Anissa StewartINQ 110 R11/26/2012Article Summary 1The Family 12th Edition J. Ross EshlemanRichard A. BulcroftPolygyny- 1980’s Welch and Glick observed 15 African counties- Polygyny per 100 men was between 20-35o 1 in 5 to 1 in 3o This showed that men usually had 2 wives instead of 3+- In these highly polygynous countries most men had only 1 wife- 1993-1996 18.6% participated in polygynous marriages in Zimbabweo 49.6 in Guinea- Social Change and urbanization of African Countries have reduced polygynous marriageso Kenya 10% reduction between 1977-1982- Arab countries have a smaller region of polygynous marriageso 3.7% in Lebanon 1986- Kanazawa and Still believe that if there are limited resources for men then women will more likely participate in a polygynous relationship- Also if there is a 1% who hold the wealth then women will flock to that 1% and marry creating a high level of inequality- If resource inequality is among men than women have no reason to marry polygynouslyo They have less to risk by marrying monogamouslyo Shifts from polygyny to monogamy will occur in response to the equality or inequality of resources of men- Sanders argues that polygyny results from men’s sexual appetite and desire for varietyo This has evolved from the theory of enhancing the likelihood of male reproductive success- There is a negative correlation between polygyny and women’s status within their societies- Polygyny is more common within African and Middle Eastern Countrieso Women’s statuses are lowo Less common in industrial societies like the US and other western civilizations- Polygyny seems to be a privilege of the wealthy- Having several wives equals prestige and high statuso Such as the chiefs, the best hunters and the leaders get second and third wives- In Israel the Old Testament showed rich leaders that practiced polygyny- Today in the Middle East the common has only one wifeAnissa StewartINQ 110 R11/26/2012- This leads to a type of polygynyo Affluent Polygynyo Widely practiced among middle and upper class males in Arab countries that contains many elements of control and exploitation of women- An alternate form of this would be Intervention Polygynyo This form is based on more practical concernso Women chose to participate or allow for a polygynous marriageo It can resolve marital problems stemming from the inability to produce male children- Other reasons for polygyny would be wife captureo A man goes to another village and literally takes a women back to his village and forces her to become his wife- Christianity in western society outlawed polygyny- Polygyny was frequent among pre-Christian tribes in Europe as well as in Old Testament Hebrewo Gideon the Israelite judge had many wives who bore him seventy sons.(Judges 8:30)o King Solomon had a huge number of wives (I Kings 9:16; Song of Solomon 6:8)- The desire for male children is also a result of polygynyo By sharing childbearing more children will be born and there will be a reduction in total fertilityo Resulting from longer birth intervals and reduced frequency of sexual intercourseo The longer birth intervals is healthy for both mother and child- A study from Ibadan, Nigeria indicated that co-wives are fairly happy and get along -Mormon Polygyny- Joseph Smitho Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Religion)o Polygyny began as a religious revelation - In the end it was a revelation by god given unto the president of the Mormon religion to then outlaw polygyny later