Take away the man's wealth and power, or try a polyandrous relationship with multiple men to one woman, and things go south in a big hurry.
“Polygamy only works - as it has throughout human history - for rich and powerful men who choose to take in one or more wives and concubines.”
Indeed! (Although you’re actually discussing polygyny. Polygamy refers to “multiple spouses”.)
Consider that, for every man with two wives, there would be one with none. Until recently, a large fraction of the young, male population was killed in periodic wars. That left a “surplus” of women, such that some men could have multiple wives, without resulting in other (living) men having none. A population, with polygyny, can rebound from a nearly total loss of the male population. The same can’t be said for polyandry (which has never been very common, anywhere).
True, and to quote a popular song,
What’s love got to do with it ?
This sort of marriage is meant to achieve biological, political, economic and status objectives. Its something that can work for rich or powerful men. Genghis Khan used this to unite the Mongol tribes, and ended up by becoming the direct ancestor of millions.
Its not meant to be emotionally satisfying on any conventional, intimate level.
Take away the man’s wealth and power, or try a polyandrous relationship with multiple men to one woman, and things go south in a big hurry.
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I have never understood why Polyandry wouldn’t work. One woman and lots of male income. A child from each guy and with all the incomes they should all live like kings.
Women are willing to consider sharing a Donald Trump equivalent, but no one wants to divide a poor man’s poverty.
Paint your Wagon....
In “Roughing It” Mark Twain has a chapter on Brigham Young and the Mormons. As a father, Brigham Young has the duty to be fair to his many offspring. A visitor gave one child a penny whistle that he had in his pocket. To be fair, Brigham Young had to get equivalent penny whistles for each of his over 100 children. They had to talk for two weeks using hand signals.
Brigham Young’s advice: 42 wives may have been a little excessive. To younger men he recommends moderation, based on his own experience. Noone needs more than 10 or 11 wives.