In this article, we are going to understand the terms monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry in detail.

Monogamy:

In the monogamous family system, a man can marry only one wife. Under the Christian, the Parsi, and the Hindu Marriage Acts, neither the husband nor the wife can marry again in the lifetime of his or her spouse or without obtaining a proper divorce decree.

Monogamy has been accepted an ideal in Hindu society, the word couple is used for two persons, husband and wife jointly. In Hindu Dharma Shastras, husband and wife have been expected to follow respect for each other and they are compulsorily restricted to have sex relations with other persons. One of the subjective of a Hindu marriage is the accomplishment of religious activities which are performed by the couple jointly. The bearing of a son has also been considered necessary for the accomplishment of religious activities and rituals. In the present era, monogamy has been considered the best form of marriage.

Merits of Monogamy:

• Monogamous families are relatively more stable in comparison to other systems of marriage.
• The status of the wife (woman) remains high in monogamous families.
• In monogamous families, the rearing of children, their socialization and education are performed appropriately.
• In monogamous families, the standard of living remains high.
• The number of children remains low in monogamous families and therefore the family is small and happy.

Demerits of Monogamy:

• There is some times an increase in sex-promiscuity and thereby extra-marital sex relations are also increased.
• There is an increase in sex crimes due to the unavailability of sex relations.
• There is a prevalence of dictatorship in monogamous families and exploitation of females in common in practice.

Polygamy:

Many legal systems permit polygamous marriage, under which a man may marry more than one wife. Most ancient cultures and religions in the world have allowed polygamy in one form or the other. Vedic Indians generally practice monogamy but Rig-Veda mentions the king’s 4 wives. In Arthasastra, the Smritis and the Epic, the rule is that a man may have wives from his own caste and each of those below him. Islamic tradition addresses the polygamy directly. The Quran states that a man is allowed up to four wives, but only if he can support them and treat them all equally. Polygamy is also termed as polygyny.

In India, polygamy is illegal under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Indian Penal Code.  Before the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, polygamy was mostly practiced by rich merchants and the warrior castes i India. Polygamy and polyandry are illegal under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Christian Marriage Act, the Parsi Marriage Act, and the Special Marriage Act. Three kinds of polygamy practiced in Western societies:

• Serial polygamy, that is, marriage, divorce, marriage, divorce, and so on any number of times;
• a man married to one woman but having and supporting one or more mistresses;
• an unmarried man having a number of mistresses.

Islam condones but discourages the first and forbids the other two.

Can Polygamy be a Better Solution in Some Cases?

Scholars in the past and at present, Muslims and non-Muslims, have consistently pointed out such cases in which polygamy is a better solution.

Individual cases:

Case 1: A man who discovers that his wife is barren, and who at the same time instinctively aspires to have children and heirs. In a situation as this, the man would either have to:

• Suffer the deprivation of fatherhood for life or
• Divorce his barren wife and get married to another woman who is not barren.

In many cases, neither solution can be considered as the best alternative. Polygamy would have the advantage of preserving the marital relationship without depriving the man of fathering children of his own.

Case 2: A man whose wife becomes chronically ill would have one of the possible alternatives:

• He may suppress his instinctive sexual needs for the rest of his life, or
• He may divorce his sick wife at the time when she needs his compassion most, and get married to another woman, thus legally satisfying his instinctive needs, or
• He could compromise by keeping his sick wife and secretly take for himself one or more illicit sex partners.

In such cases, scholars consider polygamy is an optional solution.

Social cases:

Case 1: Anthropologists suggest that among various tribes and societies, polygamy is a social and economic necessity. In some very poor regions, children are considered a future source of earnings. But in such regions, the infant mortality is very high. To have more children under such situations the tribes and societies practice polygamy. African tribes support polygamy.

Case 2: There are cases where women outnumber men due to devastating wars, in the past and at present, have taken their toll mainly among men. The result is not simply more women who cannot find husbands, but even more, widows who may aspire to respectable family life. In such a situation, polygamy is practiced. In Vietnam polygamy is not legal, the decades of war that left the male population severely depleted, which opened the door for polygamy in that country.

In such cases, scholars consider polygamy is an optional solution.

Merits of Polygamy:

• Sexual persons get full satisfaction in the family and sex promiscuity, extra-marital sex, and corruption do not prevail in society.
• Up keeping, rearing of children and household activities are easily acquired with more than one wife due to the distribution of the household activities.
• Due to more number of working hands, economic stability is attained.
• It is useful for those communities where a number of females are more than male counterparts if polygyny is not adopted, some women will remain unmarried and consequently, there are chances of prevailing sex promiscuity and corruption in the society.

Demerits of polygamy

• There are chances of envy, jealousy, quarrel, and struggle in the family due to polygyny.
• The number of children increases due to possessing more wives and the rearing, up keeping and education of these children become difficult, consequently family remains backward.
• The social status of the wives due to polygamy is inferior and they are much exploited.
• In the case of more than one wife, the husband in most of the cases remains unable to satisfy the sex requirements of many wives and there are chances of prevailing sex promiscuity and corruption in the society.
• In the case of the death of the husband, many women become widows and the number of widows increases in the society inviting sex promiscuity and corruption.

Polyandry:

When one female marries with more than one husband, it is a polyandry type of marriage. Polyandry is considered by social scientists as a matter of unequal distribution of the male and female population. Where there is the number of males is more in comparison to females, the polyandry system is common in those communities.

Polyandry or rather fraternal polyandry was a common feature of the early Aryan social organization. In Dravin-culture the polyandry was also familiar in Malabari-people. In addition this system of marriage was accustomed in Jaunsar-Babar region of Dehradun, Tihri, Garhwal and Shimla’s Khas Rajputs; in Toda and Kota people of Nilgiri hills, Laddkhi Bota, Tiyar, and Erawa of Tamilnadu, Nayar, Harawan, and Kampala of Malabar and Urao tribes of Santhal Parganas of Chhota Nagpur. At present times this system of marriage is diminishing. There are two forms of polyandry (1) Polyandry with one family’s brothers and (2) Polyandry with non-brothers

Fraternal or Adelphic Polyandry:

When two or more brothers marry with a woman or eldest brother marries with a woman and other junior brothers became husbands of that woman, it is the system of polyandry marriage. This type of marriage is prevalent in Khas, Toda, and Kota peoples, in the hill region of Punjab, Laddakh, Spiti and Lahaul Parganas of Kangara. In the Khas tribe, the eldest brother marries with a woman and the other brothers became spontaneous husbands of the woman. Some times Sagotri brothers also marry a woman.

Non-fraternal Adelphic Polyandry:

In this system of marriage, the husbands are not brothers. A woman lives with a person for a definite period and afterward, she goes to the next person (husband) for the same definite period. This process is continued in two or more than two husbands. This system of marriage is prevalent in Toda and Nayar tribes of Kerala.

The Paternal polyandry system is followed in Toda, Khas, and Kota tribes. In this system, a woman after marriage lives with many husbands at their residences or a common residence of their own. In the maternal polyandry system of marriage, the woman lives with her mother and the husbands came to her after one by one for the finite or assigned periods. This system is familiar in Nayar tribe of Kerala

Merits of Polyandry:

• The number of offsprings is limited in the polyandry marriage system as such it is an ideal system for family planning.
• There is no danger of the distribution of property and the agricultural land remains undistributed and there is no effect on the production of agricultural products unless other circumstances are favourable.
• The unity and collectiveness of the family remain intact and there are no chances of a break-in the joint system of family.
• All the members of the family face together the unfavourable circumstances either in singularity it is difficult to face major problems. All the members jointly toil to fulfill their requirements and economic activities. The joint struggle is also possible against natural calamities due to this polyandry system.

Demerits of Polyandry:

• Infertility is increasing in females following the polyandry system. The reason for infertility is unknown in the communities wherein the polyandry system is followed.
• In this system of marriage, the number of sons borne is more than the females, as such a polyandry system of marriage is continued further. It is always dis-balance in sex ratio, consequently responsible for polyandry.
• In this system, one woman keeps sex relations with more than one man and there are more chances of sexual diseases and consequently, the wife suffers from various sexual diseases and she is always ill and her health falls down.
• Sexual freedom in females in against ideal and legal sex practices and it further causes illegal sexual problems.

Indian Legal System > Civil Laws > Family Laws > Monogamy, Polygamy, and Polyandry

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