Polygyny

The term polygyny (neo-Greek: poly+gyne woman) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology.

Definitions

In social anthropology, polygyny is a marital practice in which a man has more than one wife simultaneously. This is the most common form of polygamy. The man may marry more than one woman at the same time, or marry one or more other women while he is already married. The opposite form—where a woman has more than one husband simultaneously—is known as polyandry. See marriage for a discussion on the legal aspects.

The anthropological meaning has been taken over into sociobiology, where polygyny refers to a mating system in which a male has a more or less stable breeding relationship with more than one female, but the females are only bonded to a single male. In eusocial insects it refers to situations where colonies have multiple queens.

Note that in both the human and the animal situations, either the male or the female may at times copulate with additional partners; "polygyny" describes the formal or persistent relationships that help structure the society rather than being an exhaustive description of actual behavior.

Human polygyny

While polygyny has been a widespread historical occurrence, it has never been a majority experience or complete norm of all within society. It was accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China, and in Islam. It has been accepted in many traditional African and Polynesian cultures. In India, polygyny was practiced from ancient times onward, though historically only kings were polygynous in practice. For example, the Vijanagar emperor Krishnadevaraya had multiple wives. However, it was not accepted in ancient Greece or Rome, and has never been accepted in mainstream Christianity (although it was practiced in the early Mormon (LDS) church and survives in certain Mormon sects). The political and economic dominance of (at least nominally) Christian nations from the sixteenth to the twentieth century has meant that on the world scale polygyny is legally recognized in very few nations. Although many Muslim majority countries still retain traditional Islamic law which permits polygyny, certain liberal movements within Islam continue to challenge its acceptability.

The economics of polygyny

In many societies, only the wealthy and politically powerful among men could afford to have more than one wife (or would be permitted to in many cultures, for example within Islam). This requires special social conventions if it is not to produce instability in the society. It is not, however, a unique problem of polygyny: some men (and women) never obtain mates in monogamous societies. In some societies, especially some sub-sistence agricultural societies, the extra labor of multiple wives may be helpful.

Stabilizing conventions in polygynous societies

The ration of men to women is important in marriage states in a society. When there is an imbalance, this may be corrected within polygamous societies by one or more of the following conventions:

• Men marry late (30+ years) and women marry early (mid teens, or earlier). This limits the number of men who can marry and prohibits the younger men from interfering. At the same time, because of mortality, the number of women available is always larger than the number of men seeking spouses. Some societies have formal age grades for males, and no man may marry until he succeeds into the highest grade. Younger age grades are used as a military force or for labor details.
• High male mortality from warfare, feuding, occupational accident, and disease. Not only are the men too involved in these activities to consider marriage, but the number arriving at the marriageable age is reduced. Again, this means that fewer men than females are marriageable.
• Bride price or bride service. Men are required to buy wives by presenting the bride's family with suitable and costly gifts, or carrying out long periods of work for them. Because bride prices are often collected by the groom's family, he will never be able to marry unless he has been obedient to their will, usually for a long period.

Modern polygyny

Although polygamous marriages are not recognized in most modern societies, polygyny remains a widespread phenomenon. Some have commented on the practice of using mistresses and concubines openly or secretly supported by wealthy males is in fact a form of polygyny. In some cases the male may have a second (or more) family with the unofficial wife, supporting her and his illegitimate children. In some places the wife may feel it is preferable to help in the selection process rather than not be aware. There may be some ability to maintain status in this manner as well.

The female in a polygynous marriage

One viewpoint adheres to the notion that polygamy degrades women and children, treating them as property and slaves. Indeed, this often may be the case where there are few laws or little enforcement to ensure the support of a family and when a first wife is abandoned in favor of a second. Another instance is when local custom demands a mourning period for a widow in isolation, her in-laws take all her late husbands possessions. In some polygynous families where the households are separate, one or more wives may in reality be abandoned and visited only occasionally.

Polygamous marriages have variability in the amount of influence and control multiple wives can command. "Co-wives" may not even know about one another. They may not only know but support each other and help with domestic chores. In cases of sororal polygamy (sisters marrying the same male), close bonds may have already been formed. However, the "co-wives" may also compete with each other. There are records of a lot of fighting and even violence within polygynous households that is damaging for the children. The wives may vie for their husband's attention, particularly when the first wife is supplanted by a newer, younger wife. Children of differing wives have different status, or even no clarity in relationship that can lead to incestuous situations that are not healthy for offspring. When there is no clarity in superior status of elder wives this tension seems to be increased.

The Sociobiology of Polygyny

Polygyny is probably the most common mating system among vertebrates, and is especially common among mammals. It is characteristically associated with:

• Sexual dimorphism, particularly of size, with males being bigger, more aggressive, better equipped for fighting, and more colorful than females.
• Uni-parental care of the young, with males contributing less than females or nothing at all
• Delayed sexual maturity among males, relative to females of the same species, or to males of related species with different mating systems.

Some species show facilitative polygamy, with males mating with multiple females only when resource conditions are favorable. Recent research on voles has identified the genetic difference that predisposes one species to polygyny and another closely related species to pair bonding. The brain hormone mechanisms through which this very slight genetic difference acts have also been identified; they involve the response to vasopressin and oxytocin.

Considered in relation to other primates, humans are moderately sexually dimorphic. Humans show much more flexibility in mating systems than many other animal species and almost every possible kind of mating system exists in some society. However, the dominance of monogamy within the human society may be indicative of the dominance of thought within the human population of primates. Since the primary feature of dominance in human society involves thought, not only strength, the female human is capable to devise strategies to ensure preferential and solitary bonding.

External links

• Pro-Polygamy.com - Provides op-eds and press releases on polygamy-related current events for the secular mass media.
• Tapestry against Polygamy Anti-polygamy (polygyny) website
• The history of the "Christian polygamy" movement - Presents the history of the new, modern social movement which has no connection to Mormon polygamy.
• TruthBearer.org — Organization for Christian polygamy Provides activists with teachings, resources, and media interviews
• Polygamy, slavery and Qur'anic sexual ethics Reformist Muslim perspective
• www.polygamypage.info Site that favors tolerance of polygyny from an Evangelical Christian point of view, exploring references to polygyny in The Bible. Includes legal, academic and historical bibliography.
• Biblical Polygamy - Presents biblical exegesis of arguments to support polygamy and lists out all the polygamists in the Bible
• Principle Voices- An advocacy organization of Fundamentalist Mormon women whose purpose is to educate government agencies, NGO's and the public about the Fundamentalist Mormon culture and polygamy, and to encouraging empowerment of individuals and families in and from that culture.

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