I grew up in a household where monogamy was the key to relationships. I had never really considered the idea of having a relationship with more then one person at the same time, it just did not seem natural to me considering how I was raised. I, of course, have heard of people cheating in their relationships, but does that necessarily mean they are against monogamous relationships? Just because you cheat does that make you a polygamist? Now I’ve heard of polygamy before, but I thought it was more present in other cultures then in my own. I have recently discovered, however, that it is becoming more prevalent in the United States and that kind of astonishes me. In class, we watched a clip from Sister Wives, this was the first time I had ever watched the show and I was quite surprised. It showed a man with three wives. three. I cannot even manage my own relationship half the time and I am just with one guy. It seems ridiculous to me that a man would think he needs more then one wife. and it seems even more ridiculous to me that a woman would want to stay with a man who is sleeping and impregnanting other women at the same time as she. The first thought that came to my mind when I watched this show was, “What if everyone was like this?” If every man had three wives and those wives kept having children who got married to other “sister wives” children and the chain kept going, wouldn’t incest become an impending threat soon?
Back onto the actually family views, how would these children grow up? twenty or so children in a household having three different mothers and one dad that goes around with every one of them? Where is the actual family structure? What morals are these children learning? I see it that every night, two of those mother’s are sleeping alone without the warmth or reassurance of their man holding them tight at night. I see woman with holding their emotions about jealousy within their selves instead of letting it out and talking about it. That, in my mind, is NOT something children should grow up in. America has been a greedy place in the past, but to have to have more then one person to call “the love of your life” is just selfish and greedy in my opinion. I cannot support these kinds of relationships.
Intro to Women's Studies 2010 