Polygamy the next big thing.

[Link]

Here is an incomplete map of the polygamy world...



Anyone who puts that conservative estimate in the same sentence as polyandry is kidding themselves.  If we all lived in Tibet we would be having a different conversation.  Fortunately we don't.

Swaziland and South Africa should be Green, no?

The map is incomplete.  I can tell you for a fact I have lived in at least one country that has polygamy and it is not green on the map.

I am against polygamy as well, but in a modern Western context it would likely be about 50% polyandry/50% polygyny outside of Islamic circles.

I don't know of too many women that would be into polygamy and I don't know any guys who would be into polyandry.  That 50/50 estimate is a bit high.

There are a lot of problems with polygamy - it almost always disenfranchises women, and to be honest in a first world country it doesn't make a lot of economic sense.

I agree.  People are just talking.  I've seen polygamy up close and it sucks for the women and children.  In old school agrarian societies where women couldn't own property and everyone (men and women) had to get married it made some sense because there were always more women than men but in a modern society it makes no sense.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

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Not everywhere that was the case (and even in Western Europe there were complications due to inheritance and widowhood laws) - and also that depends on what you mean by 'own'.

[Benj]

1) Like homosexuality, it's one of those things where the stigma against it is primarily custom-based. People have a strong knee-jerk negative reaction to it, but there aren't necessarily very good reasons for that reaction.

Uhhhh... most guys can't support one wife and one child without Herculean effort.  If you want to see our welfare rolls explode and even more dysfunctional children then by all means encourage polygamy.

Time warp to the 1950's? Most wives today also can work, you know.

Uhhh... yeah.  Two income household.  TWO people sharing TWO salaries.  You start adding other women and a geometric increase in children and the guys end of bargain isn't just being split two ways, man.

This is an absurd argument man. For every mouth you add, you also add another hand.

You're making an argument for why Hasidic Judaism is economically infeasible... which as we all know is not true either.

Well, it sort of is. There's a reason places like Kiryas Joel and South Williamsburg are so poor. They only survive by living off a welfare state that subsidizes having absurd numbers of children. (The same as it is in Israel, though it's a much larger problem there as Hasidim are a non-negligible portion of the Israeli population.)

[politicallefty]

It's not likely it will be the next big social movement. Polygamy isn't an orientation and there really isn't a fairness aspect to it like there is with same sex marriage. I don't really have any issues with it being legal and recognized as long as all involved are consenting adults.

I agree. I could see it possibly being a movement in our lifetimes, but not for some time. The biggest substantive issues I could see with it would be tax-related and whatnot. However, I cannot object to what individual consenting adults decide to do with their lives.

I think a considerable amount of opposition to polygamy (more specifically, polygyny, as polygamy simply means more than one spouse) is the result of the patriarchal FLDS where women are subjugated. That should not be recognized as legal. But, polygyny is just one version of polygamy. As already mentioned in this topic, polyandry has been practiced in some places. I had a Sociology professor mention in jest that she wouldn't mind having another husband to do housework. To take the concept in conjunction with gay marriage, who's to say there shouldn't or wouldn't be same-sex polygyny or polyandry or even some form of bisexual polygamy? I don't even think there's a specific term for if a man or woman marries another man and another woman. With that said, I have absolutely no objections to any form of polygamy so long as all individuals are fully and truly consenting.

(Btw, I don't think marriage equality and polygamy are related at all. They are two very distinct issues, regardless of what the far-right thinks. I do think both are substantive issues, but for quite different reasons. While I do think marriage equality is a fundamental human right, I don't believe polygamy is constitutionally protected in terms of government recognition. I have little doubt that no matter what happens with respect marriage in this country, one man and one woman will almost certainly always be the predominant form.)

[kobidobidog]

God had no problem with it. Why should we?

[Ban my account ffs!]

I think euthanasia will be a major social issue before polygamy.

This is probably true.  It'll be a while before polygamy is acceptable.  Like the gays, they're just gonna have to slog through decades of voluntary non-recognized polygamy before people go "oh.. .I guess it's not as bad as we thought" and it becomes the next social movement.

Euthanasia has been simmering under the surface for long enough and its turn is due.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Sure, why not?

[opebo]

Hard to believe women would ever accept this.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hard to believe women would ever accept this.

Would you accept to be one of a woman's many husbands? Just curious.

[DINGO Joe]

As someone who's been married for 8 years now (and has no plans to change that status) I'd rather have my head repeatedly slammed in a door jam than have a second wife.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Interesting that Opebo never bothered to answer.

[opebo]

Interesting that Opebo never bothered to answer.

Sorry, didn't notice your question.  I wouldn't want to be a husband or any other kind of 'committed person'.  However I very much enjoy being one of many customers.

[Deus Naturae]

Interesting that Opebo never bothered to answer.

Sorry, didn't notice your question.  I wouldn't want to be a husband or any other kind of 'committed person'.  However I very much enjoy being one of many customers.

Aren't you a communist? If you support collective ownership of the means of production, why don't you support collective ownership of the means of reproduction?