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Polygamy: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Polygamy
In the year 1960, a massive global survey of human societies revealed that the vast majority of cultures practiced some form of multiple marriage, yet the modern world insists on monogamy as the only natural state. This statistical reality challenges the assumption that monogamy is the default human condition, suggesting instead that the practice of having multiple spouses was the historical norm for most of human existence. The Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, a comprehensive database compiled between 1960 and 1980, recorded 1,231 societies, and found that 588 of them frequently practiced polygyny, while only 186 were strictly monogamous. This data indicates that for most of human history, the idea of a single partner for life was the exception rather than the rule, and that the current global legal landscape represents a relatively recent and geographically limited shift in human social organization. The prevalence of these practices was not random but deeply tied to the economic and ecological conditions of the societies that practiced them, creating a complex web of cause and effect that continues to shape the world today.
The Economics Of Wives
The practice of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa is often misunderstood as purely a matter of sexual desire, when in reality it is frequently a calculated economic strategy driven by the demands of agriculture and labor. Anthropologist Jack Goody discovered a strong historical correlation between shifting horticulture and polygamy, noting that in regions where women performed the majority of the agricultural work, men sought multiple wives to monopolize their labor and childbearing capacity. In the West African savanna, where men did more of the farming, polygyny was desired not for the labor of the wives but for the generation of male offspring whose labor was valued. This economic logic persists today, with studies showing that child mortality rates and ecological shocks are significant predictors of polygamy rates, as families seek to ensure survival through larger kin networks. The practice is not merely a cultural relic but a functional adaptation to environmental scarcity, where the marriage of all brothers to the same wife in the Himalayas allows family land to remain intact and undivided, preventing the fragmentation of resources that would occur if every brother married separately. In these societies, the addition of a junior wife to a family often lightens the workload of the senior wife, creating a complex household economy where status and prosperity are directly linked to the number of spouses a man can support.
The Silent Women
While the public discourse often focuses on the men who take multiple wives, the lives of the women within these arrangements are defined by a complex system of separate households and distinct economic independence. In many polygynous marriages, the husband's wives live in separate houses, sometimes in different cities, leading a life of limited contact with one another while sharing the same husband. This arrangement allows each wife to maintain her own property and assets, and they are paid a separate Mahr, or bride price, by their husband, ensuring a degree of financial autonomy that is rare in monogamous societies. The senior wives often hold significant power within the family structure, and their status can increase through the addition of other wives who add to the family's prosperity or symbolize conspicuous consumption. In some cultures, such as the Mosuo tribe of China, women remain in their maternal home, living with their brothers, and property is passed matrilineally, creating a society where the concept of paternity is secondary to the maternal line. The practice of polyandry, where a woman has multiple husbands, is often found in societies with scarce environmental resources, serving to limit human population growth and enhance child survival, yet it remains a rare form of marriage that exists not only among poor families but also among the elite.
What percentage of human societies practiced polygamy according to the 1960 Ethnographic Atlas Codebook?
The Ethnographic Atlas Codebook recorded that 588 out of 1,231 societies frequently practiced polygyny while only 186 were strictly monogamous. This data indicates that having multiple spouses was the historical norm for most of human existence rather than the exception.
Why do societies in sub-Saharan Africa practice polygyny as an economic strategy?
Anthropologist Jack Goody discovered that polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa is a calculated economic strategy driven by the demands of agriculture and labor. Men seek multiple wives to monopolize their labor and childbearing capacity, or to generate male offspring whose labor is valued in regions where men perform more farming.
How does the Mosuo tribe of China handle property and marriage differently from other societies?
The Mosuo tribe of China allows women to remain in their maternal home and live with their brothers while property is passed matrilineally. This creates a society where the concept of paternity is secondary to the maternal line and women maintain significant economic independence.
When did Martin Luther grant a dispensation for polygamy to the Landgrave Philip of Hesse?
Martin Luther granted a dispensation to the Landgrave Philip of Hesse to take a second wife in 1539. This double marriage was done in secret to avoid public scandal during the Protestant Reformation.
What legal outcome did the 1878 Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. United States establish regarding polygamy?
The landmark 1878 Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. United States declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution. This ruling followed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862 which made polygamy illegal in all US territories.
Which countries have not signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding polygamy?
Many Muslim-majority countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have not signed the covenant. In countries like Kuwait, no restrictions are imposed on the practice of polygamy.
The religious history of polygamy is a story of tension between divine command and human interpretation, where the most powerful figures in history have navigated the practice with varying degrees of acceptance and restriction. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was monogamously married to Khadija for 25 years until her death, after which he married multiple women, eventually having a total of 11 wives, though Muslim men were limited to four wives by Islamic law. This practice was justified as a way to provide financial protection to multiple women who might otherwise have no support, such as widows, yet it also served to establish political alliances and strengthen the community. In the Christian tradition, the Old Testament describes numerous examples of polygamy among devotees to God, including Jacob, Solomon, and possibly Moses, yet the New Testament and the Roman Catholic Church have largely rejected the practice, with the Council of Trent declaring it anathema. The Protestant Reformation saw a brief period where polygamy was tolerated, with Martin Luther granting a dispensation to the Landgrave Philip of Hesse to take a second wife in 1539, a double marriage that was done in secret to avoid public scandal. The tension between religious doctrine and social reality continues to this day, with African Independent Churches sometimes defending the practice of polygamy in defense of traditional values, while the Roman Catholic Church maintains that it is contrary to the moral law and the plan of God.
The Mormon Schism
The history of polygamy in North America is a dramatic saga of revelation, persecution, and legal battle that transformed the landscape of American religious freedom and family law. In the early 1840s, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, indicated through a revelation that the practice of plural marriage should be instituted among his followers, a doctrine that was publicly condemned in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. After Smith was killed by a mob on the 27th of June 1844, the main body of Latter Day Saints followed Brigham Young to Utah, where the practice of plural marriage continued and was publicly acknowledged by Young in 1852. The controversy that followed led to the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862, which made polygamy illegal in all US territories, and the landmark 1878 Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. United States, which declared that polygamy was not protected by the Constitution. In 1890, LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a public declaration known as the Manifesto, announcing that the church had discontinued new plural marriages, yet enforcement of this decision caused various splinter groups to leave the church to continue the practice. Today, there are as many as 37,000 fundamentalists living in polygamous households in Utah and neighboring states, with the practice remaining a controversial issue that has been subject to legislative battles throughout the years, including a 2013 federal court ruling that struck down parts of Utah's anti-polygamy laws.
The Legal Labyrinth
The modern legal status of polygamy is a patchwork of contradictions, where international human rights law clashes with national sovereignty and cultural tradition, creating a complex web of enforcement and exemption. In 2000, the United Nations Human Rights Committee reported that polygamy violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, citing concerns that the lack of equality of treatment with regard to the right to marry meant that polygamy, restricted to polygyny in practice, violates the dignity of women. Yet, many Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, have not signed the covenant, and in countries like Kuwait, no restrictions are imposed on the practice. In Canada, polygamy is an offense punishable by up to five years in prison, and in 2017, two Canadian religious leaders were found guilty of practicing polygamy by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In the United Kingdom, bigamy is illegal, but de facto polygamy is not a criminal offense provided the person does not register more than one marriage at the same time, and adultery is not a criminal offense. The United States has outlawed polygamy in all 50 states, yet in Utah, the practice is currently designated as an infraction rather than a crime, and there are about 30,000 people living in polygamous communities in the state. The legal landscape is further complicated by the fact that many countries allow polygamy under specific conditions, such as when the wife cannot carry out her obligations, has a physical disability, or cannot bear children, creating a system where the law is selectively enforced based on social and economic factors.