Polygamy vs. Monogamy

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Kurtni
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May 6th, 2007 at 05:49pm
Polygamy vs. Monogamy
The debate over what the government has the right to regulate and what they don’t is a controversial issue; especially when it relates back to marriage. Not only do people have opposing religious beliefs, personal morals also conflict to make a situation in which everyone can’t win.
Polygamy
Polygamy is the practice of being involved in a relationship involving more than 2 people. It can refer to a married relationship or one that doesn’t involved marriage. Polygamy is legal in the majority of places (I couldn’t find anywhere that it was illegal actually) so long as it doesn’t involve registered marriages.

Polygyny is the practice of a man having multiple partners, married or unmarried. It’s a common practice in modern South African communities. Certain religions openly support polygyny. Many Muslim communities in Russia, Bosnia, Kyrgyzstan and Middle Eastern countries practice polygyny even though it is illegal. In fact the President of the Chechen Republic has openly supported polygyny due to the depopulization of Chenchya. In Christian religious teachings, there was much polygyny in the old testament. However, many modern Christians condemn polygyny and have evidence from the new testament to support their beliefs. Even in the old testemant in Genisis, god created 2 humans, a male and a female, not a male and 5 females. In older cultures it was widely accepted and seen as a representation of status in some places. The more wives you could afford to support, the more powerful and wealthy you were. Obviously one of the main arguments against polygyny is that it’s degrading to women and treats them as sexual objects instead of people with rights.

Polyandry (the practice of a woman having multiple male partners), in contrast to polygyny, is strictly banned by Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In comparison to polygyny, polyandry is practiced a lot less. Even historically, the only citations of it are in minor, almost insignifigant tribes. Two examples of modern polyandry include the Nair people, who inhabit India's Malabar Coast, a woman may marry several men of equal or superior rank. In areas of Tibet, a woman can marry the oldest brother of a family and then take his brothers as mates.

Monogamy
Monogamy is the practice of being in a relationship with only one person. Outiside of the human species, monogamy rarely occurs. Western civilization has accepted this as how relationships should be, which is why bigamy (having 2 or more marriages) is illegal.

~Questions~
-Which lifestyle do you believe is more benificial?
- Does the government have the right to outlaw polygamy, even though it interfers with religious beliefs?
- Is keeping polygyny illegal preventing women from being degraded? Or is it more degrading to not allow them to make that choice for themselves.
- Would it be acceptable for a mixture of women and men to have a polygamus, bisexual relationship ?
- If polygamy was made legal, would it affect the legality of gay marriage? Such a a womna being allowed to have multiple wives?

Oh, yes, and I’ll just throw this fact in; Polygamy helps a society survive in Star Wars Con
Ol' Blue Eyes.
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May 6th, 2007 at 08:48pm
Kurtni:
Oh, yes, and I’ll just throw this fact in; Polygamy helps a society survive in Star Wars Con

Well, anything that helps a society in Star Wars survivie... lmfao

Personally, I don't think the government has a right to outlaw Polygamy because it interfers with some religious beliefs. Separation of church and staete, yeah!

And on the issue of degrading women, I think that the women who agree to be in these relationships are responsible for deciding whether or not they are being degraded. I think it depends on how they see themselves, not how we view them.
Kurtni
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May 6th, 2007 at 09:40pm
Ol' Blue Eyes.:
Kurtni:
Oh, yes, and I’ll just throw this fact in; Polygamy helps a society survive in Star Wars Con

Well, anything that helps a society in Star Wars survivie... lmfao

Personally, I don't think the government has a right to outlaw Polygamy because it interfers with some religious beliefs. Separation of church and staete, yeah!

And on the issue of degrading women, I think that the women who agree to be in these relationships are responsible for deciding whether or not they are being degraded. I think it depends on how they see themselves, not how we view them.

Well, the religion doesn't make it mandatory for people to be married to multiple people ( I don't think at least, I could have misunderstood what I read) so they could still practice their religion, but it would still be limiting it. And I agree, if all people involved consent and no one is harmed, I can't really find an issue with it. Personally, based on my own morals monogamy strengthens a relationship and shows loyalty and I wouldn't ever be in any other kind, but I know that not everyone shares my morals.

I'm just curious to know on what grounds they've justified making it illegal. So far the only thing I've ever come across is that it's to prevent people from being married under false pretenses, but that can happen when you're only marrying with one person.

On another note, only a select few animals aside from humans show monogamous behavior, could momogamy be a sign of advanced social development? Obviously humans are of course extremely developed socially and intellectually, and the animals that are monogamous are as well. There are 3 kinds of monogamy; social, genetical, and sexual. Just like in humans, the three can occur in combinations in animals. For example, river dolphins have been hypothesized to show all 3 kinds of behavior. Dolphins are obviously quite intelligent. However, other dolphins like the bottlenose dolphin behave differently. Packs of male, bottlenose dolphinhs have actually been caught together violently attacking an isolated female, rape basically. British Spiny Seahorse's show signs of all three types of monogamy as well. It also presents some problems too, monogamy according to some studies leads to a higher risk of extinction, although they aren't 100% sure why. Possibly because hunting male animals is alot more common than taking females. Alot of birds show social monogamy, much more than any other group of animals do. Some species show all three kinds like wood ducks or song birds.
PaNcAkEs
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May 7th, 2007 at 02:55am
I personaly think that as long as the people involved are happy with it( be it polygyny, polyandry, monogamy, bigamy, whichever it happens to be) i'm okay with it. Though i do sometimes think in the direction that polygyny is somewhat degrading women. But thats in the past and now things have changed and there is less degrading done, but saying that none is done at all would be wrong and untrue. Its all in what the people believe. I'm personaly quite curious to find out what its like being in those different positions. Though i'm not very keen on becoming a wife to a man who already has a few. Though i guess i do think that a one man, one woman couple is much more prefered than a one man, more than one woman couple or one woman, more than one man couple. It would be emotionally difficult i think, you know, to love or sleep or be married to more than one person, but yet again, i've never been married so how should i know XD.
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May 7th, 2007 at 03:22am
Polygyny I think would be more beneficial because men that have more women have more money and they can support their big families. Also a Monogamy couple will have top to three kids these days and if one guy has five wifes and three kids than he would have 15 kids. And if each has three kids, than the population will grow bigger. I honestly don't see nothing degrading in Polygyny because a woman gets married if she wants to and most of them do. And I think her husband can get punished if he cheats on her (or in this case more wifes) he will get punished. I don't think that the government has the right to outlaw something that is a part of a certain religion. I mean what arguments do they have? And I don't think that Poligamy marriages would affect the legality of gay marriages (an excellent question though) because I don't think wifes would have sex with their husband and each other. In a Muslim world you cant be gay even if you know you are. It is a big shame and I even read that one guy chopped his son head when he caught him with another man. And maybe what I am saying isn't based on any facts, but since Bosnia is a country near by, trust me, they don't support homosexuality.

I personally would never bee in any relationship except Monogamy, the same reasons as you Kurtni cited. And I have a monogamist animal! Its actually a bird. A male and a female bird have a relationship and when the male bird goes to sex another bird his wifey goes to the other female bird and pokes out the sperm or something. It goes something like that, I'm not really sure, I saw that documentary a while ago.
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May 7th, 2007 at 08:07am
intrigueing
rehabreject
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May 7th, 2007 at 09:25am
While polygamy is all well and good in the animal kingdom, I think it can cause problems in human society. Humans feelings and thoughts are different to those of animals - which suggests we are more likely to experience stuff like envy and hurt in more delicate situations.
What I'm trying to say (without rambling) is that having these set 'expectations' is society's way of avoiding conflict.

I've heard about some cultures where polygamy is legal, but only if all partners are treated equally. Which means a man would have to buy an identical house for each of his wives, and to lavish exactly the same amount of attention on each of them. We can see why there's a problem and why people in such places usually stick to monogamy.

I want to subtly suggest (without offending anyone) that many of the muslim countries in which polygamy is practised - which Kurtni mentioned - are the very places in which women are considered to be subordinate to men. So the term 'equality' is somewhat inaccurate.
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May 7th, 2007 at 10:20am
Polygamy (having multiple parteners) helps many married people stay married, there is nothing wrong in being able to sustaine a marrage and have anouther partner, i dont believe (just my opinion) that one partner all your life is the right way to be.

You have couples who go to "swinging parties" and for the most part they are able to keep they're marrage alive because of they're lifestyle and who should have the right to say that it is bad and wrong?

Also have anouther partner keeps your sex life alive and makes it more enjoyable. So why not be abe to do what you like to do in and out of bed?
Kurtni
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May 7th, 2007 at 06:28pm
rehabreject:
While polygamy is all well and good in the animal kingdom, I think it can cause problems in human society. Humans feelings and thoughts are different to those of animals - which suggests we are more likely to experience stuff like envy and hurt in more delicate situations.
What I'm trying to say (without rambling) is that having these set 'expectations' is society's way of avoiding conflict.

I've heard about some cultures where polygamy is legal, but only if all partners are treated equally. Which means a man would have to buy an identical house for each of his wives, and to lavish exactly the same amount of attention on each of them. We can see why there's a problem and why people in such places usually stick to monogamy.

I want to subtly suggest (without offending anyone) that many of the muslim countries in which polygamy is practised - which Kurtni mentioned - are the very places in which women are considered to be subordinate to men. So the term 'equality' is somewhat inaccurate.

Well, I agree that I think for alot of people it would be problematic. I know I personally would be so jealous I couldn't stand it. But I think other people still have the right to do it.

Well, alot of polygamous people share the same house with all their wives/husbands, so seperate things wouldn't be an issue. But if they were seperate I can see how it would be an issue. But what happens if someone consents to being treated differently than the others? And I do know what you mean about Muslim communites and the inequality women experience, I don't think that would offend anyone, it was a good point to raise.
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May 9th, 2007 at 01:52am
'blows nose(i've got a runny nose)*
Well, the whole thing kinda reminds me of the ancient egyptians kinda. The pharaoh had his harem and a head wife, as in, his favorite. He could also marry his own daughters, and marriage between brother and sister was legal and much celebrated in their society. Perhaps this is off the topic but i'll continue anyway. Take Ramesses the Second for instance, he lived for some, i dont know, sixty or eighty years, had a hundred wives and nearly two hundred children, meaning, he kinda had two kids with each of his hundred wives.. he must have been good in bed....but you didnt hear thatVery Happy
But its all in the culture, religion and society in which you grow up to what standards you're accustomed to, and stuff. Okay, i said what i wanted to sayVery Happy
Ol' Blue Eyes.
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May 9th, 2007 at 04:13pm
Tasteful and Sublime:
'blows nose(i've got a runny nose)*
Well, the whole thing kinda reminds me of the ancient egyptians kinda. The pharaoh had his harem and a head wife, as in, his favorite. He could also marry his own daughters, and marriage between brother and sister was legal and much celebrated in their society. Perhaps this is off the topic but i'll continue anyway. Take Ramesses the Second for instance, he lived for some, i dont know, sixty or eighty years, had a hundred wives and nearly two hundred children, meaning, he kinda had two kids with each of his hundred wives.. he must have been good in bed....but you didnt hear thatVery Happy
But its all in the culture, religion and society in which you grow up to what standards you're accustomed to, and stuff. Okay, i said what i wanted to sayVery Happy
I agree, it's entirely about personal beliefs and morals. I mean, I personally wouldn't want to share a husband with several other women, but I've met women who know their husband has several other women in their lives and are completely fine with it.
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May 11th, 2007 at 03:40pm
Kurtni:
Many Muslim communities Kyrgyzstan...
AWESOME country!

I don't think that polygamy should just outright be banned, but people need to be educated about it. Polygamy in African countries is much of the reason behind the exponential spread of HIV/AIDS. I think that in such cases banning polygamy isn't the answer, but the government sould take responsibility and action. They need urgent public sex education sessions. Otherwise people are just going to use the spread of disease as another reason to possibly ban polygamy.
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May 13th, 2007 at 05:08am
Anji:
Kurtni:
Many Muslim communities Kyrgyzstan...
AWESOME country!

I don't think that polygamy should just outright be banned, but people need to be educated about it. Polygamy in African countries is much of the reason behind the exponential spread of HIV/AIDS. I think that in such cases banning polygamy isn't the answer, but the government sould take responsibility and action. They need urgent public sex education sessions. Otherwise people are just going to use the spread of disease as another reason to possibly ban polygamy.
I completely agree. And Sex Ed. in Africa should be held for many, many reasons.

Three-quarters of all Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 who are HIV-positive are women. As I mentioned in my first post that if a man has 5 wives and each has 3 kids then there will be 15 kids. In Africa most of them will be infected with HIV.
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May 15th, 2007 at 12:40pm
Morally, I'm against it. But, religiously it's up to the person. Everyone has the right to religion and to tell a person they can't practice it is wrong. I guess.
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