Polygyny
From Wikinfo
The term polygyny is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology.
In social anthropology, polygyny is a marital practice in which a man has more than one wife simultaneously. This is the usual form of polygamy. The man may marry more than one woman at the same time, or marry one or more other women while he is already married. The opposite form - polyandry - where a woman has more than one husband simultaneously, is much less common.
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The Economy of Polygyny
Even where still acceptable, polygyny is reserved primarily for the wealthy and politically powerful males. Others may be lucky to have one wife or not be able to have any. This requires special social strategies so that one segment of the males can have multiple wives. Note, however, that some males (and females) never obtain mates in monogamous societies.
Since males and females are born is approximately equal amounts, it would seem that having more than one wife would necessarily deprive other males from obtaining even one wife. One strategy is having males marry late (30+ years) and females marry early (mid teens, or earlier). This limits the number of males that can marry and prohibits the younger males from interfering. At the same time the number of females available is always larger than the males seeking spouses, fostering a polygynous marital system.
A second strategy is high male mortality from warfare, feuding, occupational accident, and disease. Not only are the males too involved in these activities to consider marriage, but the number arriving at the marriageable age is reduced. Again, this means that fewer males than females are marriageable. Some societies have age grades for males, and no male may marry until he suceeds into the highest grade. These age grades are used as a military force or for labor details.
A third strategy is the bride price, requiring males to buy wives by presenting the bride's family with suitable and costly gifts. Because bride prices are often collected by the groom's family, he will never be able to marry unless he has been obedient to their will, usually for a long period.
Modern Polygyny
Polygyny, although extremely common and widespread, is officially banned or suppressed in modern societies. Polygyny survives through the use of mistresses and concubines, who are openly or secretly supported by wealthy males. In some cases the male might even have a second (or more) family with the unofficial wife, supporting her and his illegitimate children. In some places the wife not only is aware of the husband's mistress, but helps him to select one that is "suitable" to his station.
The other form of modern polygyny is Serial Polygyny, sustained by divorces and remarriages that allow partners to experience multiple, legitimate relationships.
The Female in a Polygynous Marriage
The modern viewpoint adheres to the notion that polygyny degrades women, treating them as property and slaves. This is not a complete truism in a polygynous marriage. Co-wives are able to support each other and help with "women's work." In cases of sororal polygyny (sisters marrying the same male), the close bonds have already been formed.
Polygyny as a Biological Term
The anthropological meaning has been taken over into sociobiology, where polygyny refers to a mating system in which a male has a more or less stable breeding relationship with more than one female, but the females are only bonded to a single male. In eusocial insects it refers to situations where colonies have multiple queens.
Note that in both the human and the animal situations, either the male or the female may at times copulate with additional partners; "polygyny" describes the formal or persistent relationships that help structure the society rather than being an exhaustive description of actual behaviour.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Polygyny" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
