Polygamist Relationship Essay

1173 Words5 Pages

After inspecting courtship rituals of Americans, I have determined that Americans pick one partner to spend all of their time with. Americans are selective and believe there must be a physical attraction before they show interest in the other person. (Dion & Dion, 1996 pg. 7). Once they have captured this interest in the other person, they will approach them with romantic words and special gifts. Once there is some magical chemistry between the two people they engage in only seeing each other. The man picks up the lady, brings her flowers, and they go out to enjoy each other’s company. In most cases, the man is expected to pay for everything. They continue this ritual until one person becomes no longer interested or until they get married. …show more content…

The women benefit from these polygamist relationships because in most cases the more wives the man has the wealthier the man is. (Meekers & Franklin, 1995 para 2). In a survey, sixty percent of women would rather be in a polygamist relationship. Living the polygamist lifestyle allows the women to share the work load, and develop close friendships with other women. Women like to gossip. Therefore, they have several women to share their stories with and to lean on. (Meekers & Franklin. 1995 para. 2). Women have many roles and responsibilities once they become married. Once their husband marries another wife those responsibilities become easier because they have someone to share their responsibilities. Although there are some advantages to living the polygamist lifestyle there are some disadvantages as well. Not all women like to share their resources and their sexual partner. Those women that feel this is a disadvantage become jealous. This is one of the reasons why most of the time the women are involved in picking another woman to co-wife with. The jealously that sometime can develop can cause issues within the household. Not with just the co-wives but the first wife and her husband as well. (Meekers & Franklin, 1995 para. 4). The co-wives at times feel as if the husband is not exploiting his love and resources equally among all the wives. This causes a disturbance in the home and causes the women to bicker back and forth. However, despite the jealous behavior between the women they overcome this feeling and live as a happy family that continues to