]

It's just like anything else- totally fine so long as no one is getting hurt in any way. So if the kids are fine, women, or indeed men, aren't forced in to anything nor are unhappy, then it's really no one else's business.

 

[MommyJogger]

I would actually love a polygamous relationship, as long as everyone had a say about who was in the relationship. I can think of a few women I know who I'd be perfectly happy being sister wives with. Unfortunately, they're almost all already married. I think if it works for the family and no one is forced into anything, it could be an excellent arrangement if personalities match. Imagine the woman who doesn't want to be a SAHM having the built-in childcare with someone she trusts absolutely. Imagine having TWO (or more) lactating women living in the house and the amount of freedom and flexibility that would afford each of them. I would love to have more children, but they're not going to come from my body. If a sister wife wanted to give birth again, I'd be so stoked about it. There would be extra hands to take care of the house, perhaps an extra paycheck if that's the way the family wanted to do it. More peer interaction for the kids because it's more likely there would be closely-spaced siblings with two women giving birth. I just imagine there would be such a huge amount of love in a consensual polygamous household.

 

[Sarahkka]

I would actually love a polygamous relationship, as long as everyone had a say about who was in the relationship. I can think of a few women I know who I'd be perfectly happy being sister wives with. Unfortunately, they're almost all already married. I think if it works for the family and no one is forced into anything, it could be an excellent arrangement if personalities match. Imagine the woman who doesn't want to be a SAHM having the built-in childcare with someone she trusts absolutely. Imagine having TWO (or more) lactating women living in the house and the amount of freedom and flexibility that would afford each of them. I would love to have more children, but they're not going to come from my body. If a sister wife wanted to give birth again, I'd be so stoked about it. There would be extra hands to take care of the house, perhaps an extra paycheck if that's the way the family wanted to do it. More peer interaction for the kids because it's more likely there would be closely-spaced siblings with two women giving birth. I just imagine there would be such a huge amount of love in a consensual polygamous household.

I agree. We are very conditioned to the two-person marriage in Western society, so much so that all we can think about are the negatives of any other model. I can definitely see how there could be advantages - all the ones you've laid out, in fact.
Would I do it personally? I doubt it, but I can absolutely see why it could be a very advantageous family unit for women. In fact, when I was in Kenya, the Samburu and Masai people I visited all said that the taking of second and third wives was up to the first wife. She would tell her husband that it was time she had some help and would help choose the next wife. With the amount of work that women had to do in that particular society (nomadic herding), I had no doubt that multiple wives per household were necessary to meet the family's needs.

 

[RaspberryK]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

 

[MommyJogger]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

Is that how it works? I kind of assumed all that was done, like... together. Do the wives really have separate bedrooms? I figured it would be closer to throwing a second or third mattress on the floor to make room for the whole family.

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

Is that how it works? I kind of assumed all that was done, like... together. Do the wives really have separate bedrooms? I figured it would be closer to throwing a second or third mattress on the floor to make room for the whole family.

From the shows I've seen it is seperate rooms because they're all married to him but the wives are like sisters rather than anything sexual. I would imagine there are other polygamous relationships that are the other way though.

 

[RaspberryK]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

Is that how it works? I kind of assumed all that was done, like... together. Do the wives really have separate bedrooms? I figured it would be closer to throwing a second or third mattress on the floor to make room for the whole family.

From the shows I've seen it is seperate rooms because they're all married to him but the wives are like sisters rather than anything sexual. I would imagine there are other polygamous relationships that are the other way though.

I'm fairly sure that it would be separate rooms for the wives and very rarely as you imagined.
I think I'd be worried about STI's xx

 

[Pink Petals]

Polygamy should be illegal because it is too often associated with the abuse of women and other social problems. These tv shows that make it seem so glamorous do not capture the realities of what goes on in most of the societies that practice polygamy. Generally speaking, it is a practice that is harmful to women socially, economically, emotionally... It is also harmful to men in these societies as what often happens is the young men lose out to the older, wealthier men.

 

[MommyJogger]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

Is that how it works? I kind of assumed all that was done, like... together. Do the wives really have separate bedrooms? I figured it would be closer to throwing a second or third mattress on the floor to make room for the whole family.

From the shows I've seen it is seperate rooms because they're all married to him but the wives are like sisters rather than anything sexual. I would imagine there are other polygamous relationships that are the other way though.

I'm fairly sure that it would be separate rooms for the wives and very rarely as you imagined.
I think I'd be worried about STI's xx

See, that would be sad, and would not fly for me. She'd have to marry both of us for me to be happy with it. Why worry about STIs though? At least why worry any more than a traditional marriage? I assume (again, might be incorrect) that the same traditional adultery prohibitions apply, in that sexual relations would only happen within the marriage(s). Wouldn't any new interest go through an STD screen at the doctor if they'd already been sexually active in their lifetime?

 

[RaspberryK]

I can see the advantages as outlined above
... However I struggle to see it working so harmoniously in practice due to jealousy etc.
What if the husband has a favourite wife and it isn't you?
What if you're lying awake in a cold bed wishing your husband was there with you and you can hear him making love to one of the other wives?
How is that going to make you feel and treat the other wives and children?
Xx

Is that how it works? I kind of assumed all that was done, like... together. Do the wives really have separate bedrooms? I figured it would be closer to throwing a second or third mattress on the floor to make room for the whole family.

From the shows I've seen it is seperate rooms because they're all married to him but the wives are like sisters rather than anything sexual. I would imagine there are other polygamous relationships that are the other way though.

I'm fairly sure that it would be separate rooms for the wives and very rarely as you imagined.
I think I'd be worried about STI's xx

See, that would be sad, and would not fly for me. She'd have to marry both of us for me to be happy with it. Why worry about STIs though? At least why worry any more than a traditional marriage? I assume (again, might be incorrect) that the same traditional adultery prohibitions apply, in that sexual relations would only happen within the marriage(s). Wouldn't any new interest go through an STD screen at the doctor if they'd already been sexually active in their lifetime?

That's the thing the wives marry the husband not both.

I guess that's right about the sti although just something as simple as thrush wouldn't be nice if it was passed on to everyone.

Xx

 

[despttc]

I'm sorry. I got emotional and Posted the ' Kerala???? ' because I am from the same place and haven't heard of that happening here. Just my opinion though

 

[Mapleroo]

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