Polygamy the next big thing.

[Beet]

Search for my posts on polygamy here and you'll see that I've long thought it's going to follow in the footsteps of homosexuality as the next big social acceptance movement. (You'll also see my own apprehensions about it, but leaving that aside for now). Here are my arguments for why in 20-30 years, it's going to be the next big issue

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.
2) The biggest substantive arguments against it are practical (i.e., who gets the kids when there's a split, etc. and the fact that splits become statistically more likely the more people you get)
3) Like homosexuality, it's a matter of personal freedom. The trend has been towards more personal freedom on social lifestyle and sexual issues.
4) Like homosexuality, it has the "none of your business/if we're not hurting you, why do you care?" argument supporting it. It's hard to argue against. If you have a polygamist group that claims they're happy together, it's very hard for an outsider to say, "No. You're not happy. I know you better than you know yourselves."
5) Apply the legal arguments about "state interest" brought up to support the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 to polygamy. As with the case of homosexuality, it's very hard to show a state interest in preventing wedded unions of more than two people.
6) Most forward-thinking liberal people I know seem to have little to no problem with it.
7) Ultra-conservatives will not necessarily be displeased with it either, although some religious conservatives will probably oppose it.
8 ) We are beginning to see an increase in the acceptance of polygamy already.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/162689/record-high-say-gay-lesbian-relations-morally.aspx
It's gone from "adultery" levels to "cloning" levels. So it still has a long way to go. This isn't going to happen overnight. But it will happen.

[Link]

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.

[Beet]

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.

Traditional polygamy is precisely what scares me about polygamy. You could easily have guys like Donald Trump buying up 50 wives from among lower class social climbers who groom their daughters to be picked off by patriarchs such as him. That leaves the lower class men with nothing. You see something like this in some villages in Vietnam where the girls are married off to Korean guys.

However, that's not the only model of polygamy. You could have one woman-multiple men, you could have three men, three women, two men and two men, et cetera. It works with any combination.

Polygamy can reinforce oppressive class and gender structures, but polygamy itself doesn't necessarily contain oppressive social structures within it, which is why I think a lot of liberals don't have a problem with it. Traditionally, the one man-multiple woman relation was predominant not only because of power relations but also presumably because of reproductive efficiency, with one penis being able to impregnate multiple wombs at once. However, in modern days it's above average if a woman has two children in her lifetime. Most people don't get married to reproduce. So theoretically there should be more diversity.

[Link]

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.

[Beet]

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.

[Link]

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

How many countries have you lived in with wide spread polygamy?

And I don't know what Jews have to do with this.

[John Dibble]

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.

[dead0man]

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.

This.  I'm for it, but it's pretty far down the list of things I think are wrong.  Somewhere around leash laws (I'm against them) and mandatory seatbelt wearing (I'm against that too).

[Antonio the Sixth]

Not before patriarchy is eradicated (or at least severely weakened), please.

[Fritz]

I personally have no problem with polygamy, so long as it is practiced by consenting adults.  The problem with the way polygamy is generally practiced in this country is, the participants (the women anyways) are generally neither consenting nor adult.  The marriages are arranged, and the girls are often teenagers.  Meanwhile many of these girls' teenage brothers are routinely expelled from the community, because of the simple math problem.

BUT if it were an arrangement entered into completely voluntarily without being arranged by others, by people of legal age, then should it be legal?  Sure, why not?  The truth is, polygamists don't really want their marriages to be legal, because all of those women are collecting welfare checks as "single mothers".

[memphis]

Hard to imagine a man wanting more than one wife. That would make life way too complicated.

[politicus]

I think its a no-go:

- It would be an even bigger break with Christian culture than gay marriage (which can be seen as just another version of the nuclear family).

- Feminists will fight polygamy, most of them support gay marriage.

- In Europe it would be seen as a kowtow to Islamists, this reaction would also exist in the rest of the Western world, but be a little weaker there.

- Polyandri would be too radical an idea for society - its a step towards matriarchy.

I think many interests would come together to fight it and that coalition would be stronger than the one against gay marriage.

EDIT: Gay marriage is in a way not that radical, because the gay partner can just take the same legal and social role as the straight partner in a traditional marriage. This would have far greater legal, economic and social consequences.

[DC Al Fine]

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

[TNF]

Meh, I think you'd have an easier time abolishing civil marriage as a state institution rather than expanding it to cover more than two individuals. Just end state recognition of marriages and allow for individuals to claim all the benefits they normally get under marriage.

[HoosierPoliticalJunkie]

Hard to imagine a man wanting more than one wife. That would make life way too complicated.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

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

Marijuanna legalization will top that....it's already slowly garnering support.

And what politicus said.

[The Mikado]

Unlike same sex marriage, I just don't see that large a community coming out as advocates of this.  Same sex marriage has turned because now most people know gay people and know that they are...people.  How many of you know polygamists?  When was the last time the FLDS and traditionalist Muslims made joint polygamy pride parades down Main Street in your town? 

[Mechaman]

Meh, I think you'd have an easier time abolishing civil marriage as a state institution rather than expanding it to cover more than two individuals. Just end state recognition of marriages and allow for individuals to claim all the benefits they normally get under marriage.

This.

The only feasible way I see polygamy happening is if we get state involvement out of the marriage question to where it's legal via technicality.  Trying to legitimatize it through government policy would be too much legal hassle.

[Link]

Hard to imagine a man wanting more than one wife. That would make life way too complicated.

True.  I'm immediately suspicious of anyone that would want to be in a polygamous marriage.  I've spent the majority of my adult life avoiding monogamous marriage.  I just don't see how you properly cover all your child rearing, economic, and sexual obligations while at the same time navigating two times of the month every lunar cycle.  You could be spending almost a third of your life dealing with that.

[Bacon King]

There is absolutely no way this becomes an actual movement. Like honestly, you think the reactionary nutjobs don't already have enough of an irrational paranoid of all things Muslim?

"THEY DONE TOOK GOD OUTTA MARRIAGE, NOW THEY'S PUTTIN' IN ALLAH"

[DC Al Fine]

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

Marijuanna legalization will top that....it's already slowly garnering support.

And what politicus said.

I think it will come first, but I just don't see marijuana being a big issue. There's too many young conservatives who support it.

[opebo]

No, its impossible.  Americans are still profoundly anhedonic prudes - polygamy implies blatant/open libertinism in a way the faux-monogamy of both hetero-sexual and homo-sexual marriage do not.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Why does everyone assume we are talking about polygyny and not polyandry?

[Link]

Why does everyone assume we are talking about polygyny and not polyandry?

Because they are normal.

[Blue3]

I personally wouldn't care if it happens... BUT there are legal issues that must be settled first... which spouse makes the medical decisions, who inherits what, etc. Practical concerns. Otherwise, live and let live. It's not hurting me.