Cultural Differences Between Monogamy And Polygamy

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Recommended: culture of marriage

Theresa Moss
Peoples and Cultures of the World
Homework Week 8
March 2, 2014

Cultural relativity is the principle that each culture has its own moral integrity and should not be judged by the standards of other cultures. (Heider 2007) The extreme view of cultural relativity holds that anything a culture believes in should be accepted. (Heider 2007) When it comes to types of marriage, the acceptance of polygamy depends on geography more than anything. In the United States, polygamy is not the norm and is illegal. In many other regions of the world it is not only legal but culturally accepted and is advantageous economically and socially. In any type of marriage there are advantages and disadvantages.
Monogamy, with one spouse, is the most accepted form of marriage in the United States and around the world. Marriage is a socially recognized union and there are advantages to monogamous marriages. Relationally, there is a stronger bond between spouses which allows for more sexual access to the spouse. This access typically produces children and the children receive more quality care in a monogamous home.
Polyandry and polygyny are the two types of polygamy. In polyandry, one woman has multiple husbands. This practice is rare and is a cultural solution used for specific problems. It is known to be practiced in the Himalayas, where men as brothers share a wife. The practice can occasionally be found in tribes of Africa, such as the Balele of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One advantage to polyandry for a tribe with limited access to land, for example, is the family land and livestock does not have to be divided as bride wealth. Bride wealth is a tradition where the husband's tribe or family would pay or compensate t...

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...rch, said God told him to spread the practice of polygamy in order to "multiply". (Layton 2010) In tribal horticultural societies where women are a part of the household workforce, polygamy has been a part of their culture from its beginnings. When viewed through the principal of cultural relativity, there are good reasons for the practice of polygamy in all of the groups and like those of monogamist their beliefs should be respected.
Works Cited

Clark, Josh, and Chuck Bryant. 2010-05-05-sysk-multiple-spouses Stuff You Should Know. 2010. MP3 Podcast.
Heider, Karl G. Seeing Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology Through Film. Fourth. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.
Layton, Julia. "

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