Polygamy Essay Example

Silent Anguish Imagine a young girl of twelve marrying a man of forty whom she has never seen before and being forced to produce children until her body is physically unable to perform a safe pregnancy. Imagine the girl being brainwashed and beaten for contradicting with a belief held by another man and forced to stay in her community for her entire life without knowing anything of the outside world. This scary world exists not just in imagination, but in the form of marriage known as polygamy. Found in almost every country, including the United States, the practice is considered a right to a select few and a bane to the majority of others. Polygamy is a way of life that should not be allowed in society due to the fact that it creates male-dominated marriages, forces women into subordinate roles, and produces unworkable families full of strife, abuse and incest.
Polygamy is a form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse at a time; it most often occurs in the form of polygyny, when a man has multiple wives. Although the practice has been illegal in the United States for over one hundred years, it is estimated that over 30,000 citizens are involved in plural marriages (Eagle). Polygamy is mainly practiced by Mormon fundamentalists living in Utah and Arizona, but there are smaller pockets elsewhere in the country. Polygamous families usually live in isolated communities that are completely unaffected by the outside world. The seclusion of these towns raises concerns for the relative safety and health of the town's residents as well as the enforcement of state and federal laws followed by the rest of the country. Although marriage is considered to be the mutual forming of a bond between a couple, in many polygamous marriages women are forced into the role of wife. They have no choice but to become subservient to their husband. From an early age they are taught of male dominance and are brainwashed by their culture and religion to refuse to