polygamy

is, for the feminist, to be opposed on account that the practice accords with male self-interest, and is readily admitted by its practitioners to be a means of controlling women.

Okin further notes that in polygamous cultures many men readily acknowledge that the practice accords with their self-interest, and they see it as a means of controlling women. As a French immigrant from Mali said in a recent interview, 'When my wife is sick and I don't have another, who will care for me'' (Okin, 1999, 15).

is, for many liberals, a system that results in the subjugation of women to men's desires for more wives and restrains individual rights.

Liberalism, in contrast, argues that polygamy results in the subjugation of women to men's desires for more wives and restrains individual rights. An array of feminist supports the liberal position as well. Even though the arguments for a multicultural acceptance of polygamy have been gaining recognition, the practice of polygamy is justly outlawed in the United States due to its suppression of individual rights from a liberal perspective.

is harmful to the individuals who are participating therein. Multiculturalism notwithstanding, it perpetuates a dangerous structure of oppression that systematically threatens individual liberties.

After a thorough analysis of both sides' positions, it is clear that polygamy is harmful to the individuals participating and perpetuates a dangerous structure of oppression. Multiculturalism is important to consider when respecting practices that seem curious to an inexperienced observer, but when individual liberties are systematically threatened it is clear that the concepts of freedom inherent in liberalism must be preferred. In the United States, where it took so long to affirm the rights of both genders and then all races, the legislative and judicial branches must stand against practices that threaten to impinge on the rights of citizens.

Jessica FreitasThinkers

Jessica Freitas