Elizabeth Joseph's 'Polygamy-The Ultimate Feminist Lifestyle'

Marriage is usually considered as a tie between two individuals who love each other, but Elizabeth Joseph in the article “Polygamy - the Ultimate Feminist Lifestyle” introduced an interesting alternative for an individual who wants a person to be their spouse regardless of their marriage status. She also presents polygamy as an effective option for modern independent women to maximize their time between their career and family life. However, Joseph, as a journalist and an attorney, only mentioned the benefits of polygamy without the cons that follows it. She also admits in practicing polygamy herself. Through this we can reveal that she is not a reliable source to show that polygamy is the “ultimate lifestyle” because she is clearly biased

Joseph lives in a modern society where women are able to work as a journalist and attorney, which are usually male-dominant job that demands a lot of her time even regardless of gender. So on the days that she cannot come home in time to feed her family, she feels secure because the other wives will be there to take care of her child for her. Joseph even boasted about the benefits by saying in the article that, “My eight year-old has never seen the inside of a day-care center, and my husband has never eaten a TV dinner. And I know that when I get home from work, if I’m dog-tired and stressed-out, I can be alone guilt-free” (Joseph) This relates to my argument because polygamy, to Joseph, is a way for her to justify that she is using polygamy to increase productivity in her work while still being a part of a family. She is passing on her responsibility as a mother to the other wives, who might also have their own child, to take care of her child. Joseph also stated in the article, “It’s helpful to think of polygamy in terms of a free-market approach to marriage.” (Joseph) So she is already admitting that polygamy is a capitalist relationship that maximizes her potential to work without compromising with the responsibilities of a

The relationship between a mother and a daughter are usually very strong. As a daughter, the first person that can be targeted as a role model is the mother. However, the relationship between a mother and a daughter will be very different in a polygamy family. The daughter will have less time with her own mother because there will be multiple mothers that surrounds her. As explained above Joseph prioritize her work and passes on the responsibility of a mother, or just a parent in fact, to the other wives. Joseph stated in the article, “I know that in when I have to work late my daughter will be at home surrounded by loving adults with whom she is comfortable and who know her schedule without my telling them.” (Joseph) So if her child has a problem, she would most likely go to the other wives instead of Joseph because the other wives were there for her when she needed it most. This proves that polygamy weakens the relationship between the child and their maternal mother because they have multiple mothers to have a relationship with. If the daughter focuses all of her love to one person, that bond will be significantly stronger than loving six other mothers at