Where in the World Does Female Polygamy Exist? 1

Where in the World does Female Polygamy exist? Part 1
If a woman was given the ability to take many husbands as opposed to one, which would she choose?

Polygamy is defined as taking more than one partner or spouse in marriage. It is derived from specialized studies in Anthropology and other Social Sciences.

History

Polygamy has been around for centuries in many countries around the globe. This practice is quite common in the Middle East, China, Mongolia, the Canadian Arctic, North and South Africa, and the Caribbean. It is usually practiced by "highly patriarchal societies".

Are you familiar with the term "Polyandry"?

This is the term for women that are married to one or more spouse at the same time. Typically, Polyandry was practiced in parts of China and Tibetans in Nepal. Frequently, brothers would share the same woman sexually and were given equal access to her at all times. The woman would choose this type of arrangement to keep the money and the land all within the family.

Polyandry is most typical in populations with limited amounts of resources.

A perfect example of this would be Africa. Typically woman will take on one or more partners or husbands so that her children will have more resources for survival. In contrast, with Polygamy, the man could impregnate more than one of his wives at the same time and have limited resources to promote the survival of the many children.

Controversy

Tibetans that try to sustain this way of life find it quite difficult. Anthropologists that have studied these groups have found that the Polyandrists themselves believe it more beneficial to the child to have more than one father. They believe that having more than one father opens the doors to more opportunity and different social statures.

"Over time, Tibetan polyandry has been outlawed, so it is difficult to measure the incidence of polyandry in what may have been the world's most "polyandrous" society."

Continued in Animals are from Mars, Insects are from Venus Part 2