Polygamy in the United States

Polygamy is the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. Polyandry is a form of polygamy where a woman can marry more than one man at the same time, and polygyny is another form of polygamy where a man is allowed to have more than one wife. Polygamy is more known than polyandry. Polygamy is permitted in countries like Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, and Africa, and in other countries like the United States, England, Spain, and Mexico it is not permitted. Many view Polygamy as a sexual desire and satisfaction to be with more than just one man or woman, but for many cultural reasons, man and woman may have more than one wife or husband. As discussed in the video, the meaning of love & polygamy, the positive outcomes of having more than one wife or husband is so they can be provided each other with help.

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.

In Andrew J. Cherlin’s essay “American Marriage In Transition”, he discusses how marriage in America is evolving from the universal marriage. Cherlin’s definition of the universal marriage in his essay is the man is the breadwinner of the household and the woman is the homemaker. In the 20th century according to Cherlin, the meaning of marriage has been altered such as the changing division of labor, childbearing outside of marriage, cohabitation, gay marriage and the result of long- term cultural and material trends (1154). During the first transition of marriage, Cherlin discusses how in America, Europe, and Canada the only socially accepted way to have sexual relations with a person and to have children is to be married (1154). The second change in marriage occurred in 2000, where the median age of marriage in the United States for men is 27 and women is 25 (1155). Many young adults stayed single during this time and focused on their education and starting their careers. During the second change, the role of law increasingly changed, especially in the role of law in divorce (1155). It is proven in today’s research marriage has a different definition than what it did back in the 1950’s. Today marriage can be defined as getting married to the same gender or getting remarried to someone who already has kids. The roles in a marriage are evolving to be a little more flexible and negotiable. However, women still do a lot of the basic household chores and taking care of the

Although marriage is a societal value, there has been a sharp increase in the instances of alternative family relationships, a phenomenon the law has been relatively quick to respond to. BOCSAR figures show that from 1987 to 2007, the number of married couples developed from 63% to 62%, which in the same period the number of de facto relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual) grew from 6% to 9%. As such, a new movement sources desire for

Could you imagine living in a world where it is acceptable for a man to marry more than one woman and be open about it? Not many can and that is why the practice of polygamy such is seen as taboo. The families usually live very private lives and they do not interact with a lot of the rest of America due to anti-bigamy society we live in. Polygamy is the practice of being married to more than one person at the same time (Webster 2015). This is not to be confused with an open relationship or an open marriage. This topic has been viewed and deemed as controversial for many years. As a practice that was not accepted in the public eye, it recently has gained more attention with mainstream media and culture. With shows on television such as “Sister

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

Despite the argument that polygamist lifestyles are easier, polygamy has proven time and time again, to be a terrible lifestyle that has been dolled up to look like something that it is not. Polygamist families are often unable to meet their basic needs, “In spite of our poverty, my husband continued to marry other wives. I almost died from typhoid fever and my first baby died” (Spencer 1). The health and well-being is the last thing on the mind of a husband living in polygamy because he is constantly wanting more for himself. All of the sister wives are so in love with their husband, what they do not know is that he does not really love them, if he did he would

Polygamy is the practice of or custom of having more than one husband or wife at a time. Polygamy happens everywhere in the world. Polygamy consists of abnormal lifestyles that non polygamist find unappealing. Most relationships consist of an older man with an extremely younger girl. Some even get arrested for molesting young girls. The men of the order think that abusing and neglecting their women and children is normal and acceptable. Most of the polygamist men in any of the orders have well over twenty wives and hundreds of children. They believe in having many women and children because to them it is the only way to get to the highest degree of glory for them. Some polygamist groups are so huge that many of them are well known across the

When we are young we play house and we play doctor, we pretend we are husbands and wives to the kids we play with. Marriage is imbedded into our minds at a young age and we value marriage as we get older. We see examples of marriages through personal experience, the TV, and through the media, but how much has marriage changed now compared to the 1950’s? The idea of marriage has been altered and improved since the 1950’s because of feminism, views about individualism, and views of same-sex marriage.

There are many laws against polygamy in all 50 states. There have been many times over the years that people have gone to the state about things that involve polygamy. They did not just make polygamy illegal because they didn't like the lifestyle or because they didn't want the people to be happy. They made it illegal because some believe that polygamous groups are guilty of: bigamy, and child abuse, including forced marriage of teens and pre-teens to older men. Polygamy isn't a hard crime but it is very wrong. Even though it is illegal in all 50 states polygamy still happens. It is most common in Asia, Africa, and in the west of the UK. The husband can marriage as many wives as he wants but only the first wife

Polyandry: Polyandry is defined as the practice of a woman having more than one husband at the same time.

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

Cultural relativity according to our textbook is defined as, “The principle that each culture has its own moral integrity and should not be judged by the standards of other cultures” (Heider, 14). Basically meaning that just because one culture prefers to do something differently from another this should not result in discrimination against another culture. This in turn results one major aspect that derives from the relativity concept. According to cultural relativity, this means putting aside the fact that polygamy is banned in all states within the United States due to the monogamist socio-cultural viewpoint in contrast some other cultures allow it. The aspects of monogamy and polygamy contrast greatly not only by definition but also by how

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.

Polygamy is the “practice whereby a person is married to more than one spouse at the same time” (Zeitzen 2008, 3)