Polygamy is practicied world wide. Why then is it not as successful in the United States....Is it cultural reasons?
AND..
yes it is successful in other parts of the world, but i would like to hear about why its not in the U.S vs other regions of the world...
2006-09-30 10:37:46 · 10 answers · asked by coopchic 5 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
ooppsss i meant polygny..... sorry folks
2006-09-30 10:42:39 · update #1
ok i agree with stopspuck this technically is not a religious question and u have to quit associating mormons with Polygny...think culturally not religiously for once people
2006-09-30 11:55:12 · update #2
Oh, ignorance (and I don't mean the asker, I mean answerers). Mormons do NOT practice polygamy, nor have they for 150 years. If a mormon marries more than one woman, he's thrown out of his church. It's a black and white issue. HOWEVER, small cults that have broken off from the main mormon religion practice polygamy. And it really isn't that common. The "take a good look" comment probably referred to the number of children a man has. Mormons have a ton of kids...but with one woman. But lets face it, if you start having kids at 19 and stop at 40 or older, you'll have a lot. But it's all by one man and one woman.
Anyway, back to the question. Polygamy isn't successful because the culture does not lend itself to polygamy. Our culture is taken from the European cultures, which don't practice polygamy. African and Fillipino cultures are the ones that practice polygamy, and even then, the wives usually hate each other. It's not really that successful for many, just a few.
2006-09-30 11:32:39 · answer #1 · answered by stopspucks88 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Is polygamy practiced successfully in Europe, Canada or the rest of America? I don't think so. With the exception of the Mormons and a few cults, polygamy is rare in Western culture.
That does not mean I'm against it. It seems like it would be a better choice for some women to be the second or third wife of a high quality man, rather than the only wife of an alcoholic bum. Come to think of it, you might be able to argue that polygamy is practiced in a way....... married man takes a mistress. Or you could argue that we practice "serial monogamy" which is really just polygamy.
You could also argue that polygamy is not successfully practiced in most of the rest of the world, as in Africa at least it results in the spread of HIV.
I tend to look at it all from a biological perspective rather than an anthrological perspective, which can change if culture changes.
Biologically and very generally speaking, human males tend to be promiscuous - in order to spread their seed as widely as possible. Females tend to be monogamous, or serially monogamous. They have much greater roles usually in raising the offspring - which is very delayed in humans. You might consider taking a look at correlating the degree of polygamy of a population to two other factors: 1) the relative prosperity of that population - both male and female - standard of living 2) The status of women in that population compared to men - human rights, social standing, life span, medical care, salaries, education and other factors like that.
I would predict that you would find that the percentage of polygamous relationships decrease in some kind of inverse relation, as status of women and prosperity of all increase.
2006-09-30 11:35:51 · answer #2 · answered by Zelda Hunter 7 · 2⤊ 4⤋
Polygyny (and polyandry) isn't more widespread in the US because it is illegal. I think that is the only reason that it is not more widespread in the US. I don't think that everyone would do it because not everyone personally agrees with it, but I think that it would appeal to alot of people, especially in rough economic times and because it would mean a strong built-in home network for any children that were produced.
2006-10-01 02:57:02 · answer #3 · answered by forbidden_planet 4 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Religion! The interpretation of it and the dominance of Christianity in the U.S.
2006-09-30 13:00:06 · answer #4 · answered by Justin H 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy
please read this. I take it your from a culture wear polygamy is legal or maybe you just don't understand wear it is legal. its not practiced worldwide as this map will show you.
2015-07-08 08:07:59 · answer #5 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is all because of religious factors. Though speaking from a man's point of view, one woman is a big enough headache.
2006-09-30 10:42:15 · answer #6 · answered by Just saw your question 2 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Polygamy is 'not successful' in the US? Are you kidding me??? Ever been to Utah, Colorado, Nevada, or Arizona? You should . Take a good look!
2006-09-30 10:42:20 · answer #7 · answered by OC 7 · 0⤊ 6⤋
My own personal opinion is its rife with pedofiles and incest. but thats my uneducated opinion.
2006-09-30 10:45:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
it's mainly practiced by Mormons, and Bill Paxton on HBO's "Big Love". But, many Christians, like me, find polygamy to be bizarre and weird.
2006-09-30 10:48:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 8⤋
Damn dude, more than one wife????? One is enough...how much nagging does one person need?
2006-09-30 10:46:23 · answer #10 · answered by Billy 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋