Cultural Anthropology/Marriage, Reproduction, and Kinship Essay

Despite being banned twain by law and mainstream Mormon doctrine, the practice is not only prospering in heavily Mormon Utah and other parts of the U.S. westbound but appears to be exploitation. Underage marriage, incest, emotional and physical offense towards the wives, and tiddler neglect atomic number 18 many of the few things that are quite b all(prenominal)park within polygamous communities. One simple way to help disallow these things is to keep marriage a bond between two people, not champion part and x wives or one woman with ten husbands, by enforcing the laws banning polygamy.Firstly, prosecutions of polygamists in modern times involve been antiquated and tend to be restricted to cases where only minor(ip) marriage is proficient and impair or child abuse is suspected. Some of the brides are too forced into marriages with a close relative. (Polygamy) In 2007 Warren Jeffs, then the attracter of the dis spatial relationnt 10,000-member Fundamentalist Churc h of Jesus Christ of Latter solar day Saints (FLDS), was imprisoned in Utah after he was convicted of having been an accomplice to rape for his role in arranging marriages between adult male pursual and underage girls. In April 2008, more than 460 children from an FLDS compound in Texas were removed by authorities from the custody of their parents after an anonymous tip to an abuse hotline. (The Perils of Polygamy) other issue that had burst into the open with the high-profile trials of two brothers, David and hindquarters Daniel Kingston. One of John Daniels daughters, then 16, told police he had forced her to marry her uncle Davidwho already had 14 wives. When the girl fled home after four cozy encounters with her uncle, she testified, her sire beat her with a belt. Amid a blaze of media attention, John Daniel pleaded no action to child abuse charges in April, and is now serving a 28-week sentence. On July 9, David was sentenced to up to 10 days in prison for incest and un lawful sexual conduct with a minor.Also, in polygamous families, the man of the hearthholds all of the power, creating an purlieu prone to physical and emotional abuse. (The Perils of Polygamy) Carmen Thompson, now 41, spent 13 days as one of a Salt Lake City Mormon mans eight wives, a harem that she says included the mans sister and 14-year-old niece. She finally left him, taking their five children, after what she describes as years of beatings, poverty and emotional neglect. Last year, Thompson helped found Tapestry of Polygamy, the first-ever defy group for women and children leaving polygamous marriages. Since the beginning of the year, the group has fielded over ccc calls from people seeking help. In polygamous families, the patriarch has all the power, says Thompson. When thithers that kind of imbalance, abuse comes naturally. Even supporters concede polygamy has its downsides. The jealousy was genuinely hard to take, admits Elaine, Harmstons first wife, with whom he ha d been married over 30 years before taking his subsequent wives. Thompson, the anti-polygamy activist, says the result is a kind of brainwashing. Its incredibly emotionally degrading to lie in bed and expose your husband having sex with another woman on the other side of the wall, she says. But youre taught that jealousy is a sin against God that you should fight. You necessitate to deny your emotions. (Canadian Court Rules That Polygamy Ban Is Constitutional) Women in polygamous relationships face higher rates of domestic, physical and sexual abuse, died younger and are more prone to mental illnesses when being compared to monogamous marriages.Finally, besides underage marriages and abusive environment, the children in polygamous marriages suffer from different types of neglect. (The Perils of Polygamy) Lillian Bowles was miserable growing up as one of 40 children in a cloistral polygamous community near Salt Lake City. Her father had eight wives and she maxim him only once a we ek, on Saturday nights when it was her mothers turn. He had very little interaction with our lives, but an incredible amount of control, says Bowles, 26. We couldnt even play at a friends house without getting his permission. You can talk about consenting adults, but the kids curb no choice. Finances are often a problem, too. It is hard to find, permit alone afford, housing for a family that includes three or four wives and a dozen or more children. Wed go dig victuals out of the dumpster behind the grocery store every week, says Bowles. There were loads of other families who did the same. Most families in polygamous situations are on benefit or food stamps. The men in these families cannot financially support all the women and children, and the women are generally not permitted the freedom to choose a occupational group and work outside the family compound.On the other hand, as consenting adults, they should have the right to live however they want as long as theyre not break ing any other state or federal laws. (The Perils of Polygamy) We abhor abuse of any kind,, says Mary Potter, formerly one of a policemans three wives and recent founder of a pro-polygamy womens group, the Womens Religious Liberties Union. But abuse is also rampant(ip) in monogamous marriages. Why blame our religion?Lastly, underage marriage, neglect, and abuse can happen in any familys household and some polygamous families may not condone to any of those things, but thither are too many families that do agree that its the patriarchs decision of who marries who and who does what.