Polygamy. (in Canada) created by: Aphrodite Demos

1. POLYGAMY
Aphrodite Demos
Gloria Zaimis
HHS4U1
March 12, 2018

2. What is polygamy?
• Polygamy is the
practice of marrying
multiple spouses
• Comes from the Greek
word “πολυγαμία”,
polygamía (=state of
marriage to many
spouses)

3. More specifically..
✓Polygyny – one man married to
several women
✓Polyandry – one woman married to
several men
✓Group marriage - when a marriage
includes multiple husbands and wives
POLYGAMY – refers to any of these
arrangements

4. Different forms of polygamy
It is practiced
by many
cultures across
the globe:
In some
cultures, one
wife is shared
by brothers.
In others, a
father and
son have a
common
wife.
In the Arsi
region of
Ethiopia, a
man can
have up to 11
wives
In many cultures,
a widow is
inherited by her
dead husband's
brothers, father
or even a son by
another wife.

5. Facts
The FLDS (=The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is the largest
polygamist group in U.S, where:
o Polygamy is required in order to get into
heaven. Three wives seems to be the minimum.
o They believe that Warren Jeff is their beloved
dictator/president.
o Female members of the FLDS are prohibited
from wearing red. Strict dress code.
o Incest is a good thing
o LDS/Mormons are extremely racist.

6. More facts!
✓ In Sierra Leone it is the most common form of
marriage, estimated to represent 70-80% of all
marriages!
✓An estimated over three billion people around the
world today still believe in polygamy.
✓Over two billion women and children around the
world live under the oppression of polygamy.
✓Canadian polygamists benefit big when it comes to
the Canadian child-care benefit
✓The percentage of Americans who find polygamy to
be morally acceptable has more than doubled since
2001, while there are 30,000 to 50,000 people currently
living a polygamist lifestyle in the United States.

7. PROS & CONS OF POLYGAMY

8. PROS
o A man who takes more than one wife:
❖ satisfies more of his sexual urges
❖ it is a sign of prestige and social standing
❖ Polygyny may be costly, but in the long term, it
can make a rich man richer.
o Polygyny might even benefit the women involved,
who may come to enjoy one another’s company
and share out the burdens of housekeeping and
childrearing.
o In times of war, with high male absenteeism and
mortality, polygyny supports population growth and
replenishment by ensuring that every female can
find a mate.

9. CONS
✓It preserves and supports gender
inequality, with co-wives officially being
subordinated to their husband.
✓Creates conflicts and inequalities
between co-wives.
✓While polygyny may benefit the men
involved, it denies wives to other men.
Studies have shown that these men are
much more likely to turn to crime and
violence, especially sexual violence.
❖It can be no coincidence that polygamy
is practiced in all of the 20 most unstable
countries on the Fragile States Index.

10. CONS
✓ Brideprice is a frequent feature of
polygynous unions and is intended to
compensate the bride’s family for the
loss of a pair of hands.
✓Divorce typically requires that the
brideprice be returned, forcing many
women to remain in miserable or
abusive marriages!
✓ Disadvantages the offspring. Children
may receive a divided share of their
father’s attention. Overall, the infant
mortality in polygynous families is
considerably higher than in monogamous
families.

11. What are polygamy's origins?
✓In the state of nature, people were generally
polygamous, as are most animals.
✓1822: Joseph Smith claimed that a saint
communicated with him they should practice a
lifestyle of multiple men or women should be in a
marriage. He later called it Polygamy.
✓It was most common in places where centred
around subsistence farming which requires lots of
manpower. High levels of infant mortality may be a
factor; when many children do not survive a family
needs more than one child-bearer to be
economically viable.
✓it was first encountered sporadically in classical
China, by Native Americans, in the West African
continent, Polynesia, India and the ancient Greece.

12. HISTORY
• The polygamy was widely accepted throughout the world until the
Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church (285 AD) has imposed
the rules of having just one wife.
• Most cultures that permitted polygamy permitted polygyny (a man
taking two or more wives) rather than polyandry (a woman taking two or
more husbands). In the Hebrew Bible polygyny was permitted, when at
the same time if a woman had more than one husband, it was seen as
adultery.
• In the Gallic War (52 BC), Caesar claimed that, ‘ten and even twelve
men have wives in common’,
• In the United States, polygamy was allowed back at the early years of
the history of FDLS . However it officially ended the year 1899 when the
members of this church began to be thrown out for being polygamous.
• about 10,000 years ago, monogamy began to prevail over polygamy in
human populations.

13. ..Today
• Today, most countries
that endorse polygamy
(mostly polygyny) are
countries with a Muslim
majority or sizeable
Muslim minority.
• In some countries, such
as India, polygamy is
legal only for Muslims.

14. Are there any advantages of
polygamy for the society overall?
If polygamy was still practiced by many
people today:
❖ There would be a decrease in the extra-
marital affairs.
❖ There would be fewer unmarried women
and less problems with infertility.
❖ There would be a decrease in immorality.
❖ HIV –AIDS would not be so widespread.

15. IS POLYGAMY LEGAL IN
➢ Polygamy is a criminal offense in Canada, punishable by up to five years in
prison. Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada states:
Every one who
(a) practises or enters into or in any manner agrees or consents to practise or enter into
(i) any form of polygamy, or
(ii) any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it
is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage, or
(b) celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony,
contract or consent that purports to sanction a relationship
mentioned in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii),
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding five years.

17. Article
o On 2017, Canadian polygamy law is put on trial for the first time in 127 years.
o Canada’s best-known polygamists are Winston Blackmore, and James Oler, Blackmore’s
brother in law but also a leader of a fundamentalist splinter sect of the Mormon church.
o Blackmore has 27 wives where Oler has “only” 4.
o Blackmore has admitted that 10 of his wives were 17 or younger when they were
married, he said three of his brides were 16 and one was 15.

18. Connection to Theories
Exchange Theory
People in polygamous marriages think of the benefits polygamy offers and
consider the idea, but also associate their decision with their religious
standards.

19. Feminism
➢Many feminists view polygamy as the exploitation and subordination of
women to the dominance and sexual satisfaction of men.
➢ Polygamy is still associated with a power imbalance and inequality between
the two genders.
WHY? Women get married at young age, resulting to stop their education and
have many responsibilities (kids, household etc.), while the man is being with
other wives.

20. Jeffrey Arnett's Theory of Emergency Adulthood
Love No exploration of love or the person they want to spend the rest of
their lives with.
Work These mostly affects women in polygynous marriages where most
women or girls tend to be stay at home wives/mothers.
World views Often views and ideas are associated with their religious
beliefs.

21. YOUR
OPINION
COUNTS!
Do you think
polygamy has to do
with religion?
If so, can
polygamy be
considered as a
sin?
If you lived in a country where
polygamy was legal & socially
acceptable, would you practice
it? Be honest!