Mormons, Polygamy, and The Blight of Ethnocentrism

[SGOS]

I don't see anything wrong with polygamy, but I see a lot wrong with oppression and human inequality.  If some women want to be part of a harem, that should be their choice, I suppose.  But I see nothing, not one thing, about polygamy that warrants glorification of any kind.

And when defending polygamy on religious grounds, lets be clear about what exactly we are defending.  Is it multiple wives or is it oppression, or something else that is not all that glorious as an expression of religious freedom?

[Plu]

Polygamy is not about a guy with multiple wives. Polygamy is (well... should be) the idea that a group of more than 2 people can all be in love with each other.

[SGOS]

Polygamy is not about a guy with multiple wives. Polygamy is (well... should be) the idea that a group of more than 2 people can all be in love with each other.

^ This

[stromboli]

The correct term for multiple female spouses is polygyny. Polygamy means multiple spouses. Polygamy just sounds better. I think in a liberal situation where everything were equal, the women would end up running the whole thing, because they would in effect be dividing the man up between them, time wise.


I have enough experience from my personal life to know that patriarchal polygamy involves an element of coercion, because otherwise you have several women vying for time with one man. And there has to be some spite, because I'm sure that a man would be more interested in a newer, younger wife than an older one who has borne children. A whole lot of sublimated ego has to happen to make that scenario work.