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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday October 28 2015, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the how-do-you-keep-multiple-wives-happy dept.

A study conducted by a team of researchers from the U.K., Tanzania and the U.S. has found an example of polygynous marriage that does not appear to be harmful to women or children. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers outline their study of people living in villages in Tanzania, and why they believe organizations such as the UN need to modify their stance on the practice to better take account of cultural practices.

Polygny is a term used to refer to marriage systems where males can have more than one wife, while polygamy refers to the actual practice of it. In this new study, the researchers looked into the question of whether a polygnynous marriage is in fact harmful to women or children as has been assumed by many in the international community. They looked at 3,500 households in villages in Tanzania, noting the occurrences of polygnynous marriage versus monogamous marriage and the standard of living for those women and children.

In looking at their data, they found that first wives—women who were the first to marry a man with several wives, tended to have better nutrition as did their children, than women in monogamous marriages and their children. Later wives and their children fared on average as well as monogamous wives and their children, but not as well as first wives. This, the team claims, shows that not all instances of polygynous marriage are harmful to women or children—it shows that in some cases, it can actually be a practice that women can use to better their lives and that of their children. It is a matter of wealth and the rules that govern a society—if women cannot own land or other resources, for example, or take a job, as was the case in the Tanzanian villages, they will likely do better in life if they are able to attract and marry a man with some degree of wealth, which in some cases may mean, a man with multiple wives.

How do the husbands fare?


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:02PM (#255555)

    Polygamy: The practice of multiple spouse marriage. This is gender agnostic.

    Polygyny: The practice of a man having multiple wives.

    Polyandry: The practice of a woman having multiple husbands.

    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy [wikipedia.org]

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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:37PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 28 2015, @01:37PM (#255570) Journal

    There you go, spoiling a solid slam on social sciences with a quick search and list of definitions.

    It's almost as if different disciplines employ different terms and jargon to codify their areas of study. The nerve of them!

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:44PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:44PM (#255603)

      I quote from the summary: Polygny is a term used to refer to marriage systems where males can have more than one wife, while polygamy refers to the actual practice of it.
      My understanding of this paragraph is that it provides definitions for polygny and polygamy.
      And I see them as being very different from the ones copy pasted from wikipedia.
      Is this a problem with wikipedia, the article, or the "journalist"?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @05:57PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @05:57PM (#255720)

        I'm a Greek professor. "Polygny" is not a word. Polygyny, however, is and corresponds to polyandry. They come from the Greek poly (many) and gyne/gynaecosυ (woman) or aner/andros (man).

        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 28 2015, @10:17PM

          by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday October 28 2015, @10:17PM (#255779) Journal

          I'm a Greek professor. "Polygny" is not a word. Polygyny, however, is and corresponds to polyandry. They come from the Greek poly (many) and gyne/gynaecosυ (woman) or aner/andros (man).

          And I'm a Greek, and the professor is correct. "Gamos" is the word for "marriage", so we will leave "polygamy" as an exercise for the reader.

          And what about Gay Polygamy, like Snow is up to? Doesn't have to be hetero to be polygamy!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 28 2015, @02:16PM (#255592)

    Which makes me wonder: Is there a version where there is more than one of each gender (for example, two men and two women all married together)?

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 28 2015, @03:31PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 28 2015, @03:31PM (#255627) Journal

      I have read the term "polyamory" for that. It's not recognized legally anywhere that I know of, but I've seen articles about people living that way.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.