Morality and Polygamy
There are many people opposed to the concept of polygamous marriages. Polygamy is legal in some countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, but illegal in others, such as the United States of America. Many have personal, religious, and/or cultural reasons to disagree with such practices, but is the practice of polygamy morally wrong, or is it acceptable? Some argue that it is wrong because of the negative consequences caused by such marriages; yet ignore successful polygamous marriages altogether. I do not agree that all polygamous marriages have negative consequences. I argue that the practice of consensual polygamy can be morally acceptable under these conditions; (1) All parties must be aware, in advance, of
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If this is the case, this tier receives the high score of one.
There are some who do not see why a woman would agree to enter a polygamous marriage and believe that “only fear of superior force could bring a woman to ‘agree’ to the injustice of a polygamous marriage” (Vogel, Ursula 243). Although some women would only agree to such a lifestyle through force, many others invite and prefer the idea of polygamy to monogamy. Some women believe that the shared responsibility takes the weight off a single spouse and distributes it equally. Other women enjoy the sisterhood of their sister wives and appreciate having the company of other women within their marriage. There can be many reasons why a person might prefer polygamy. So it is accurate to assume that some woman do choose polygamy willingly. The second tier is the general moral considerations. It consists of prima facie principles which are the obvious do’s and don’ts that most people have been raised with. For example, a person should tell the truth and not lie, be fair and not cheat, help and not hurt others, unless (in that specific situation) it must be overruled for a great reason. This tier is valued at zero to 100. In all cases, the higher the value, the higher the morality and its permissibility. In this tier, basic respect for individuals must be considered. There are many issues that can fall into this category such as inequality,
However, level 2 is conventional moral reasoning which is more for adults and it relates more with the laws. This level has stages 3 and 4 which are interpersonal expectations which means to follow the rules or do what other people what so that they can get their approval (Kohlberg Theory). Stage 4 is law and order which means to follow the laws instead of what one really believes because following the laws is more important. Also it’s basically someone trying to be a good citizen that follows the law and doesn’t break it because they are scared of what can happen. For example, if someone is driving on a road that is empty and there is a stop sign a person in this stage would stop even though nobody is around they know that would be breaking the law and in their mind they can’t do that. Of course, many adults aren’t in this stage because some laws are just too strict but there are many in between which is they follow most rules or laws but break other ones. The people in this stage do this because they feel as a citizen they have to do
In this age of freedom and personal choice, where previously banned and frowned up lifestyles are accepted, polygamy should become a lifestyle choice. This is the opinion of people who live this lifestyle. “Loving them is simple. It’s one of those things you do unconsciously…and your way of being that you never question it.”(Brown 27). The sister wives must have respect for the people
I believe that the author did an effective job in not having any bias towards one side or the other on this subject. The author did not paint the polygamists as positive or negative, which is what a great journalist should do-show no bias or leanings. Overall, I think this article is very credible and gives the best insight that a news outlet could on the topic of polygamy. I do support this article and I plan to use it within my research for my project. I believe this because the article is free of any bias thoughts and gives the clear facts for what I am needing on this
Polygamy is the case in which a man or a woman has multiple spouses. One branch of polygamy is termed “polygyny”, which is when “one man is married to several wives” (Zeitzen 3).
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
Polygamy is often not a choice women or men have to participate in. They are often forced to participate against their will. Women will be punished if they do not obey what their husband has them do. Also, they will be punished if they refuse to get married to the man chosen for them.
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
Within the polygamist communities, which are primarily focused on the Utah-Arizona border, and in Bountiful, Canada, there is much already known about polygamy and the women within the confines of polygamy, according to my extensive research in the last few months of 2017.
The rates of polygyny have decreased because more countries have become more ‘westernized’. Polygyny is more prevalent than polyandry because in some asian/african countries men would like to have more than one wife especially if they are wealthy to help and support their children etc… Pros of Polygyny is that it provides more support and gives men a freedom of choice. Also could ensure financial stability. Cons include jealousy and it could lead to abuse.Pros of Polyandry include financial stability and more support. Cons could include jealousy and lack of attention among
Gay marriage is fine it between two people who are interested in each other I don’t see why it would be rejected it whatever the person prefers. All other marriages I don’t think should be allowed as far as polygamy I don’t think that should be legal .my point of view is that a marriage should between two no matter the gender not multiple
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
The practice of polygamy is decreasing significantly due to urbanization, education, development, and the cost of living (Al-Saif, 1997). Generally, educated and employed women have more independence and reject polygamy as a part of their marriage expectations. Gharaib (1991) found that 86.8% of husbands in the Gulf (Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) have only one wife, 9.6% have two wives, 1.1% has three wives and 0.33% only has four wives; 74.7% had married their relatives; and 25.5% live with their extended families. Al-Saif (1997) found that in Saudi Arabia, only 4.8% of parents approves of their daughters marrying a husband who has another wife. This rate is much lower than the previous rate of 14.5% (Al-Saif, 1997).
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.
For men, they help each other with bringing food and money home. As said “Polygyny is not so much about sex as it is about hoarding the productive and reproductive labor” (2006, p. 3). It is about decreasing the jurisdiction of a man or woman. The possible negative outcomes I see in polygamy is the possibilities of men and women feeling the need to be in competition of being the favorite wife or husband, and the fact of sharing partners. As stated in the videos and the article about polygamy, I agree with the benefits of polygamy as the positive outcomes. Having more than one wife or husband reduces the work or obligations needed to be provided at home. Though they are many positive factors of polygamy, I personally do not agree with the term. If I were married, I would not like to share my
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.