Monogamy Vs Polygamy

There are not very many people that practice polygamy and those that don’t practice polygamy do not support it. Polygamist does not follows the norms in society nor do they practice traditional marriage. Polygamy has been documented in the bible, but men like Abraham, or Jacob had two or more wives. Often those that practice this form of marriage are often religious and believe that they will ascend to a higher place after death by reproduction and teaching their children

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.

Modern, contemporary society’s mindset on marriage has shifted considerably over the years. Some research has noted the increase in early sexual experiences, greater acceptance of cohabitation and the increase in narcissistic tendencies, are complicating and muddying the ideals of what marriage means to people today. Research done on this subject resulted in several studies that found that spouses who did not believe that marriage would last forever, were less likely to commit to the relationship financially and were more likely to have extramarital affairs.

Joseph Smith dictated a revelation concerning plural marriage. He bought the act forward as a requirement from God (Jacobson 2015). In the present day Mormon religion they have in fact denounced their support of “plural marriage” after the congressional act to ban the practice, but there are still subgroups of the religion that still practice it. In addition to the religious backing of polygamy, there are reasons that individuals chose to practice it. It increased the profitability of children, especially when a wife is barren of gives birth to female children. An increase in the labor supply within a kinship network. You can deal with the problem of surplus women. It expanded the range of a man’s alliances so he is able to maintain or acquire a position of leadership. Lastly, it can also provide sexual satisfaction to men (Bailey 2015). Religions to date that practice polygamy are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons, Muslims, and Apostolic Untied Brethren. Polygamy was tied to religion many years ago because many of the early founders believed that it was very much related to God, and that it would be of his will and liking to have more than

An important question that is being asked in America, Is Monogamy over? In my opinion, No. The definition of monogamy to me is being intimate, sexual or emotional, with one person for a period of time. Many people are questioning monogamy because of so many broken homes and broken relationships, but is it because of the monogamy issue in the United States? Or is the problem much deeper? Maybe the definition of monogamy has changed? I think if a relationship begins with trust and strong communication monogamy will be easier to attain. I also believe the more spiritual/religious a couple is, monogamy is possible. And lastly, the happier and more satisfied an individual is in a relationship the easier it is to be in a monogamous relationship.

People who enter into polyamorous relationships also report an “At first… but then” experience. At first they believe that there is something wrong with them or that they are interested in cheating on their partners. After doing some research they find that there are others like them, and that they are not as abnormal as they originally thought. They discover that there are more people out there like them, and that it is possible to enter into multiple, honest relationships (Barker, 2005). More people might be interested in polyamorous relationships if they were not afraid of the repercussions placed on them by society. People are afraid of ideas that go against cultural norms, and nonmonogamous relationships definitely push the boundaries. They might view polyamorous relationships as more realistic for their lifestyles and how they feel about relationships, but are too afraid to enter into a polyamorous relationship because they are pressured by their culture to participate in exclusive relationships. Also, many people who do engage in polyamorous relationships are not actually “out” about their relationships or sexual interests. Very small numbers of people are actually open about their nonmonogamous relationships either sexually or emotionally (Barker, 2005). Many people are

According to a 2012 study, monogamy has a crucial advantage over polygyny: “the more egalitarian distribution of women, which reduces male competition and social problems”. Not only does it reduce male competition and social problems between individuals, but monogamous marriage also “results in significant improvements in child welfare, including lower rates of neglect, abuse, accidental death, homicide and intra-household conflict” (Friedersdorf, 2015). By shifting male efforts from seeking wives to paternal investment, systematised monogamy increases long-term planning, economic productivity, savings and child investment. Nonetheless, when a high-status man takes two wives, a lower-status man gets no wife. If the high-status man takes three wives, two lower-status men get no wives. This “competitive, zero-dynamic sets off a competition among high-status men in who’s going to get the most wives” (Friedersdorf, 2015), which leaves lower-status men out in the cold. Those men, denied access to life’s most stabilising and civilising institution, are fairly disadvantaged and often turn to behaviours like crime and violence. Thus, polygamy should not be legalised as it creates tension and competition between

Overall, the author was able to get the message across, but it was not as clear or as broad as I wish it would have been. The second article, by Roseth, was also intriguing and yet again difficult to read. I so feel as though most people are more capable and willing to learn from literature when it is less dry. However, I did find the basic concepts of this article interesting. One of the most interesting parts of this article for me was the concept of “promiscuous” groups versus “family” groups. The author argues that humans are unique in that we tend to divide ourselves into monogamous family structures, but also interact with other humans. Whereas, a lot of animals mate with multiple partners and tend to only interact for sexual reasons. I found this to be mostly true, but would also like to point out that we do not always separate ourselves or stay monogamous. I believe that just by studying college age students along this can be shown to not be that case. It is fairly easy to see that a good majority of people tend to have sexual intercourse with many people before they marry. Also, some who do marry may not stay

The first element is the different types of polyamorous relationships and to explain this I use an article call This is my Partner, and this is my…Partner’s Partner: Constructing a Polyamorous Identity in a Monogamous World and also I used information from the Polyamorous Society main website, where they create campaigns and educate people about this lifestyle. Both of this articles explain the different categories of polyamorous, primary, secondary, third, triads, quads, etc. Also, they explain the difference and characteristics of each type of relationship and they provide additional information about what polyamory was and what kind of people tend to be polyamorist. I used another article call There Aren't Words For What We Do Or How We Feel So We Have To Make Them Up': Constructing Polyamorous Languages In A Culture of Compulsory Monogamy to describe the reason why polyamorist create their own language and why they are against the language that monogamous use. The article call Situational Sexual Behaviors: The Ideological Work Of Moving Toward Polyamory In Communal Living Groups, I used to describe the community that polyamorous create for people who solely practice their lifestyle. Also, this article provided with three main reasons why they did not wanted to live in monogamous communities, which I has stated in my paper. All of this sources gave me detail information and quotes that allowed me to prove that they were characteristics of

In Brave New World, monogamous relationships are frowned upon. In no way, should two people be together exclusively, they are supposed to jump around from person to person and never make deep connections with a single person. Why is that? What about monogamous relationships hurt the society? Why is it important for people to have many relationships instead of just one?

Polygamy comes in different forms and polygamy like monogamous relationships can be an abusive relationship or polygamy can be a wonderful relationship with multiple people. After researching about polygamy, many would decide that polygamy is not unethical, but just misunderstood. Americans would not have a problem with polygamy until their daughter or son came to them and said that they were going to be polygamous. Polygamy would never be an option for me, but developed society should not outlaw polygamy. Polygamy is not the reason that husbands abuse their wives, or that children do not get a proper education. It is the people, themselves that do all the evil. If polygamy was legal and anyone could participate in polygamy than polygamy would not be looked at as children getting abuses and wives not getting love or attention from their husband. If polygamous could come out of their hiding more and more monogamous would see that children are getting education and the wives are getting attention. Americans have a bad habit of presenting and only sharing the unwelcomed and different peoples’ worst sides. Polygamy may work for some and not for others, therefore, if it does not work for you, do not become

In my opinion, the topic of polygamy is very controversial. I strongly support gay marriage and the notion that the courts have no legal right to impose on the lives of two consenting adults. However, gay marriage cannot and should not be compared to polygamy mainly because historically, polygamy has been used by men to subjugate women by establishing male-dominance within families and across society. It has been tied to all kinds of abuse. Whereas, two males or two females making a lifetime commitment to each other does not affect society at large in the same way. Personally, I have no moral problem with allowing consenting adults to participate in polygamy. However, before I can be fully on board with the idea, I would need some evidence

The idea of having more than one spouse originated millions of years ago. During times when the female population was higher than the male population, polygamy was common so that each female could have a sense of financial stability from a husband. Polygamy was accepted throughout societies because of the need for woman to have a husband to financially support her and give her a family. Then when better medical care was able to save more lives the male and female population became almost equal in numbers, this caused the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church to impose the rule of having just one wife, but multiple other lovers were the norm (History of Polygamy). Polygamy was then unacceptable in the United States when The Roman Catholic Church imposed the new rule. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints allowed polygamy into the United Sates (History of Polygamy). When polygamy was allowed back into the United States many people were upset with the unethical practice being allowed back into the United States. Polygamy in the United States ended back in the year 1890 when Wilford Woodruff was the president. But officially it was the year 1899 when the members of this church began to be thrown out for being polygamous (History

In fact, monogomy is so normal in our society that polygomy is against the law, and adultery is a felony. Western society fully accepts that marriage and serious relationships are exclusive. To act against this by having multiple partners (whether all involved parties are informed or not) is objectionable legally and socially. However, it is believed that it is against human nature to have romantic and sexual feelings for only one person, explaining why divorce is so common in western society. Polygamous communities and relationships are ostracized and often mocked in the form of television programs and news stories. Monogomy is a practice so conventional in today’s society that submitting to any desires against it is socially and legally

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.