Author Topic: Polyandry  (Read 12366 times)

injest

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Polyandry
« on: November 22, 2008, 08:42:09 pm »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry

the practice of having mulitple husbands has been noted in many countries...

interesting,  ;D

Quote
Polyandry in human relationships occurs or has occurred in Tibet, the Canadian Arctic, Zanskar, Nepal, Bhutan, Ladakh, the Nymba, and Sri Lanka[citation needed], and is known to have been present in some pre-contact Polynesian societies [2], though probably only among higher caste women [3]. It is also encountered in some regions of Mongolia, among the Mosuo people in China, and in some Sub-Saharan African such as the Maasai people in Kenya and northern Tanzania [4] and American indigenous communities. Polyandry has been practiced in several cultures in India — in the Jaunsar region in Uttarakhand, among the, Nairs, Theeyas and Toda of South India, and the Nishi of Arunachal Pradesh[citation needed]. The Guanches, the first known inhabitants of the Canary Islands, practiced polyandry until their disappearance.[citation needed] In other societies, there are people who live in de facto polyandrous arrangements that are not recognized by the law

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2008, 03:28:44 pm »
Interesting. My friend Adam lent me the DVD of Paint Your Wagon about a woman with two husbands, and I have watched about half of it, but a really icky song named "They Call the Wind Moriah" puts me off.
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2008, 07:51:20 pm »
Interesting. My friend Adam lent me the DVD of Paint Your Wagon about a woman with two husbands, and I have watched about half of it, but a really icky song named "They Call the Wind Moriah" puts me off.

IIRC, Paint Your Wagon is a pretty icky musical. ...
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline delalluvia

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2008, 09:06:25 pm »
IIRC, Paint Your Wagon is a pretty icky musical. ...

But Clint Eastwood sings!!!  :laugh: :laugh:

At least in the movie version.

The reason the woman married two men in that movie is because she was sold off by her Mormon husband to one of the miners and developed a crush on her new husband's partner.  Then later when tension was building between her new husband and beau she suggested that if a man can have more than one wife (in her religious tradition) why couldn't a woman?  She took a lot of liberty with her religion and her husband and wannabe lover were too ignorant about her religion to argue the point.  ;D

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2008, 12:23:57 am »
Enjoyed your reply, della! Okay, I'll give Paint Your Wagon another look.
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Offline Artiste

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2008, 12:46:12 am »
Since muslims in their many countries and Islam religion can have legally 4 wives same time, is that      Polyandry        the right word too ?

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2008, 01:48:28 pm »
Since muslims in their many countries and Islam religion can have legally 4 wives same time, is that      Polyandry        the right word too ?

I think that's called polygamy.
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2008, 08:48:19 pm »
Since muslims in their many countries and Islam religion can have legally 4 wives same time, is that      Polyandry        the right word too ?

polyandry - from polys "many" and andr / aner "man"
polygyny - from polys "many" and gnye "woman"
polygamy - from polys "many" and gamos "marriage"

Marge_Innavera

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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2008, 11:45:29 pm »
From Trivia-Library.com, at http://www.trivia-library.com/b/alternative-forms-of-marriage-polyandry.htm:


In the few primitive cultures in which it has existed, polyandry has been for the convenience of men, not women. It has also been a question of economics. Unable to afford a wife all to himself, a man shares one with other men. Often, those who do the sharing are brothers with still another motive--to keep their land in the family. To hold the population in the right balance for polyandry, some tribes have killed off a percentage of the female babies. The Jats, a peasant tribe of northern India and Pakistan, for example, supposedly had the custom of putting baby girls in buffalo pens to be trampled. Groups which practice or have practiced polyandry are largely located in Tibet, Siberia, and other places not very hospitable to human beings.

The Nayars, a warrior group of the Malabar coast of India, once practiced a peculiar form of polyandry in which the prepubescent girl was "married" to a man she often never saw. He received a fee for this and was considered the official "father" of her children. From adolescence, she was free to copulate with several husbands, presented to her by her mother or her mother's brother. Each husband would spend a few days at a time with her and had the privilege of hanging his weapons on her door. He also paid part of her support, though he did not live with her. As wars became less common among the Nayars, they moved in the direction of monogamy.

In Tibet, a woman might marry a family of brothers; one would stay with her while the others were at war, herded sheep, or went on trading expeditions.

The herder Todas, who live in the hills of southern India, practiced female infanticide and the sharing of a wife by several brothers. The first child of the wife was said to be fathered by the oldest brother, the next by the next-oldest brother, and so on. When the British, horrified at the killing of the babies, discouraged the practice, the Todas turned to a form of group marriage in which a family of brothers would marry a family of sisters.

Practitioners: Polyandry is rare in European and Asian civilizations. Perhaps its most common form is a menage a trois. For example, Voltaire, the rationalist philosopher, had a 16-year affair with the Marquise du Chatelet ("the divine Emilie"); during part of it, he, Emilie, and Emilie's husband lived together. Lady Montagu noted in 1716 in Vienna that many women of the nobility there had two "husbands"--one for the name, the other for the "game." It was considered gauche not to invite all three to dinner.

Where It Stands Today: Neither form of polygamy--polygyny or polyandry--is likely to replace monogamy.



However, the article does start out with a provocative caveat that suggests a don't-knock-it-if-you-haven't-tried-it aspect:

The Practice: It is not because of the sexuality of women that polyandry--the marriage of one woman to more than one man--is rare, for it makes ultimate sexual good sense, given the claims of sex researchers who say that many women are capable of having several orgasms in a short period of time and are just as interested in having several sex partners as men are. Such findings give the lie to the old rhyme:


Higamus, hogamus,
Woman's monogamous;
Hogamus, higamus,
Man is polygamous.

The rarity of polyandry stems from the historical powerlessness of women, who have not had enough social or economic clout to make it a reality.


It's also an inconvenient truth that polyandry would be a sensible alternative on an increasingly overpopulated planet.



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Re: Polyandry
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2008, 05:11:40 pm »
Thanks, Marge, you are a fount of information!
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