Amid the seemingly ubiquitous attention to equality today, I could not help but consider the equality of those that still seek it and the the likelihood it will be recognized in my lifetime. If I stay healthy, will I be lucky enough to witness polygamy as the cause célèbre? Gee, I hope so.
To be clear from the outset, there are two debates to be had, both moral/ethical and legal. While ethical/moral persuasion certainly can effect legal outcomes, let us only consider some legal arguments for polygamy.
It would be interesting to note, however, that polygamy has made for some very strange bed-fellows, including the likes of radical feminists, black nationalists, and, not so strange I guess, numerous autonomous conservative religious groups primarily located in the Western United States (not to be mentioned by name).
Black nationalists see polygamy as an opportunity to reestablish family units and to further separate black culture from traditional American culture. Nationalist see polygamy as a way of providing stable homes for children, for which nearly 70% are born outside of marriage, and providing those children with more stable homes and father-figures (although they might be pretty busy with all the children). Polygamy was one of the many disputes Malcolm X had with his spiritual leader, Elijah Muhammad, the man who first welcomed him into Islam and the same man who fathered numerous children with numerous women. Islam, to some, endorses polygamy, but requires that one does “justice” to all, which seems pretty much impossible depending on loose your definition of justice may be.
Some feminists see polygamy as an opportunity to further empower the career woman. Since the publication of The Feminine Mystique decades ago, some feminists see polygamy as an opportunity to circumvent the continuing struggle to convince male spouses to contribute to housework. They argue that inviting a second or third wife into the home will reduce housework by dividing the labor. The career woman, if one so chooses, benefits by having a career and children with the comfort of knowing that a woman is at home with her children.
The next entry will consider the legal framework for polygamy.
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