Polygyny
A Cross Cultural Perspective of Polygyny
As an institution,
polygyny, the social arrangement that permits a man to
have more than one
wife at the same time, exists in all parts of the world. From
our present
knowledge, there are very few primitive tribes in which a man is not
allowed
to enter into more than one union. In fact, ethologists now believe that
only
one to two percent of all species may be monogamous (Tucker). None of
the
simian species are strictly monogamous; our closest relatives, the
chimpanzees,
practice a form of group marriage. Among the 849 human societies
examined by the
anthropologist Murdock (1957), 75% practiced polygyny. Many
peoples have been
said to be monogamous, but it is difficult to infer from
the data at our
disposal whether monogamy is the prevalent practice, the
moral ideal, or an
institution safeguarded by sanctions (Malinowski 1962).
Historically, polygyny
was a feature of the ancient Hebrews, the traditional
Chinese, and the
nineteenth-century Mormons in the United States, but the
modern practice of
polygyny is concentrated in Africa, the Middle East,
India, Thailand, and
Indonesia. The extent to which men are able to
acquire multiple wives depends on
many factors, including the economic
prosperity of the man’s family, the
prevailing bride price, the differential
availability of marriageable females,
the need and desire for additional
offspring, and the availability of productive
roles for subsequent wives.
Even in societies that permit polygyny, the
conditions of life for the masses
make monogamy the most common form of
marriage. The two variations of
polygyny are sororal (the cowives are sisters)
and nonsororal (the cowives
are not sisters). Some societies also observe the
custom of levirate, making
it compulsory for a man to marry his brother’s
widow. It must be remembered
that any form of polygyny is never practiced
throughout the entire community:
there cannot exist a community in which every
man would have several wives
because this would entail a huge surplus of females
over males (Malinowski
1962). Another important point is that in reality it is
not so much a form of
marriage fundamentally distinct from monogamy as rather a
multiple monogamy.
It is always in fact the repetition of marriage contract,
entered
individually with each wife, establishing an individual relationship
between
the man and each of his consorts (Benson 1971). Where each wife has
her
separate household and the husband visits them in turn, polygynous
marriage
resembles very closely a temporarily interrupted monogamy. In such
cases, there
is a series of individual marriages in which domestic
arrangements, economics,
parenthood, as well as legal and religious elements
do not seriously encroach on
each other. The polygyny with separate
households is more universally prevalent.
Among the great majority of the
Bantu and Hamitic peoples of Africa, where the
number of wives, especially in
the case of chiefs, is often considerable, each
wife commonly occupies a
separate hut with her children, and manages an
independent household with
well-defined legal and economic rights (Pasternak
1976). Where, on the
other hand, as among many N. American tribes, two or more
wives share the
same household, polygyny affects the institution of matrimonial
life much
more deeply. Unlike wives in many other African groups who live in
their own
huts, Ijaw wives have apartments within one large structure and our
brought
into much more frequent contact with their co-wives (Rosaldo
1974).
Various theories have been advanced to explain the cultural
endorsement of
polygyny. One of the earliest explanations was based on the
notion that men have
a greater disposition for variety in sexual partners
than do women (Tucker).
Many ethologists believe that there is a
sociobiological imperative for men to
have as many sexual partners as
possible (Sayers). While this theory is of
historical interest, there exists
no empirical support for the greater sex drive
of the male, nor is there any
reason to expect the male sex drive to vary from
one culture to another.
Women are just as naturally interested in sex, perhaps
even more so. Women
can be multi- orgasmic and have a much broader range of
sexual stimulation
than men. Non-monogamy is reproductively savvy for males in
order to spread
their genes, and for females in order to improve the hardiness
and genetic
variety of their offspring (Benson). It has also been suggested that
polygyny
as a marriage form evolved in response to lengthy postpartum sex
taboos
because polygyny provides a legitimate sexual outlet for the husband
during this
period of taboo (Whiting). Whiting discovered that societies
dependent on root
and tree crops (presumably low protein societies) are more
likely to have a long
postpartum sex taboo, and there did seem to be a
statistical association between
the presence of this taboo and a preference
for polygyny. While men may seek
other sexual relationships during the period
of a long postpartum taboo, it is
not clear why polygyny is the only possible
solution to the problem, since the
legitimation of sex does not depend
exclusively on marriage. The problem could
be alleviated by extra-marital
alliances or masturbation. The existence of a low
sex ratio, a scarcity of
men in relation to women, has also been offered as an
explanation for the
origin of this practice (Pasternak 1976). Polygyny maximizes
the
opportunities for females to marry in a society in which adult males are
in
short supply. The fact that the sex ratio at the same time of young
adulthood is
numerically balanced in some societies suggests that while a sex
ratio imbalance
may contribute to the development of polygyny in special
cases, it is an
incomplete explanation for the existence of polygyny in the
majority of
societies in the world. For example, plural marriage developed
among the Mormons
in Utah when, as in most of the western states of the
United States, there was
an excess of males. The theory that has stimulated
the most empirical
investigation links the existence of polygyny to the
productive value of the
woman. According to this theory, the occurrence of
polygyny is positively
related to the extent to which women contribute to the
subsistence bases of
their respective societies (Pasternak 1976). However,
further research suggests
that the relationship between women’s economic
contribution and marriage form
is more complex and that there exists a
curvilinear relationship between
women’s productive value and the existence
of polygyny (Rosaldo 1974).
Polygyny has been found to be a feature of
economic systems where potential
female contribution to subsistence is high
(such as in gathering and
agricultural economies). In many African
communities, the chief derives his
wealth from the plurality of his wives,
who by means of the produce of their
agricultural labor enable him to
exercise the lavish hospitality upon which so
much of his power rests. The
practice has also been found in economic systems,
however, where potential
female contribution is low (such as hunting and fishing
economies). It has
been suggested that multiple wives are valued in the first
instance, for
economic reasons, while in the latter instance, they are valued
for
reproductive reasons in that the taking of multiple wives maximizes
the
potential to produce sons, who in turn make an economic contribution
(Malinowski
1962). A multitude of wives, however, may increase not only a
man’s wealth but
also his social importance, reputation and authority, apart
from the influence
of the number of his children. Hence, we find in many
Bantu communities of
Africa that the desire to have many wives is one of
the leading motives in the
life of every man; while the fact that in many
Melanesian and Polynesian
communities, polygyny is a prerogative and
therefore the chief testifies to the
social prestige attaching to it (Priso).
Politically or socially stratified
divisions within a society also favor the
emergence of polygyny, since economic
rights to women can be acquired, and
since marriages can be used to create
political alliances between unequal
groups (Rosaldo). While polygyny tends to be
viewed by Western cultures as an
instrument for the domination of women by men,
the degree of autonomy
experienced by women in polygynous unions varies within
and among cultures.
The degree of autonomy of each cowife is influenced by the
availability of
opportunities outside of the home, the degree to which she
maintains contact
with her family of origin, the availability of gainful
employment, the degree
of importance attached to the children she has produced,
and her life cycle
state. Benefits for the wives also include the sharing of
economic and
domestic responsibilities, the freedom that derives from living
apart from
the constant supervision of a husband, and the diminished pressure
for
constant sexual accessibility. For example in many African
polygynous
societies women gain economic autonomy through trading. Trading
not only gives
de facto independence from the husband’s authority (and may
ease tensions
between cowives), but also brings women together in
extra-domestic cooperative
groups such as trading associations (Benson 1971).
Paradoxically, polygyny
becomes attractive to both parties. For instance, in
Africa a man who controls
much land may marry several wives to work for him.
Since he is providing only
about half of their income, even a man of modest
means can take several wives.
In addition, women find polygyny helps
lighten their work burden. In many cases,
the first wife takes the initiative
in suggesting that a second wife, who can
take over the most tiresome jobs in
the household, should be procured. In the
traditional African setting,
marriage is a matter of considerable importance. It
is through marriage that
the constituent elements of society reproduce
themselves and that groups and
individuals further a complex strategy. Women
play a crucial role in this
process, since they gather and control other women
as wives and companions
for brothers, sons, and husbands. A husband chooses his
first wife with care,
since she is responsible for training all subsequent wives
and organizing
them, older children, clients, wards, and, in the past slaves,
into an
agricultural work force. The senior wife is responsible for producing
the
agricultural wealth of the household, and if her warrior husband is absent
or
preoccupied for long periods of time, it is she who often functions as
the
effective head of household. Even though a husband may marry younger,
more
beautiful wives, he continues to regard his "big wife" with great
respect
and consideration (Rosaldo). In Mende, the head wife in a large
polygynous
household is given much religious as well as economic power. She
organizes the
agricultural work force, and stores and markets economic
surpluses. Because of
these roles, Mende head wives are seen as authority
figures, and occasionally a
chief’s head wife will succeed him in office even
though she resides
virilocally in his chiefdom and has no genealogical right
to rule in the village
of his kin (Tucker). Jealousy, while not an inevitable
consequence of polygyny,
is reported in many polygynous societies. Tension is
common when women are
competing for goods and services from the husband and
since each wife attempts
to build a uterine family at the expense of her
co-wives’ children (Rosaldo).
Among the Kanuri of Bornu (part of a
centralized Muslim state), women are
married very young, often to middle-aged
men. A woman’s ability to control a
husband’s dominance depends on her
ability to withdraw food and sexual
services. A second wife is a considerable
threat to her, resulting in less
attention for her as well as for her
children, and she loses some of her ability
to gain compliance from her
husband. However, Malinowski (1962) notes that
jealousy among cowives is more
a rivalry to secure maximum access to resources
for themselves and their
offspring than sexual jealousy. To minimize this
conflict among cowives, a
set of rules is often established that specifies
responsibilities and rights
concerning sex, economics, and personal possessions.
A Patani man follows
a prescribed order of sleeping with each of his wives, as
does the
Korokorosei husband, but the women differ in the scheduling of their
domestic
responsibilities to him. A Patani woman cooks and cares for her husband
only
when it is her turn to sleep with him. A Korokorosei woman must cook for
her
husband every day and perform domestic tasks for him whenever he asks.
The
presence of associations in Patani assists a woman in coping with
difficulties
in her co-wife relationships. The Korokorosei woman must resolve
her own
problems (Priso). In group families the predominant themes is not
swinging sex,
however, the "swinging" label still may persist in areas where
polygyny is
not so common. A fundamental problem with parenting in such
group’s stems from
the social stigma attached to "deviant" life-styles. There
are obvious
difficulties in raising children in a social environment so
extensively
criticized or condemned, especially when the parents realize that
their children
may grow up alienated either from them or from the mainstream
culture to which
they eventually will be called on to adapt (Sayres).
Children in polygynous
unions may be reared primarily by their mother, under
the supervision of the
senior cowife, or jointly with a system of rotation.
Because the economic claims
that many cowives make on their husbands are on
behalf of their children, one of
the advantages of occupying the position of
senior wife is that the position
carries with it preferential treatment for
the offspring. The notion that
mothers in polygynous unions develop
extraordinary close ties with their
children because of the father’s absence
is not supported (Tucker). Although
an African husband can expect to have his
wife or wives supporting themselves
and working for him, he has very little
claim to his children. Female farming
and polygyny are nearly always coupled
with "matrilineal descent," meaning
that heritage is traced only through the
mother’s line. Often children bear
their mother’s name. The result is that
marriages are relatively transient and
divorce is common. In African divorce,
the husband obtains certain domestic and
sexual services from the wife, but
her other loyalties and her offspring always
belong to her lineage (meaning
her natal family). If there is divorce, the
lineage will care for her and her
children. She is not "absorbed" into her
husband’s lineage. In Stanleyville
(the Congo), well over half of those who
had been married had also been
divorced. According to one calculation, Hausa
women (in Nigeria) average
about three marriages between puberty and menopause.
Eight out of ten
persons over 40 years of age in a Yao village (Nyasaland) were
found to have
been divorced. In the Voltaic group of the Mossi, men who have
migrated to
neighboring Ghana may establish households with the Ashanti women
but avoid
marriage because the Ashanti matrilineal descent pattern would not let
them
take their own children back with them. In patrilineal or "dual
descent"
societies, by contrast, marriages are stable. Illegitimacy is also
regarded
differently since children belong to the mother’s line anyway.
Early
illegitimacy can even have a positive aspect, since it proves
fertility. (Malinowski
1962) Some believe that polygyny is linked with
HIV and Hepatitis C. In places
like Rwanda and Burundi, polygyny decreases
infection by allowing women for whom
there are not enough available
marriageable mates (due to war, violence,
imprisonment, etc.) to be married
to the few available marriageable men and be
sexually fulfilled without
having to find sex promiscuously or turning to
prostitution to find
fulfillment or support themselves. Those who keep their
sexual and body fluid
activities within their bonded polygynous marriages do not
spread or acquire
HIV. The false hope placed in condoms (which have a 20%
one-out-of-five
failure rate according to the FDA and our Public Health Depts.)
results in
far more deaths from these diseases than such deaths from polygyny
(Sayres).
Although antecedents to the occurrence and maintenance of
polygyny vary from
society to society, ideology and customs develop once
polygyny is adopted that
contribute to its perpetuation long after the
original reason for the practice
disappears. In traditional societies that
have encouraged plural marriages in
the past, however, the trend is moving
toward monogamy. In some cases, this
movement occurs in stages, and in other
cases, polygyny is permitted but
discouraged by recognizing the first
marriage as legal and relegating additional
wives to the status of
concubines. The explanation most commonly advanced for
this movement away
from polygyny is that monogamy is more compatible with
industrialization
(Benson 1971). Of course, the role of ideology and the banning
of polygyny
must also be considered as factors contributing to the decline of
the
practice. Some American men take the position that monogamy protects
the
rights of women. However, are these men concerned with liberation
movements from
the suffragists of the early twentieth century to the
feminists of today? The
truth of the matter is that monogamy protects men,
allowing them to "play
around" without responsibility. Easy birth control and
easy legal abortion has
opened the door of illicit sex to woman and she has
been lured into the
so-called sexual revolution. Nevertheless, she is still
the one who suffers the
trauma of abortion and the side effects of the birth
control methods. Taking
aside the plagues of venereal diseases, herpes and
AIDS, the male continues to
enjoy himself free of worry. Men are the ones
protected by monogamy while women
continue to be victims of men’s desires.
Polygyny is very much opposed by the
male dominated society because it forces
men to face up to responsibility and
fidelity. It forces them to take
responsibility for their polygynous
inclinations, and protects and provides
for women and children. The bottom line
in the marriage relationship is good
morality and happiness, creating a just and
cohesive society where the needs
of men and women are well taken care of. The
present Western society, which
permits free sex between consenting adults, has
give rise to an abundance of
irresponsible sexual relationships, an abundance of"fatherless" children, many
unmarried teenage mothers; all becoming a burden
on the country’s welfare
system. In part, such an undesirable welfare burden
has given rise to a
bloated budget deficit, which even an economically powerful
country like the
United States cannot accommodate. We find that artificially
established
monogamy had become a factor in ruining the family structure, and
the social,
economic, and political systems in this country. Polygyny has been
practiced
by mankind throughout the world for thousands of years. It has been
proven
advantageous economically and politically for both males and
females.
Having other cowives lets women share the economic and domestic
responsibilities
of the household, it allows independence from the husband,
and also the freedom
from fulfilling constant sexual needs of the male. In
some cases, polygyny
allows women to achieve a higher status within her
community that she normally
could not achieve in a monogamous relationship.
Polygamous relationships serve
as an alternative to single loneliness,
fatherless children, and increasing
violence and juvenile crime in families
where the father has left. Polygyny has
proven itself to be an advantage to a
host of societies and cultures.
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