Outcry Over South Africa's Multiple Husbands Proposal

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sun Jun 27, 2021, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

BBC News, Johannesburg, June 27, 2021. - Ed.

A proposal by the South African government to legalise polyandry - when a woman has more than one husband at the same time - has led to howls of protest from conservative quarters. This does not surprise Professor Collis Machoko, a renowned academic on the topic. The objections are "about control," he told the BBC. "African societies are not ready for true equality. We don't know what to do with women we cannot control." South Africa has one of the world's most liberal constitutions, embracing same-sex marriages for all and polygamy for men.

Businessman and TV personality Musa Mseleku - who has 4 wives - is among those opposed to polyandry. "This will destroy African culture. What about the children of those people? How will they know their identity?" asks Mr Mseleku, who stars in a South African reality TV show about his polygamous family. "The woman cannot now take the role of the man. It's unheard of. Will the woman now pay lobola [bride price] for the man. Will the man be expected to take her surname?" Secret unions: Prof Machoko researched polyandry in his country of birth - neighbouring Zimbabwe. He spoke to 20 women and 45 co-husbands who practised it, even though such marriages are socially taboo and not legally recognised. "Polyandry, because it is shunned by parts of society, has been forced underground..



- Musa Mseleku surrounded by his 4 wives. Reality TV personality & polygamist Musa Mseleku (C) sees polyandry as "unAfrican."

The participants in Prof Machoko's study all lived separately but were committed to the polyandrous union and were open about it among themselves. In polyandry, the woman often initiates the relationships, and invites the husbands to join her union. Some pay the bride price, others opt to contribute to her livelihood. She has the power to remove a co-husband if she believes he is destabilising her other relationships. Some men referred to the fact that they did not satisfy their wives sexually, agreeing to the suggestion of a co-husband to avoid divorce or affairs..

Prof Machoko said polyandry was once practised in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, and it is still practised in Gabon, where the law allows it. "With the arrival of Christianity and colonisation the role of the woman became diminished. They were no longer equal. Marriage became one of the tools used to establish hierarchy."...

More,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57548646

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. If you're going to allow it for men you should allow it for women ... seems simple (nt)

[dawg day]

2. I always have to think....

Good lord, one spouse is more than enough for most of us.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. I agree, dawg day!

[RockRaven]

4. Allowing polygamy without also allowing polyandry seems immoral to me...

And the same is true the other way around.

Allow both or allow neither.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Agree.

I always understood this to be more of an economic arrangement anyway and if women are in a postion to afford more than one husband, why not?

[Klaralven]

5. Women do this now, but sequentially

[Lovie777]

7. I'm game . . .

[haele]

8. Long-term Polyamorous relationships deal with this now.

The legal/legitimacy issues are far more harmful to both the relationship and various social contracts than recognizing them as a legal relationship with contractual obligations.

Polygamy/Polyandry/Group marriage relationships - the legal recognition of such entities as a mixed financial partnership/intimate relationship with defined roles, responsibilities, and rights will remove a lot of the issues and drama that currently go on in polyamorous relationships.
The protection of underaged children can also be enforced better with legal recognition and specific regulations in place, as there are in any legally recognized partnerships.

Haele

[appalachiablue]

9. Kick