Translate

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Reconsidering Polygamy


Percy Zvomuya says "Polygamy: It Ain't What it Used to Be." He reflects on having written an anti-polygamy column, noting his thinking has since changed.

A few of the women I spoke to didn't think polygamy was a particularly bad idea. One said she wouldn't mind being wife number two, even number three. It wasn't an economic decision for her: the stylish woman is well to do; she lives in a townhouse and drives around in a Mini Cooper.

In the last week, when news came out that President Jacob Zuma was set to marry his girlfriend, some of South Africa's twitterati defended polygamy; some attacked it. @KingNovaMiu, who describes herself as a feminist, said: "I would get bored of my husband. Many women around the house will keep that from happening. And I'd have my own life. I'm that kind of feminist. I'm down for free will. If the Pres. was practising ukuthwala [the abduction of young girls to be brides] then it would be an issue". And I must say from casual conversations I have had in the recent past, there is a gathering counter current to the prevailing simplistic "polygamy is oppressive" debate.
With gender equality, including the right to marry multiple spouses regardless of gender, along with the freedom to NOT marry, equal access to divorce, and protections against domestic violence, there is nothing wrong with polygamy. Every adult should be free to share marriage with any consenting adults.
— — —

No comments:

Post a Comment

To prevent spam, comments will have to be approved, so your comment may not appear for several hours. Feedback is welcome, including disagreement. I only delete/reject/mark as spam: spam, vulgar or hateful attacks, repeated spouting of bigotry from the same person that does not add to the discussion, and the like. I will not reject comments based on disagreement, but if you don't think consenting adults should be free to love each other, then I do not consent to have you repeatedly spout hate on my blog without adding anything to the discourse.

If you want to write to me privately, then either contact me on Facebook, email me at fullmarriageequality at protonmail dot com, or tell me in your comment that you do NOT want it published. Otherwise, anything you write here is fair game to be used in a subsequent entry. If you want to be anonymous, that is fine.

IT IS OK TO TALK ABOUT SEX IN YOUR COMMENTS, BUT PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY AS I WANT THIS BLOG TO BE AS "SAFE FOR WORK" AS POSSIBLE. If your comment includes graphic descriptions of activity involving minors, it's not going to get published.