It’s recently come out that there are people in Australia practicing polygamy.  Any men reading this, take a moment to cheer and then read on.  The argument goes that as Australia is altering it’s idea of domestic partnerships to include homosexual unions, it should embrace polygamy.  It’s including more Australians.

To be honest there are two belief systems which still embrace this practice – Islam and Mormonism.  I’m not favourably inclined to either of them, especially as they both came about when some uneducated, socially excluded guy decided to rewrite historically sound, and widely accepted Christian and Jewish scriptures.  I will make some concessions for  the small pockets in Africa where tribal lifestyles are still practiced and men have multiple wives.

The practice of having more than one wife stems from the idea that women are little more than property, on par with cattle and can be traded off into marriage.  It’s kind of demeaning and so primitive that it wasn’t even practiced in the middle ages.  In fact, from my limited historical knowledge, it has never been a common practice in Ancient Europe.  The European tradition has generally treated women a little better than their companions to the East, but by no means equitably until the last few decades.  Women’s rights and freedom from discrimination have been hard won and it would be extremely disappointing to see it abandoned now to appease a small percentage of the population who seem to want to drag us into the third world.

On top of that, whilst difficult to initiate in the past, we have a cultural system of divorcing one partner before moving on to the next, which is more respectful to the previous husband or wife.  It’s a way to ensure the ex-partner is treated equitably, especially if the person seeking the separation has already moved on to the next one, which is almost always the case.

It’s often over looked, but marriage is not just about two people who are in love deciding to spend the rest of their lives together (or as much as is possible given their respective circumstances and personalities).  As far as it goes legally, it’s about a system of property rights for life partners.  That’s why civil unions are such a big issue, they set out in law what is appropriate for the legal partnership of two lovers of the same gender.  In Australia, and most developed nations, when two people partner up (and sometimes now even shack up), what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.  It’s why learning to share as a child is really important!  In this situation both partners have a say in what happens in the domestic dwelling, in terms of the ownership, sale, investments, who comes onto the property, who dwells in the property and who has contact with any common children etc.  A set up where one partner is allowed to have another partner raises questions relating to issues like property rights and access to children.  Would it be fair for a new partner to have an equal share in home ownership, especially if the existing one has contributed towards the home (and other assets as well), be that contribution financial or by way of care and maintenance.  What if the existing partner did not want the new one to have access to or influence over the children or what if the new partner was lumped with the duty of caring for children that were not theirs?

The other issue is polygamy is only men choosing to have more than one wife, giving the husband the decision making power.  That is not acceptable in a society which values men and women equally.  We could introduce the idea of polyandry as well, but that would raise the bigger issue of exactly who is married to who (is my second husband also married to my husband’s second wife?) and who owns what?  In fact, to me the idea of having more than one partner, also negates the need to have divorce, which is not such a good thing.  Divorce is not just about the splitting of assets, but ensuring individuals and their children are protected from abuse and emotional damage which may result from remaining in the partnership.

So whilst same-sex partnerships make society more equitable, polygamy is detrimental to women and indeed our social norms generally.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23919957-953,00.html