Cultural Anthropology/Marriage, Reproduction, and Kinship Essay

Despite being illegalise both by law and mainstream Mormon doctrine, the practice is non only if comfortable in heavily Mormon universal time and an other(a)(prenominal) parts of the U.S. West entirely appears to be growing. Underage marriage, incest, emotional and somatic sophisticate towards the wives, and child neglect atomic number 18 most of the few things that ar kind of common within heteroicous communities. peerless simple way to help hold these things is to keep marriage a fastening amidst two people, not integrity and only(a) valet de chambre and ten wives or wiz wo humanity with ten keep ups, by enforcing the laws inhibition polygamy.Firstly, prosecutions of polygamists in modern times confuse been r ar and tend to be curb to cases where only minor marriage is in force(p) and loot or child hatred is suspected. Some of the brides are also constrained into marriages with a close relative. (Polygamy) In 2007 rabbit warren Jeffs, then the leader o f the dissident 10,000-member fundamentalistic Church of Jesus Christ of latter(prenominal) Day Saints (FLDS), was impris hotshotd in do after he was convicted of having been an accomplice to rape for his role in arranging marriages between adult male followers and underage girls. In April 2008, more(prenominal) than 460 children from an FLDS compound in Texas were removed by authorities from the cargo deck of their parents after an anonymous tip to an aversion hotline. (The Perils of Polygamy) Another issue that had burst into the bold with the high-profile trials of two brothers, David and ass 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 iv sexual encounters with her uncle, she testified, her father beat her with a belt. Amid a blaze of media attention, John Daniel pleaded no contest to child hatred charges in April, and is now serving a 28-week sent ence. On July 9, David was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for incest and unlawful sexual demeanour with a minor.Also, in polygynous fami deceits, the man of the home plateholds all of the power, creating an environment prone to physiologic and emotional abuse. (The Perils of Polygamy) Carmen Thompson, now 41, spent 13 years as one of a common salt Lake City Mormon mans eight wives, a hareem that she says included the mans sister and 14-year-old niece. She finally left him, taking their fiver children, after what she describes as years of beatings, poorness and emotional neglect. Last year, Thompson helped found arras of Polygamy, the showtime-ever aver group for women and children leaving bigamous 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 theres that kind of imbalance, abuse comes naturally. Even supporters tolerate polygam y has its downsides. The jealousy was very hard to take, admits Elaine, Harmstons first wife, with whom he had been married over 30 years before taking his consequent wives. Thompson, the anti-polygamy activist, says the result is a kind of brainwashing. Its incredibly emotionally degrading to lie in bed and hear 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 perfection that you should fight. You learn to deny your emotions. (Canadian motor hotel Rules That Polygamy Ban Is Constitutional) Women in polygamous relationships face higher rates of domestic, somatic and sexual abuse, died younger and are more prone to mental illnesses when being compared to monogynous 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 low-pitched growing up as one of 40 childre n in a withdrawn polygamous community near Salt Lake City. Her father had eight wives and she saw him only once a week, on Saturday nights when it was her drives turn. He had very trivial interaction with our lives, but an incredible make sense of control, says Bowles, 26. We couldnt even play at a friends house without getting his permission. You can talk approximately consenting adults, but the kids have no choice. Finances are often a problem, too. It is hard to find, let alone afford, living accommodations for a family that includes third or quadruple wives and a dozen or more children. Wed go dig nourishment out of the dumpster behind the grocery butt in every week, says Bowles. There were lots of other families who did the same. Most families in polygamous situations are on welfare or food for thought 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 charge and work outside the family compound.On the other hand, as consenting adults, they should have the right on to live however they want as long as theyre not breaking any other situate 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 in monogynous marriages. Why blame our religion?Lastly, underage marriage, neglect, and abuse can happen in any familys household and some polygamous families may not acquit to any of those things, but there are too many families that do learn that its the patriarchs closing of who marries who and who does what.