Should polygamy be made legal in the United States Essay

Should polygamy be made legal in the United States - Essay Example This enabled a division of labor. It also relieves the difficulty of child bearing. Few women in Zimbabwe desired to be a single wife in a marriage because of the numerous responsibilities customs and the larger society would give her (Zeitzen 2008). In contrast, Western societies has championed two conflicting principles of marriage’s purpose, one rooted in collective or joint principles, and the other rooted in personal satisfaction and companionship (Gordon 2002). This fusion of principles has generated laws that rigidly control sexual behavior in accordance to a monogamous definition of marriage. The United States, as such, bans polygamy (Zeitzen 2008). In my opinion, it should remain to be so. The success of polygamy depends on the culture which hosts it. For instance, as shown in the above discussion, in largely agricultural or labor-intensive societies such as Zimbabwe polygamy is more favorable than monogamy. But in a society like the United States, which is highly ind ustrialized or mechanized, monogamy is more acceptable than polygamy. Polygamy, in my opinion, should not be legalized. According to my research, some of the most compelling reasons for the prohibition of polygamy are the following: (1) Legalizing polygamy will further deprive women of some basic rights.