Advantages And Disadvantages Of Polyandry

If you have never heard of polygamy you will and if you had in the past it was most likely due to the hit reality series “Sister Wives” about a polygamist family in the state of Utah. Polygamy is defined as the practice or condition of having more than one spouse at a time. Polygamy is nothing new and has been practice for hundreds of years but it is now seen as an immoral act, and a criminal act in a large majority of the of the world. Now even though polygamy is wide known in certain areas like Africa (South Africa, Kenya), Asia (middle east), etc. Still there are rules that they must abide by and it frowned on in an obese manner in areas like the United States, Australia, and China, because as a society we see it as an unjust act that can not be upheld by any justification but it is permitted in the bible. I support polygamy because I see no fault in the act of a family with multiple spouses.

In the tribal villages of eastern Africa the Maasai marriages are arranged by the elders without ever first consulting the bride or the mother of the bride to be. Unlike, that of my own culture in the United States of America, where I am free as a citizen to choose whomever I may choose to marry and when and if I may marry. Polygyny is that of which is practiced in the Maasai culture, as an ideal that is achieved only by that of the elder men of the tribe. Unfortunately, as a result ofthemen being much older at the time of marriage, most women become widows, knowing that it is understood that they should never remarry again.

Marriages are faced with symbolic interactionism. Interactions between spouses involves shared understandings of their arrangement( New edu). Often times husbands and wives have different ways of communicating and social class affects expectations that spouses have of their marriages (New edu). Often times, love is the basis for American marriages but it is not like that is many countries around the world. Polygyny, polyandry, monogamy, and group marriages are types of marriages that are practiced in different parts of the globe.

Marriage is described as two people as partners in a personal relationship. There are two typical ideas of marriage that we know today. The first one that comes to mind is the one we all know, based on love, but there is another one that some may not even know of and its arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is not typically in our culture we know but in different cultures arranged marriages are their normal marriage. Throughout this essay, I will discuss the importance of realizing cultural diversity and how we apply the perspectives we gain from cross-cultural comparison to our own experience using central concepts about marriage to compare and contrast marriage in several cultures.

Marriage is a social institution that is practiced globally. Traditionally marriages are known to occur between one man and one woman. However, cultural values and time have reshaped and birthed new types of marriages. Polygamy is a type of marriage that is often practiced around the world specifically in Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Polyamorous marriages have been in existence for centuries. Polygamy is classified into two categories, polygyny, and polyandry. Polygyny is the most popular type of polygamy, in this type of polygamous marriage, a man is married to multiple women. On the other hand, polyandry which is the least familiar type of polygamy is where a woman is married to multiple husbands. The intolerance of Mormons in the United States has led to the outlawing of polyamorous marriages. The Morrill Anti Bigamy law of 1862 outlawed the practice of polygamy in the United States. Like many other laws, this law can be overturned. In fact, it should be reversed because illegalizing polygamy is unethical. Polygamy should be legalized because it is unconstitutional for it to be illegal, same-sex marriages and interracial marriages are legal, therefore so should polyamorous marriages. In addition, legalizing polygamy would prevent immigrant families who practice polygamy from being separated and it would also strengthen the feminist movement.

As a beginning of this film, a myth is told by the Nyinba people of Nepal: a story of fearsome spirits thought to kill children and the weak. Their crime was adulterous passionate love and it was this that had condemned them to live eternally between life and death. In this film, we learn about and explore marriages in tribal societies. We can clearly identify the differences that challenge both side’s ideas and sensibilities about marriage bonds.

One of the best forms of family structures is polygyny which has been eroded through modernity and changes in culture. A unique culture, polygyny, particularly practiced in the Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Grey (2008), “Of the twenty-nine nations in the world classified as having high rates of polygyny, twenty-seven are located in sub-Saharan Africa, where the incidence of co-wives is ten times that found in other polygynous

Choosing an in-law in !Kung San society is primarily arranged by the parents of the woman based on marital status, hunting ability, age, and willingness to accept the responsibilities of family life (Shostak 1981, p.116). The lack of violence and conflict between villages allows !Kung San parents to travel large distances to find an acceptable partner who is not of close relatedness to the girl being married (Shostak 1981, p.115). The almost universal taboo in modern day industrial societies prohibiting marriages between closely related kin is also followed in !Kung San society and the easiest way to avoid marrying your cousin is by marrying someone from a distant group (Shostak 1981, p.115; Allen et al. 2011). Close kinship systems tend to keep families close together so they can all benefit off the same resources. However, in harsh and unpredictable environments, like that faced by the !Kung, flexibility of movement created by non-consanguineous unions and bilateral kinship systems is essential in creating reciprocity systems that allow access to resources that are limiting and seasonal (Allen et al. 2011). Non-consanguineous

In Millennium: Strange Relations, presented by David Maybury Lewis examines the concept of marriage by focusing on three different groups the Nyimba of Nepal, Wodaabe of Niger, finally a Canada (Western European viewpoint). Lewis also examines the concepts of monogamy, fraternal polyandry, and polygyny with the respective case studies.

Hmong followed a patrilineal kinship system. Only men can inherit properties and belongings; the father holds title to family property. When couples are married, “residence after marriage is either patrilocal or neolocal, but in the vicinity of paternal house” (LeBar, 75). When daughters marry, they move out of the house. Hmong marriage is regarded as a bond between two clans, so they have strict exogamy practices. Hmong men remain members of their birth clan for life (Hein, 68). Each of the family clans have a leader, who is the eldest male of the line. Their society was male-centered (Lecture, 01/26/17). On the other hand, Lao followed the Southeast Asian pattern, which was a bilateral kinship system. Kinship ties are felt to be equally strong on both sides, the mother and the father (LeBar, 217). Lao kinship is more laid back compared to Hmong. They pay little attention to genealogies, since tracing more than three generations is difficult for them (LeBar, 217). Both men and women can inherit in the family as well, so Lao women are less subordinate to Lao men. Unlike Hmong, Lao couples have freedom in choosing whether to live on their own or with either spouses’ family (Lecture, 01/26/17). Lao marriage does not ensue strict exogamy practices, and Lao, traditionally, have no “family” names. Lao are known by their given names, not family names. Overall, Hmong and Lao have the exact opposite types of

In some cultures, people didn’t marry for love and those who did were looked down upon; whereas in modern times, it’s the opposite in many parts of the world. Coontz tells of a culture where,“A Taita man normally marries a love wife only after he has accumulated a few more practical wives” (255). This shows the different perceptions of marriage between the Taita peoples, who let men remarry several times in loveless marriages, and those of certain religions that forbade divorce, as well as today’s society where people often marry for love the first time around. The perceptions differed in that some societies believed in remarrying and marrying without love, while others didn’t. Coontz explains some very different marriage traditions than what Bennett says is normal and right-A man and a woman who fit traditional gender roles- as shown in his essay, “Complementary nature of men and women-and how they refine, support, encourage, and complete one another” (272).

Marriage is a ritual that marks a change in status for a man and a woman and the acceptance by society of the new family that is formed (Rosman & Rubel, 1981). Marriage, like other customs, is governed by rules (Rosman & Rubel, 1981). Anthropology has represented marriage as the definitive ritual and universally translatable regulative ideal of human societies (BORNEMAN, 1996). Marriage also the act of joining two persons of opposite sex together to become as husband and wife. Many people in the society have different opinions or outright misconception of the meaning of marriage. While some people see it as a union between a man and woman, others take it to mean an agreement made between a man

Joint family is a common practice among populations. Paternal side is considered higher compared to the maternal. Moreover, couples often desires to have boy over girl due to the agricultural background. Girls are considered someone else’s property since she marries and goes to other house. Most money is spent on son’s marriage compared to girls since it is taken as expenses of same house. Advancement of China and the increased literacy has huge impact on these normal rituals.

Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse and is culturally accepted in many parts of the world, but is illegal in the United States. There are two well known forms of polygamy, both of which are still presently practiced in numerous cultures globally, polygyny and polyandry. These practices take place in societies where it is important to have either more men or more women in a families’ household based on the kind of environment they reside in. This paper is going to take a look at who practices polygamy, the history of polygamy in the United States, and how this kind of polygamous lifestyle affects the children that are the products of these family structures.

In return for the ephemeral joys of change, I am sure you are motivated by love, a love that existed well before your marriage and that fate has not been able to satisfy.”