Polygamy is the condition or practice of having more than one wife at a time, which is sometimes referred to as plural marriage. Throughout the years, polygamy has become increasingly frowned upon, and is considered a deviant subculture in America.
Polygamy as a Way of Life
Various religious groups practice, or have a history of practicing polygamy including Mormons, Latter-Day Saints in modern times, and Hinduists and Judaists in ancient or biblical times. Throughout the years it has become more and more disapproved of in society compared to ancient times when many cultures practiced polygamy freely.
Today, all you see about polygamy is whether or not a certain group is getting arrested or making the news because of what they are doing. In 1862, The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was passed making bigamy a misdemeanor. In 1882, the Edmunds Act was passed making bigamy and unlawful cohabitation not only illegal, but felonies.
As for the rest of the world, polygamy is recognized in over fifty countries. In these countries it is seen as a way of life, just as common as marriage between two people here in the United States.
The goals of a polygamist family are really no different than the ones of the non-polygamist families. As you will see in the video, the Brown's want to raise their children to be good upstanding citizens which is the same as any other non-polygamist family. They have the same care for their children and want to see them succeed in whatever they choose to do. In the clip, Meri says "they dont have to follow our lifestyle as long as they are strong and firm in what they believe".
Polygamy as a Deviant Subculture
According to Cloward and Ohlin, subcultures in society provide an opportunity for deviance.
This can be explained using the Broken Window Theory of Deviance, which uses social context and social clues to tell whether or not someone will be deviant. In the case of polygamy, if a group widely accepts polygamy then there will be more polygamists. In a group where polygamy is frowned upon, there will be very little polygamy because the people do not want to have a stigma against them.
The norm in American society today is that marriage is between two people and no man/woman should have more than one partner. This can be based on an individual's religion or just their personal preference.
In this video from SmartTrend News, the people in the television series Sister Wives are under investigation for bigamy. Bigamy is the crime of marrying while one has a wife or husband still living, from whom no valid divorce has been affected. The clip shows the discrepancy between the reality of the family (portrayed in the clip where they discussed their children), and the way they are portrayed in the media.
The laws on polygamy state that marrying another person while still being lawfully married to another is illegal in the United States. Polygamy is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment depending on the laws in each individual state. Polygamy is illegal in all fifty states and is a felony in about 30 of the 50 states, including Utah.
In this clip from Good Morning America, a group of sister wive's children were taken away because their parents practiced polygamy. In ways similar to Meri in the Sister Wives clip, these mothers attempt to combat the negative reputation their subculture has in the media, by discussing how they care for their children. They also try to convince viewers that they are not imprisoned, but live a polygamist lifestyle by choice. Breaking stereotypes appears to be a theme as they plea for sympathy and understanding.
Representations of Polygamy in the Media
Various television shows have captured the polygamist way of life.
Such as HBO's Big Love,
and TLC's Sister Wives.
People continue to see polygamy as a deviant subculture not only because of personal beliefs, but how it is portrayed in the media.
Warren Jeffs, a man from Eldorado, Texas, was charged for incest and sexual conduct with minors. Jeffs' father had twenty wives and passed on his beliefs to Warren. He was sentenced to ten years to life in prison and was on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list. These negative portrayals of polygamists influences the opinions of Americans, who believe most of what they see on television. Lack of positive representations of them leave viewers with little else to choose from.
In this clip, Warren Jeffs explains polygamy and his views on the subject. This signifies that people still believe in polygamy as following God's will for their lives. Jeffs preaches his views on how plural marriage is the right way to live and brings up people like Brigham Young and Don Taylor. Jeffs states that these men would rather die than give up the right to continue onward and upward through plural marriage.
Because polygamists are given more of a negative representation in the media than a positive one, the general public doesn't necessarily understand their way of life. People who watched the Eldorado polygamists on the news, where Jeffs would not allow anyone to leave his compound and would not allow the authorities inside of it, only saw polygamists portrayed as demented and unbalanced. When you see things like this, no matter how you're raised, you're more likely to see polygamy in a negative light. Often times we as Americans believe what the news reports, and then when polygamists explain their way of life we do not try to understand them.
The world of polygamy is a very blurry topic that most people do not understand, which is what led it to become a deviant suculture. The media portrays negative things about polygamy, so people tend to go along with whatever the news is saying on the topic. If we could just open our minds and try to understand the polygamist perspective, we may be able to accept it in society and not consider it deviant any more.
Sources
*Images and Video*
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.flickr.com
http://images.google.com
*Information*
http://www.polygamy.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy_in_North_America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_polygamy
http://www.answers.com/topic/plural-marriage
