# I've decided polygamy is an excellent way to raise a family **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218 "2010-10-15T05:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/81 "2010-10-15T17:42:58Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Well, yeah. 😕 An hour of being questioned directly and specifically, and listening to all of them clearly explain their feelings is very different than 90 seconds of quick cuts highlighting the most interesting stuff. If you don’t think so, I guess you’re welcome to your opinion, but I don’t share it. No, an hour of questioning designed to make good television. That you think you can judge a relationship based on that is laughable. > [@Stoid](#): > > Ummm
 this equation is just a tad bizarre, but I think you’re trying to say that people hide things and we can’t all know the intimate realities of everyone’s relationships, which isn’t news. (You could also be telling us that you and the people you hang out with are just completely clueless narcissists, but probably not.) The equation is we knew these people well for years, and he was capable of hiding his abuse from us for that length of time. And yet you think that because you see someone on goddamn television for 60 minutes (with commercials?) you can pronounce their situation different to the overwhelming majority of polygamous marriages, which are abusive to women. I would legalize polygamy tomorrow if it was possible to control the abusiveness of the situation without it being criminal. Unfortunately it’s not. So the hypothetical non-abusive polygamous group’s rights suffer in order to protect the rights of the all too real abused participants in polygamy. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/82 "2010-10-15T17:43:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Stoid](#): > > > > Which is my whole point. > > Ok, why is it “great for the kids”? Let us take a traditional family. Working Dad, stay at home Mom, 2 kids. (admittedly not all that common anymore). Then let us take \*that \*family= Working Dad, two working Moms, one FT student Mom, \*\*THIRTEEN \*\*kids. (which is even less common). Which kids get more time with the parents on a ratio? Do the math. > > And the kids are raised in a repressive religous fanatic culture, where the girls are brainwashed into being obediant sex-slaves and baby factories, and the boys are kicked out of the commune when they are 18 so that the old fart perverts get more wives. > > How is that “great” for those kids? Well, no, they aren’t raised in a repressive religious fanatic culture in THIS family, since they don’t live on a commune. Please stop equating all plural marriages with the commune thing, it’s false. But if you object to religious brainwashing on or off the compound, then you need to include millions of other families in the religious brainwashing, that has nothing to do with the plural marriage. If you object to lots of kids, that also has nothing to do with plural marriage. But lots of kids plus lots of moms is way better than lots of kids with one mom. And if you doubt either of these points, just remember Andrea Yates. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/83 "2010-10-15T17:45:07Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > > [@Stoid](#): > > > > Well, yeah. 😕 An hour of being questioned directly and specifically, and listening to all of them clearly explain their feelings is very different than 90 seconds of quick cuts highlighting the most interesting stuff. If you don’t think so, I guess you’re welcome to your opinion, but I don’t share it. > > Once again, I’ve seen the show. Five episodes. It paints a different picture. By the way
 I absolutely WOULD trust an interview with Oprah over the editing done in reality tv! Of COURSE I would! Holy moly
 reality TV exists to find and exacerbate conflict for the sake of entertainment! ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/84 "2010-10-15T17:47:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Doyou really not know how it works around here. It’s your assertion, you’re the one who has to support it. I am SO going to bookmark this thread
 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/85 "2010-10-15T17:53:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Polygamy means one male with multiple wives. No, **polygyny** means one male with multiple wives (or perhaps one wife & multiple concubines). Polygamy is marriage involving more than two persons. Polygamy is one man with more than one female spouse; polyandry, one woman with more than one male spouse. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/86 "2010-10-15T17:53:56Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > > [@Sarahfeena](#): > > > > Once again, I’ve seen the show. Five episodes. It paints a different picture. > > By the way
 I absolutely WOULD trust an interview with Oprah over the editing done in reality tv! Of COURSE I would! Holy moly
 reality TV exists to find and exacerbate conflict for the sake of entertainment! OK, so based on an hour with Oprah and a trailer for the show, you’ve decided this is a great lifestyle. But the actual words of the women on the show, where they come right out and say there are jealousy and insecurity issues, and based on the actual words of the man on the show where he says he’s going ahead with a new marriage, no matter how uncomfortable any of his existing wives are, holds no weight with you. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/87 "2010-10-15T17:54:19Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Ok, why is it “great for the kids”? Let us take a traditional family. Working Dad, stay at home Mom, 2 kids. (admittedly not all that common anymore). Then let us take \*that \*family= Working Dad, two working Moms, one FT student Mom, \*\*THIRTEEN \*\*kids. (which is even less common). Which kids get more time with the parents on a ratio? Do the math. > > > > And the kids are raised in a repressive religous fanatic culture, where the girls are brainwashed into being obediant sex-slaves and baby factories, and the boys are kicked out of the commune when they are 18 so that the old fart perverts get more wives. > > > > How is that “great” for those kids? > > Well, no, they aren’t raised in a repressive religious fanatic culture in THIS family, since they don’t live on a commune. Please stop equating all plural marriages with the commune thing, it’s false.. True, this family does not live _on_ the commune. However, they still are part of a repressive religious fanatic culture. That indeed is their faith and their culture. Nor am I equating all plural marriages with communes, just the ones that are part of the various related semi-Mormon cults, as per my cites. In fact, if you’d read my posts, I agree there are a number of plural marriage that have nothing to do with a commune. However, even tho this one is carefully scripted, they are indeed, part of a repressive religious fanatic culture. Again, try doing some outside reading and research, instead of basing your opinion on a one hour carefully scripted softball interview. I have given you several cites and so have others, but you seem to be holding your hands over your ears and going “LA, LA, LA, I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/88 "2010-10-15T17:54:52Z")
I always thought of ‘polyamory’ as involving group relationships whether married or not. Polygamy would ber a subset. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/89 "2010-10-15T18:12:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > A few more quotes from that article: Well, right back atcha! > [@](#): > > Sister Wives" is aptly titled. This is a show about three women (perhaps four, hold on) **who are more than capable of speaking for themselves, and do.** > [@](#): > > If given a choice among TLC’s freakish array of programming, which includes the Gosselins (of “Plus 8” infamy), the Duggars (of “19 Kids and Counting,” an ongoing environmental disaster in Arkansas) and a number of large or atypical families that include argumentative dwarfs and/or cupcake entrepreneurs, **I’d be tempted to move in with the Browns before any of the others.** > [@](#): > > There is no compound, no stockpiling for the Apocalypse. The Browns live in a sprawling ranch-style house designed by a “plig” homebuilder: Each mom has a floor and a kitchen. Dad visits each of the marital beds on a scheduled rotation – **and they’ve all been together going on 20 years. Beat that, everyone.** > [@](#): > > To their credit, the wives seem especially adamant that their children grow up to make their own choices, apart from the clan, **which disarms some of the more sinister stereotypes about polygamist sects**. And from the Wiki: > [@](#): > > Meri and Christine were both raised in polygamist families, but **Janelle was not.** Wow, she chose it without being brainwashed from birth??? How is that possible? From LA Times review: > [@](#): > > I found myself thinking not so much of HBO’s “Big Love” as Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in which a patriarchal revolution has left women literally second-class citizens, assigned tasks by the government. > > The book came to mind **not** because Kody Brown, his three (and counting) wives and their 13 (and counting) children resemble such a society \*\*but because they seemed to embody its exact opposite. \*\*A matriarchy or, to use a Discovery Channel-like image, a lion pride. > > Oh, sure, Kody bounces around kissing kids and keeping the conjugal schedule even-steven but he’s a far cry from “Big Love’s” mercurial authoritarian Bill Henrickson. All floppy hair and Hollywood smile, Kody’s way too surferdude to take very seriously as a patriarch. > > It’s the three wives — Meri, Janelle and Christine — who form the solid center of the family and the show. Pulling teeth and moving armoires, making dinner and picking baby clothes, **their bonds appear far stronger and more vital than the casual fondness with which they all treat Kody.** All three of the women were raised either in or surrounded by polygamist families (the Browns appear to live, not surprisingly, somewhere in the Salt Lake area) and are tired of hiding or apologizing for a “lifestyle”\*\* that allows them more free time and familial support than any non-polygamous marriage.\*\* From the Vancouver SUn: > [@](#): > > The show is at once compelling and unsettling, partly because for Kody and his wives, and their 12 (soon to be 13) children, life does seem rather normal. They kiss and hug and fight and bicker. They complain about chores and go to the mall and worry about the future. The kids seem bright and content, and it’s clear from the first episode that theirs is a loving home where everyone pitches in on the duties, from cooking to child care. > [@](#): > > Sister Wives is many things, but mostly it’s fascinating, and a surprising eye-opener for those who have opinions, if not knowledge, about the troubling issues around polygamy. > > If Kody seems the big winner in the lifestyle, his wives will tell you they are no less happy with the arrangement. > [@](#): > > n USA Today, Janelle put it this way: “The women in our family chose this life, often, over the option to pursue traditional monogamous relationships. We are very happy, and our children are extremely well-adjusted. We have raised our children talking about choice and consequence in a very real fashion and emphasize personal choice in their lives. We emphasize education for our children and do not condone underage or arranged marriages.” From Opposing Views: > [@](#): > > But the b-o-r-i-n-g world of Kody Brown and family may in fact be a tremendous blessing to the broader community of 40,000 plus Mormon fundamentalist polygamists, most of whom have been struggling to get out from under PR havoc wreaked by the exploits of monomaniacal FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and his now infamous exploits in underage arranged marriage and wardrobe control. (Jeffs was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Brown family belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren, a very different Mormon fundamentalist sect.) > > “We’re not the polygamists you think you know,” Kody Brown tells the camera as he sits at the wheel of his white Lexus. > > Which is to say “we’re not child-marriage-arranging-lost-boy-exiling-prairie-dress-wearing people-who-allegedly-deserve-to have-their-children-taken-from-them-by-the-state-of-Texas.” > > That’s what Sister Wives and its ad-salesman-protagonist are trying to sell: utter normalcy. So, in spite of Sarahfeena finding much nefariousness in the actual show
 it would appear that reviewers who’ve watched it see pretty much what I saw on Oprah. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/90 "2010-10-15T18:16:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@gurujulp](#): > > > > I am aware of several intentional communities that have polyamorous groups raising children in common - and they often work very well. > > > > I am not going to cite them, as they wouldn’t like the attention drawn, so you may disregard if you need to. > > > > It is very difficult, and requires a whoooooole lot of patience and group emotional work- but it is possible and great for the kids. > > > > YMMV > > Polyamory isn’t the topic. Polygamy is. [QUOTE=WIKIPEDIA] Polygamy (from Ï€ÎżÎ»ÏÏ‚ ÎłÎŹÎŒÎżÏ‚ polys gamos, translated literally in Late Greek as “often married”[1]) is a form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse at the same time, as opposed to monogamy in which a person has only one spouse at a time.[1] When a man has more than one wife, the relationship is called polygyny; and when a woman has more than one husband, it is called polyandry. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called group marriage.[1] In contrast, monogamy is a marriage consisting of only two parties. Polyamory (from Greek Ï€ÎżÎ»Ï [poly, meaning many or several] and Latin amor [love]) is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. [/QUOTE] As people seem to be using monogamy to mean two single individuals in a relationship (whether married or not), I was assuming that the term polygamy was being used in the same way; ie, to indicate the intimate relationship of more than two individuals. As multiple marriage would not be legal, and therefore, not valid, the term would actually be referring to polyamory. Is it not correct that without legal marriage, the terms polygamy and polyamory can be used interchangeably? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/91 "2010-10-15T18:20:14Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have to say: Polygyny: It’s a Tiny Bit Better Than Prostitution! isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. The world is a grim place at times. I guess what I’m asking is for people to try to use some subtlety and nuance when talking about other people’s lives. Nothing in this world is that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/92 "2010-10-15T18:20:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Stoid](#): > > > > Well, no, they aren’t raised in a repressive religious fanatic culture in THIS family, since they don’t live on a commune. Please stop equating all plural marriages with the commune thing, it’s false.. > > True, this family does not live _on_ the commune. However, they still are part of a repressive religious fanatic culture. That indeed is their faith and their culture. Nor am I equating all plural marriages with communes, just the ones that are part of the various related semi-Mormon cults, as per my cites. In fact, if you’d read my posts, I agree there are a number of plural marriage that have nothing to do with a commune. However, even tho this one is carefully scripted, they are indeed, part of a repressive religious fanatic culture. Again, try doing some outside reading and research, instead of basing your opinion on a one hour carefully scripted softball interview. I have given you several cites and so have others, but you seem to be holding your hands over your ears and going “LA, LA, LA, I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”. Got any cites for “carefully scripted”? And as you can now see, I’ve looked very carefully at your cites. It looks very much to me as though you are the one who cannot hear anything but what you want to hear, since your cites didn’t reveal **anything at all** supporting the idea that these people are crazy repressive fanatic nutjobs repressing teenage girls and discarding boys so pedophiles can party, or anything else more horrendously awful than can be found in any other family, especially NOTHING directly traceable to the practice of plural marriage! Pretty much anything you will point to will be about religious fanaticism, not plural marriage itself. And I’m the last on the list to support religious fanaticism of any flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/93 "2010-10-15T18:23:05Z")
None of that addresses the crying, self-admitted emotional turmoil, or the inherent inequity. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/94 "2010-10-15T18:23:15Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > OK, so based on an hour with Oprah and a trailer for the show, you’ve decided this is a great lifestyle. But the actual words of the women on the show, where they come right out and say there are jealousy and insecurity issues, and based on the actual words of the man on the show where he says he’s going ahead with a new marriage, no matter how uncomfortable any of his existing wives are, holds no weight with you. Interesting. If you’d seen the interview you would never have written that. They discussed it at great length, including the jealousy and insecurity issues and what that means, how they look upon it, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/95 "2010-10-15T18:26:18Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > A few more quotes from that article: > > And from the Wiki: "Meri and Christine were both raised in polygamist families, but Janelle was not. " > > Wow, she chose it without being brainwashed from birth??? How is that possible? > > From LA Times review: "
All three of the women were raised either in or surrounded by polygamist families " > > So, in spite of Sarahfeena finding much nefariousness in the actual show
 it would appear that reviewers who’ve watched it see pretty much what I saw on Oprah. Read your own quotes, I have selected two critical lines. Yes, some reviewers see it diferent. Those are also Television Reviewers, not Investigative Journalists. But also from the LA Times "_It’s impossible to believe that things work as smoothly as the Browns would have us believe 
"_ ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/96 "2010-10-15T18:26:30Z")
I did see the interview. Which i already stated. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/97 "2010-10-15T18:30:30Z")
Also the reviewer clearly did that review after the first episode, in which they made the whole thing seem as attractive as possible. The shit doesn’t hit the fan until later. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/98 "2010-10-15T18:31:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Stoid](#): > > > > Which is my whole point. > > Ok, why is it “great for the kids”? Let us take a traditional family. Working Dad, stay at home Mom, 2 kids. (admittedly not all that common anymore). Then let us take \*that \*family= Working Dad, two working Moms, one FT student Mom, \*\*THIRTEEN \*\*kids. (which is even less common). Which kids get more time with the parents on a ratio? Do the math. > > And the kids are raised in a repressive religous fanatic culture, where the girls are brainwashed into being obediant sex-slaves and baby factories, and the boys are kicked out of the commune when they are 18 so that the old fart perverts get more wives. > > How is that “great” for those kids? You can give examples of horrible situations all day- that does not make it impossible for decent situations. Take this as an example: One outside employed male, two outside employed females, two self-employed males, two self-employed females, one unemployed male, two unemployed females, 5 children. More than enough money and people scrambling to get the children with them during their free time. Always the opportunity for multiple parents, and always an interested parent available- usually bickering over who will be able to hang with the kids because there isn’t enough kid time to make the all the parents feel like they are getting enough kid time
 ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/99 "2010-10-15T18:33:15Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > None of that addresses the crying, self-admitted emotional turmoil, or the inherent inequity. What is your point, Sarahfeena, that monogamous marriage is free of crying, emotional turmoil or what (you personally assume) is “inherent” inequity? Cuz I don’t wanna burst your bubble or anything
 You’ve utterly failed to make the point that plural marriage, in and of itself, is particularly dreadful in ways that so far outstrip the dreadfulness of monogamous marriage that it warrants automatic condemnation as untenable. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218/100 "2010-10-15T18:37:00Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > You’ve utterly failed to make the point that plural marriage, in and of itself, is particularly dreadful in ways that so far outstrip the dreadfulness of monogamous marriage that it warrants automatic condemnation as untenable. Tell you what, go find a peer reviewed study (and an hour interview on Oprah doesn’t count, however much society has been dumbed down) that looks to polygamy as a successful societal model. I’m sure they exist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-decided-polygamy-is-an-excellent-way-to-raise-a-family/557218.md?page=6)