The Case Against Polygamy and Why One is Sometimes Enough

Men will often joke about wanting at least two wives to satisfy all their needs, but does polygamy actually help anyone? Does having two wives make a man happier, and does it even strengthen marriages? More often than not, polygamy finds contention in history, from the Medieval warrior Ali Pasha to today’s Muslim women. Islamic law may allow polygamy, but it doesn’t guarantee that such marriages will survive without trouble.

There are actually cases of Muslim women killing their husbands out of jealousy over their new rivals. And, despite the atrocity of their doings, it is hard to avoid the assertion that what they do is a wake-up call to how polygamy cannot be accepted. What polygamy does is simply to legalize cheating – and what spouse would willingly allow her husband to cheat without losing her own head?

Polygamy as a Human Rights Issue

The concept of polygamy arises more so out of Eastern civilizations, so to combat it might allow debaters to stray into largely unstable territory. That is, in comparing the supposedly unstable polygamy of the East with the supposedly acceptable monogamy of the West, it might also lead to the assertion that the modernity of the West is tame, while the East is still steeped in barbarity.

Another issue might be the cultural nature of polygamy, which was once rampant in Africa and the Middle East. Will outlawing polygamy also damage cultures? According to Saye Gbetu of Liberia, this is not necessarily the case. In fact, polygamy simply justifies the role of women as symbols of wealth and baby making machines, further denigrating them to the status of unimportant objects.

According to Gbetu, polygamy did nothing but to open the stage for spousal abuse. Men would marry younger women because their women had flabby breasts. Men would treat women poorly because they could get as many wives as they wanted anyway. Women were “always at the mercy of men,” Gbetu asserts, so that Liberia’s bid to reinstate the legality of polygamy will simply bring the country more trouble.

What are the Disadvantages of Polygamy?

The most obvious disadvantage, perhaps, of polygamy is the greater possibility of producing more children. Provided that both the husband and all his wives are fertile, this could translate to more children than the husband can handle financially. Will the children be given enough food, enough education to set them on their way?

If the parents can handle the financial stress, then it is still no guarantee that society and the economy of the country itself can handle the larger population. Will the country have enough schools for the children, as well as enough qualified teachers? Will there be enough food to go around? Will there be enough hospitals to treat the children now, and enough jobs in the future to keep them financially stable?

Legalizing or even condoning polygamy will not curb cheating, and neither will it justify looking beyond one’s wife for more women to bed and establish relations with. Polygamy, on its own, has economic and financial consequences that go beyond its significance in cultures or even religions.