Polygamy
Definitions
- polyandry: the state or practice of having more than one husband or male mate at one time
- polygyny: the state or practice of having more than one wife or female mate at a time
Description
Polygamy (from πολύς γάμος polys gamos, translated literally in Late Greek as "many married") is a marriage which includes more than two partners. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, the relationship is called polygyny; and when a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called group or conjoint marriage. The term is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociology, as well as in popular speech. In contrast, monogamy is a marriage consisting of only two parties. Like monogamy, the term polygamy is often used in a de facto sense, applied regardless of whether the relationship is recognized by the state. In sociobiology and zoology, polygamy is used in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating.
The only form in which polygamy is legally recognised in countries which do so, is for a man to take multiple wives (polygyny). In those countries which do not permit polygamy, a person who marries a second person while still being lawfully married is committing the crime of bigamy.
In the global context, acceptance of polygamy is common. According to the Ethnographic Atlas, of 1,231 societies noted, 186 were monogamous; 453 had occasional polygyny; 588 had more frequent polygyny; and 4 had polyandry. At the same time, even within societies which allow polygyny, the actual practice of polygyny occurs unevenly. There are exceptions: in Senegal, for example, nearly 47 percent of marriages are multiple. Within polygynous societies, multiple wives often become a status symbol denoting wealth, power, and fame. Polyandry is less rare than the figure commonly cited in the Ethnographic Atlas (1980) which listed only those examples found in the Himalayan Mountains. More recent studies have found 53 societies outside of the 28 found in the Himalayans which practice polyandry.[4]
Zeitzen notes that Western perceptions of African society and marriage patterns are biased by "contradictory concerns of nostalgia for traditional African culture versus critique of polygamy as oppressive to women or detrimental to development. Many international human rights organisations as well as women's rights groups in many countries have called for its abolition. The practice has been ruled to violate the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), and the United Nations has recommended that the practice be abolished.[1]
