Feminist Polygamy

Katherine Butler writes about the possibility of feminist polygamy (polygyny, really.)

But polygamists who style themselves more modern assert that their lifestyle affords them freedom outside the home, giving them the ultimate feminist family. Journalist and attorney Elizabeth Joseph of Big Water, Utah, is perhaps one of the most vocal supporters of the idea of a feminist polygamist. She is famously quoted in a speech given in 1997 to the Utah chapter of the National Organization for Women. According to Elizabeth, “If polygamy didn’t exist, the modern American woman would have invented it.” As she went on to explain in her speech entitled Polygamy: The Ultimate Feminist Lifestyle, “[Polygamy] provides me the environment and opportunity to maximize my female potential without all the tradeoffs and compromises that attend monogamy. The women in my family are friends. You don’t share two decades of experience, and a man, without those friendships becoming very special.”

While apparently generally accepting of the idea that polygyny can be feminist, she expresses reservations, noting…

It’s not her husband that is making dinner or putting the kids to bed. It’s another woman. It seems like modern polygamy takes trappings of the feminist movement but still hangs them about a world where partnerships are still defined by traditional roles.

There is no reason why the husband can’t make dinner or put the kids to bed. When people work out their family roles for themselves, though, some are going to freely choose “traditional” roles.

She also cites “Sister Wives,” adding to the evidence that the show is having a positive effect for full marriage equality.

I maintain that polygyny can be feminist. And certainly, full marriage equality, which allows for polyandry and for two, three, or more women to marry without the involvement of a man, is feminist.