Home > Polygyny
The term polygyny (Greek: poly many, gynaika woman) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology.1 Definitions
In social anthropology, polygyny is a marital practice in which a man has more than one wife simultaneously. This is the usual form of polygamy. The man may marry more than one woman at the same time, or marry one or more other women while he is already married. The opposite form - where a woman has more than one husband simultaneously - is known as polyandry.
The anthropological meaning has been taken over into sociobiology, where polygyny refers to a mating system in which a male has a more or less stable breeding relationship with more than one female, but the females are only bonded to a single male. In eusocial insects it refers to situations where colonies have multiple queens.
Note that in both the human and the animal situations, either the male or the female may at times copulate with additional partners; "polygyny" describes the formal or persistent relationships that help structure the society rather than being an exhaustive description of actual behaviour.
2 Human polygyny
The majority of human societies have probably permitted polygyny. It was accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China, and in Islam. It was accepted in many traditional African and Polynesian cultures.
In India, polygyny was practiced since ancient times. Historically, only kings, in practice, were polygnous. For example, the Vijanagar emperor, Krishnadevaraya had multiple wives.
However, it was not accepted in ancient Greece or RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman, and has never been accepted in mainstream ChristianityChristian cross and its many variations are widely recognized as an ancient Christian symbol. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. Although Christians generally chara (early MormonismMormonism (also called Latter Day Saint theology or Mormon theology and Latter Day Saint culture or Mormon culture is a religion, ideology, movement, and subculture originating in the early 1800s as a product of the Latter Day Saint movement. The term Mor was a notable exception). The political and economic dominance of (at least nominally) Christian nations from the sixteenth to the twentieth century has meant that on the world scale polygyny is legally recognised in very few nations. Although many MuslimA Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. The word Muslim means one who submits and implies complete submission to the will of God ( Allah). Muslims believe that nature is itself Islamic, since it follows natural laws placed by God. Thus, a Muslim s majority countries still retain traditional Islamic law which permits polygyny, certain liberal movements within IslamIn modern times there have been a number of liberal movements within Islam (sometimes called in Arabic: or 'interpretation-based Islam', also or 'Progressive Islam'), which depend mainly on re-interpretations of scriptures or ijtihad. Liberal Muslims inte continue to challenge its acceptability.
2.1 The Economy of Polygyny
Even where acceptable, polygyny will probably never involve the majority of men, though there is a remote possibility that this could one day be made feasible through a dramatic increase in the number of women via genetic engineering or other means. It is quite possible that polygyny could involve the majority of women. In many societies, only the wealthy and politically powerful among men could afford to have more than one wife (or would be permitted to in many cultures, for example within Islam). Others may be lucky to have one wife or not be able to have any. This requires special social conventions if it is not to produce instability in the society. It is not, however, a unique problem of polygyny: some men (and women) never obtain mates in monogamous societies.
