Polygmay

Carolyn Blackmore was just eighteen years old when her father told her she was to marry a fifty-year old man, Merril Jessop. Carolyn was part of a community that practiced polygamy; the practice of marriage to more than one spouse simultaneously (Nichols, 12). The head of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, received a message from God that told him to enforce the marriage. Carolyn was forced to accept this proposal. Shortly after, she and Merril married and moved into his home along with three other wives and a number of children (Jessop, 73). When a woman marries a man in a polygamous world, she must obey him in every way. Carolyn was now Merril’s property.

The main participants of polygamy are Mormons who are members of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith. Smith claimed to have received a revelation from God that commanded him to introduce the idea of plural marriages (Nichols, 13). According to Smith, a man becomes a king in heaven if he has more than one wife. He began to teach polygamy as a part of the Creed of Latter Day Saints (Gallichan, 310). Although Mormon hierarchy does not enforce laws of practicing polygamy, leaders of The Fundamentalist Church began to preach this way of life to their community. Men in monogamous relationships would be excommunicated from the Church or cautioned that they would lose their privilege to an afterlife if they would not convert to this way of life (Arrington & Butch, 99).

Women accept this uncommon practice because they have little or no say. Men often marry young polygamist women because they feel as though they will be impressionable and therefore easier to teach how to behave. Women are taught to believe that polygamy is not only expected but also required in order to reach heaven. Although most women in a polygamous community wish they could abandon their husbands, they are afraid to (Nichols, 17). Polygamous wives depend on their husbands for child support, food, and shelter. These women lack the skills that are critical in earning wages because they are born into a protected community that separates them from the mainstream culture and rest of society (Gallichan, 315). Polygamous women’s dependency on their husband’s currency gives them a sense of stability. When such stability is coupled with the fear of not reaching heaven, women feel forced to continue the practice of polygamy and stay obedient to their husbands.

Non- believers feel there should be stricter laws that enforce the termination of polygamy. The practice is illegal in all 50 states; however, there is no federal law that officially outlaws it (Zeitzen, 91). For example, Carolyn ended up having eight children in fifteen years because a polygamist woman does not have the right to refuse her husband sexual intercourse (Jessop, 1). Despite state laws, Mormons continue to practice polygamy because they feel as though their right to freedom within religion, which is stated in the First Amendment, would otherwise be breached (Nichols, 13). Followers also argue that the prophets in the Old Testament had multiple wives as well (Arrington & Butch, 195). Had there been stricter laws set in place, Carolyn may have been freed from such an unhealthy relationship. However, within a polygamous relationship, the male has complete authority and control over his wife. Therefore, women, much like Carolyn, are left with minimal rights and the possibility of being abused if they should act out against their husbands.

Although polygamy is deemed as illegal, thousands of people within the United States still accept this way of life. Much like Carolyn Blackmore, many young girls are becoming victims to this practice. Polygamy is a subject that often goes unheard of, however, it has been proven to be a detrimental issue within our nation.

Arrington, Leonard J., and Davis Butch. The Mormon experience: a history of The Latter-Day Saints. United States: Alfred A. Kknopf, Inc., 1979. 195. Print.

Gallichan, Walter Matthew. Women in Polygamy. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1915. 11-315. Print.

Zeitzen, Miriam Koktvedgaard. Polygamy: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. New York, NY: Berg, 2008. 91-98. Print

Jessop, Carolyn, and Laura Palmer. Escape. New York: Broadway Books, 2007. 1,13,73. Print.

Nichols, Jeffrey D. . Prostitution, Polygamy, and Powe: Salt Lake City 1847-1918. United States: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 2002. 12-17. Print.

Polygamy reflection

I decided to stay with the topic of polygamy because some students seemed interested with the topic of polygamy when they were reading my essay. I took a different approach after getting the student’s comments. I changed my introduction and included a polygamist woman Carolyn, some of her story. I felt that including a character will make polygamy seem more personal and real to the readers.

The second paragraph includes the lack of human rights a woman has in polygamy and I then provided an example. There are many examples of this lack of a woman’s rights, but I decided to just choose one. I then included facts about laws being given to prohibit polygamy. However, unfortunately people still practice it. My next paragraph includes how polygamy began and why. Many people argue that polygamy should be outlawed because many people in the Old Testament had many wives. I found passages from the Bible that states this, but I feel if I included these quotes my essay wouldn’t be about explaining a concept. But I’m not sure.

Many people look at polygamy in a negative way, and the majority of people don’t agree with or like this practice. But there are those that practice this and hold polygamy very close to their hearts. I feel if maybe I included the other side of the people who love practicing this then my essay would be longer, and clearer as I compare the two sides. I talked a lot about in this essay about a woman in polygamy and what she has to go through instead of men. I thought about including a male side, but thought women are the one’s who are being affected by this practice the most. I didn’t want my essay to drag on and on because I feel too much information on this subject can get the reader bored. In the last paragraph I talked about how many women want to leave, but a lot of them can’t. However, there are those who have escaped from this practice.