"Plural Marriage" or "Polygamy" was practiced openly between 1852 and 1890 by certain religious members called Mormons. These were people who followed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was not uncommon for a typical male to have anywhere from 2-8 wives, whereas, a church or community "leader" would have an average of 10-20 wives. The wives of these men were expected to cook, clean/ tend to their husband and bare child after child. There are still several towns in parts of America that strive on and abide by Mormon beliefs, such as many towns in Utah and the neighboring states. You may find yourself wondering how this is legal? The answer is that it is not. Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decided to condemn this from their practice in 1890, certain Mormons were outraged and decided to break off into their own communities. These people were known as "fundamentalists". Each of these communities have a leader who dictates who will marry who. There is thought to be 30,000 to 60,000 polygamist families living in the Utah area and surrounding states. In my opinion, this is absolutely sickening. Not the fact that a man has many wives, but the fact that most of the women have no say in the matter. Most of the women in these towns are married between the ages of 15-18 to men, most of the time triple their age, whom they do not love nor even like. If a citizen of the United States would happen to fall in love with two people and wish to marry them both, more power to them. But, the issue is that the person wishing to marry 2 spouses would immediately be declined that right by the government. The reason that these Mormon towns can get away with it, is in fact that the "Marriages" are performed by the town's pastor. The marriages aren't always legally "real". Most people in these relationships, mainly the wives, are not aware that their marriage is any less real than that of a normal citizen because they are sheltered to believe anything that they are told. The problem is not that men are finding flaws in our system that allow them to have multiple wives. The problem is that the women, or in this case girls, are tricked into their marriages against their will and are made to believe that this is normal society.
Oh my god. That is disgusting. First of all, does a mormon woman believe she has to marry any man that asks her? Like... why would they have no say so? Do the parents decide it like many other religions? Another thing... what about the legality of children among relaitonships like this in the United States. Does the one father of the many mothers still have to pay child support and things like that? Because it is not a legal marriage, is there any way that he can have any rights to all of the children or not? That's just nasty. Ew.
ReplyDeleteIt is very nasty. Mainly, the town are like a religious sect or a cult of sorts. So the young girls are pretty much given away to any man who "claims" them. They dont really have the right to say no simply because of the fear that they will be beaten or disowned by their town which would also (in their minds) results in them going to hell. The parents dont really have a say either. It is usually the religious leader of the town that is in charge of stuff like this. It is ALWAYS a male and he is usually more corrupt than anyone. The fathers, I would presume, dont really care because they paricipate in the acts themselves. I would imagine that the mothers are probably very very upset when this happens to their daughters simply because it happened to them also. I would doubt that the father would have any legal obligations because they also dont believe in divorce. So child support isn't really an issue. BUT if it were possible that they would divorce, I doubt there would be any legal obligations.
DeleteGreat post and great comments! A really good book to read about this is called "Under the Banner of Heaven and Hell" by Jon Kraukauer. I read it years ago but its about Fundamentalist Mormon polygamists who end up being indicted for murder and fraud, which in turn puts media attention on the sick practice of this religion. The book is a great read.
DeleteOn a side note, how much does religious dogma (the taught and learned upbringing of what is right and normal) factor into these uber "religious communities". That is to say, do you think these girls and women feel forced into this, or instead believe this to be their duty and the right,normal stage of their life?
I agree with you 100%! Multi-partner marriage is not only wrong morally and legally, but think about the young girls and what they must go through, wondering if their "husband" really loves them, being with up to 20 more women. i watched a movie about mormonism not too long ago about a young woman theat was about to married off. she tried to run away from her community and when the church leaders found out, her family disowned her and she was not allowed back within her own home.
ReplyDeletealso the television show "Sister-Wives" pushes all of my buttons. if multi-partner marriage is illegal, why is TLC allowed to have a primetime program bout it?