What do you think of polygamists?

I’d have terrible problems with jealousy , I’m afraid. But if the husband was the one on Sister Wives a woman could do worse. I can’t really concentrate with fluther going off soon.

There was a widely publicized study several months ago that was pulled from headlines rather quickly most likely because no one knew what kind of changes the knowledge would incure. Humans are not all monogamous by genetics. There is a normal variation on the human genome that makes some humans polyamorous…another words that it is normal for these persons to have multiple sexual partners at one time. It is functional for them to be this way.
I would suggest that these are the same people find secondary relationships on the down low and openly polygamist relationships openly.
That all said I think the particular male you are talking about is emotionally disconnected from the women he has married and not someone who is interested in being in good relationship or reciprocal relationship with any woman. This particular male is using a religious concept to exploit a few women.
That said I do not think all people who enter into these arrangements to be without morals, ethics. I believe people are able to form deeply meaningful relationships with multiple people. And this is done by learning to manage jealousy which is just a secondary emotion based in fear of loss.
I am not a jealous woman myself and would not have a problem with sister wives. But I would prefer there to be brother husbands. (Laughing here)

There is a big difference between polyamory and polygamy.

Polyamory, where people decide to have an open relationship and are honest about it, and where all parties have the same freedom to act, is just fine by me.

Traditional polygamy, with a domineering male and his brainwashed harem, is another, unsavory, thing entirely.

Monogamy is one of those conventions that holds such power and influence that it seems metaphysical.
A guy who wants more than one women simultaneously should remain single.
If he commits polygamy, he should not act surprised, insulted or indignant when people express disapproval. He knew it was coming.

I don’t really care who, what, or how many someone marries as long as it’s all consensual.

They are goofballs.

They are gluttons for punishment.

It would be a disaster because my partner can barely keep up with me as it is.

I have told my man that I am definitely not ok with him taking more than one wife! However, I am enthralled with Sister Wives, probably mostly because it is a world so incredibly different from mine that I have never been exposed to, and the bottom line is, I do not think that kind of relationship is for me. It probably does not help that the husband comes across as an arrogant jerk as far as I am concerned. I am rather horrified by these four women fawning over him like he is some kind of Adonis. I also get the feeling that Dude didn’t join the FLDS church because of his passion for their set of beliefs, he seems to be in it for the extra wives.

I don’t have a problem with polyamory but I do with polygamy for all the reason @crisw stated.

I wouldn’t marry a man who had other wives besides me, and if I was married to a man who decided that this was what he wanted, as painful as the break-up would be, I’d have to let him go. I have found myself to be a monogamous woman, and it would be wrong for me and crazy-making for him to force myself into such an arrangement.

I’m not the jealous type, but I am too conventional and conservative (read: conditioned, whipped etc.) to even consider it.

But I recall the famous inscription scene in Stripes – and youngsters – rent it – it’s a classic with Bill Murray – where they are asked by the interviewer: “Are either of you Gay?” They look at each other, and Bill replies: “No, but we’re willing to try.”

Marriage is a property state. It matters not whether you marry one man or women or twenty. It’s still a property state. Take that idea out of the assessment of this male discussed in the post and what you have is a polyandrous arrangment. Polyandry is pejoratized most places in the world where certain religions are prevelent. When behaviors are pejoratized there is a tendency to pick the worst case scenarios to make the point. In the post above it really wouldn’t matter whether that particular man had one wife, 10 or even 20…he would still be the same man making the same facial expressions and using the same body language that lets you know exactly what he thinks about women in general. None of his relationships with women would be about reciprocity. Polyandry has existed for thousands of years in a great many cultures. It is even participated in by women in some pockets around the world…such as with some Berber and Bedoin tribes although done discretely.
Not all women or men who participate in this behavior are brain washed or indoctrinated into participating although it would be true to say that some groups such as those Mormon groups in the news the last few year, do this.

Someone who does it deceptively, and marries someone else without their spouse’s knowledge, is worthy of nothing but contempt. But I do believe that those in polyamorous relationships should be permitted to have legal recognition. Perhaps a variety of marriage that isn’t restricted to just two people. I don’t think it should be the harem-style “A marries B and also A marries C” – it should be a more equal thing, like “A and B and C are all married to each other”.

Live and let live. I do have problems when it involves a man and woman and three of her sisters or daughters. With the Sister Wives it seems that the women are going into it with eyes wide open.