Why polyandry




















Then subsequent scholars mis-repeated Murdock's remark; polyandry went from being understood as "rarely culturally favored " to "rarely permitted. If you write off every exception to a supposed rule, you will never think to challenge the rule. In an email interview with me, Starkweather remarked, "I don't think that anyone, including Murdock, was operating from an explicitly sexist standpoint.

However, I do think that the definitions of polyandry, and thus perceptions about its rarity, may have been due at least in part to the fact that an overwhelming percentage of anthropologists collecting data and shaping theory at the time were men. That explanation -- that Western male anthropologists had a hard time "believing" in polyandry—makes sense. Humans appear prone, on average, to sexual jealousy, and so it would not be unreasonable for many of us—men and women alike—to project an assumption that sexual jealousy would make poly-unions untenable.

Indeed, anthropologists have found that in both polyandry one woman, multiple husbands and polygyny one husband, multiple wives , sexual jealousy often functions as a stressor in families around the world. Yet certain environmental circumstances do seem to increase the odds of a culture accepting some form of polyandry. In particular, Starkweather and Hames find that polyandry is often found in societies with highly skewed "operational sex ratios. Indeed, fully three-quarters of the 53 societies identified by Starkweather and Hames involve skewed sex ratios, with more adult males than females.

This led me to wonder, in our exchange, whether in places where sex ratios are becoming highly skewed—in places like India and China—is polyandry likely to emerge? Starkweather and Hames guess not. First, most of the cultures in which polyandry is found look very different from modern India and China; polyandry shows up mostly in relatively egalitarian societies i. Modern India and China don't look anything like simple egalitarian societies. So what will happen there?

Hames points out that, "Landowning societies all over the world have faced an excess of men at one point or another and have dealt with this by sending these men to the priesthood, to fight in wars, or to explore or make a name for themselves" elsewhere. For his part, the leader of the Islamic Al-Jamah party, Ganief Hendricks, said: "You can imagine when a child is born, more DNA tests will be needed to discover who the father is.

As for Mr Mseleku, he urged South Africans not to take the principle of equality "too far". Asked why it should be any different for women, given he had four wives, he replied: "I've been called a hypocrite because of my marriages but I'd rather speak now than be silent.

We cannot change who we are. But Prof Machoko said polyandry was once practised in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, and it is still practised in Gabon, where the law allows it.

They were no longer equal. Marriage became one of the tools used to establish hierarchy. Prof Machoko said concerns about children born from a polyandrous union were rooted in patriarchy.

Whatever children are born from that union are the children of the family. A quick guide to South Africa. Africa Today podcasts.

Image source, Getty Images. Secret unions. Image source, Musa Mseleku. Clerics upset. Women's Legal Centre. We cannot reject law reform because it challenges certain patriarchal views in our society". Skip to main content. DigitalCommons University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Nebraska Anthropologist. Authors Jeff Willett. Comments Published in Nebraska Anthropologist Vol. Abstract The fraternal polyandry marriage relationship of Tibet is widely considered to be a means of preventing the division of a family's resources among its male heirs.

Included in Anthropology Commons. Search Enter search terms:.



0コメント

  • 1000 / 1000