The following is an excerpt from the report: “Expanding Recognition of Foreign Polygamous Marriages: Policy Implications for Canada” prepared by Dr. Martha Bailey, Principal Researcher, Professor Beverley Baines, Co-principal researcher and Professor Bita Amani, Co-principal researcher of Queen’s University at Kingston, ON, Canada. step 1
OCRT Coordinator’s notice:
That it declaration knowledge polygyny (one man hitched in order to several spouses) due to the fact skilled from inside the Western, Middle Eastern and you may African nations. Some of the findings entalist Mormon You.S. and you may Canadian subcultures and therefore habit a keen authoritarian men-reigned over family unit members build.
The technique of and you may Reasons for Polygamy:
Polygamy was permitted in most parts of the world at one time, but there has been a move away from the practice. Monogamy is now the rule in eastern and western Europe, North America, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand and large parts of Asia, including Japan and China. 2 Although India continues to permit Muslims to enter into polygamous marriages, 80 percent of its population is governed by the Hindu ous marriage.step 3 In many of the Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries that still permit polygamy, the rules governing the practice have been made more stringent,4 and actually polygamous marriages are the exception rather than the rule.5 In Islamic countries, only the wealthier men are able to comply with the Koran’s requirement that a man who takes on more than one wife be able to afford each of them and their children equal protection and benefit.six
Polygamy is even are not utilized in closed societies where open displays of courtship and love is shunned. Also, polygamy have usually come found in place of divorce proceedings inside places having limited grounds for splitting up and you will high thresholds having demonstrating those foundation (Marasinghe 1995: seven2-73).
Social scientists have given various theoretical explanations for the practice of polygamy. Alexander,7 Betzig 8 and MacDonald 9 offered variants of a “male compromise” theory, which explains polygamy as resulting from socio-economic stratifications among men. They argued that monogamy is the result of a compromise among men usually following democratic development, whereby the wealthy, powerful men surrender polygamous practices and multiple wives in exchange for political support from poor men. The male compromise theory is based on Richard Alexander’s theory that nation-states impose monogamy on their male citizens to equalize their reproductive opportunities.
Kanazawa nevertheless (1999) debated to own an excellent “lady solutions” theory from relationship methods, and that posits that women have the positioning from demanding a good version of marriage setting based on the access and you will position of males. Where investment inequalities are great among males, ladies commonly love to ously. In which inequalities are relatively low, girls tend to chose to ously. It theory was female-strengthening and you can useful. They comprehends polygamy otherwise monogamy since rational options to be manufactured in line with societal determinants, particularly investment inequality. However, it’s been criticized getting failing woefully to be the cause of brand new political truth one to undermines this program. On the other hand, brand new politics regarding inequity root the practice of polygamy (where you will find son brides, for example) are misattributed towards the organization of polygamy. Morrison and Jutting (2004: 16) wrote: “Polygamy entails inequality ranging from visitors while the always there is certainly a significant difference regarding 20 so you’re able to 3 decades between your 2nd (otherwise 3rd) girlfriend along with her partner.”
Sanderson argued that polygamy is really about male choice and preference for sexual variety to ensure male reproductive success. The extent of the opportunity to seek sexual variety may vary, however, with social circumstances, such as the degree to which women are available and how costly they are as wives (their economic value). Sanderson observed that “[p]oorly educated women from rural areas and with low socioeconomic status are much more likely to be in a polygamous marriage, and well-educated women from 
higher socioeconomic backgrounds, who have many more y.”10 The author rejected the female choice theory and noted that it is mostly high-status men in polygamous societies who have multiple wives, as they have “the means to acquire them and the personality traits (e.g., competitiveness, aggressiveness) that incline them toward the pursuit of several females. High status males mate more often and leave more offspring, a pattern that is found widely throughout mammalian species.”eleven
