Big Love, TV Show on HBO about a polygamous family in Utah
This is my response to Martha Nussbaum’s blog post titled “Debating Polygamy” on the University of Chicago Law School blog. Please check this post out yourself here.
I agree pretty much with everything she says. I want to try to expand on a few things though.
First, Nussbaum makes a very important point: polygamy is not the same as child sexual abuse. When people think of polygamy, they think of fifteen year old girls being forced into marriage with nasty old men. Nussbaum does not deny that this happens, but abusing a child sexually is an offence that should be punished and I doubt that Nussbaum or many others will object to that. The issue of child abuse is one that is different, and should be dealt with seriously whether in a monogamous setting or a polygamous one.
In addition to, and besides the polygamy that exists in religious sects, she argues that plural marriages between mutually consenting adults are well within the rights of those individuals. She asks, “What about a practice of plural contractual marriages, by mutual consent, among adult, informed parties, all of whom have equal legal rights to contract such plural marriages?” “What interest might the state have that would justify refusing recognition of such marriages?”
There seems to be no basis for the government to make polygamy illegal. Period. Religion, and sexuality are examples of the factors that play a role in a person choosing to be in a polygamous relationship. There is no need to go into how personal a person’s religion or sexuality is; and so, it makes sense that religious and sexual freedoms are protected by the Constitution (Charter of Rights and Freedom in Canada).
Children can be hurt by polygamy, as they can be by monogamy. But children do not have to be hurt in order for three or more consenting adults to be in a marriage. If the majority in society (those who influence policies) were sincere about their claims that they respect equal rights to freedom (in a democratic and free society), then they would create laws and regulations that would allow groups of mutually consenting adults to enter into a marriage, and at the same time providing safeguards that would prevent sexual child abuse. Safeguards currently exist that prevent adult women and men from being forced into monogamous marriages. So, why can those protections not exist in polygamous ones? Nussbaum rightly points out that monogamous marriage as we know it today has evolved, as women did not have the rights they now do (such as getting a divorce on grounds of cruelty). If monogamous marriage has been able to restore itself from its barbarity, why is polygamy not given a chance to emerge from its darkness
The only reasons for debarring mutually consenting adults from entering into a marriage that suits their sexual wants, needs or desires, is hypocrisy, and a fear of those that are different. Polygamy, like gay marriages challenge the norms of the majority. It is understandable that the very existence of others whose lives are based on values that are opposed to those of the majority will be challenging and threatening; it is not understandable however to feel so threatened and challenged as to deny others of their rights. That is what happens when mutually consenting adults are denied from entering a polygamous marriage!
