Polygamy In Today’S Society

Polygamy in today’s society

Introduction

Economic reasons are adduced to support polygamy. It is financially beneficial for a man to have several wives that involve an increase in labor for agricultural work in the husband’s lands. However, some polygenous men have too many mouths to feed that leads to progressive indebtedness. Sometimes, families give some of their daughters as girlfriends to, through the dowry received, pay debts. There are also cases in which they marry repeatedly to show off economic power.

Developing

There are social reasons that also contribute to the existence of polygamy. In some societies, the number of wives is a social prestige symbol. Sometimes, the first wife encourages her husband to marry again, to discharge from her load with the work that the raising of the children, the chores of the house and the work of the countryside, especially in caseillness.

The first wife usually gains social importance when her husband acquires more wives. On other occasions, husbands marry women from different families to increase their social and political alliances. Sexual reasons contribute to the presence of polygamy in those societies in which the tradition of one or two years of abstinence by the woman who has given birth to a child is maintained, considering that this behavior will guarantee the quality of breast milk. 

If the first wife has not had children, the responsibility is often given when she is considered that she is the sterile, and in those cases, the man married again to continue the family name.

This solution, in case with the new wife there is offspring, ends with humiliation and social misfortune that not having children in some African societies. Sometimes polygamy produces more negative effects than the problems it intends to solve. 

Some wives dispute with each other due to problems of jealousy and competitiveness and blackmail the husband developing the animosity of her brothers against the husband. To avoid these problems, sometimes, the husband chooses to install each wife in very separate houses, but the result is usually, not only the physical distancing, but also the emotional distancing between him, his wives, and his children.  These situations can lead to wives to take lovers or focus their attention exclusively on the care of children.

conclusion

Consequently, the inequality of wives is usually another effect in many cases of polygamy. Minor wives do not feel free to express their opinions, especially if they believe that these opinions are not going to like the first wife. It is usually usual, that the minor wife receives less love from her husband and a worse quality education for her children than the first wife.