THis author has it the wrong-way around... Actually, polygamy is about the oppression OF MALES!

Think about it, there are virtually equal numbers of boys and girls born. So, for every second-wife, there is a man who is going to die childless, and probably as a virgin.

What polygamy tells young men is that if you powerfull and rich, you can have several wives. The implicit threat in this is that if you are not, then you will remain childless - effectively the Male Eunuch! That is the choice for boys.

The choice for girls is different. What it means is that regardless of who you are and how attractive/well-connected you are, you will be protected and you will have a family, and watch your children grow up!

Watch your children grow up, compared to death? Which would you choose?

Because the maths means that for every second-wife, there is a un-wed male.

How do societies go-on being polygamous? Well, basically, the math only works if many men are either killed (and that partly explains the violence of the polygamous world), or you are too poor to support a family. So, put another way, poor women live and enjoy their families, poor men die alone.

polygamy is male oppression, or more correctly, a society of three castes, or three classes.

1: an tiny elite of powerfull men, supporting several wives

2: All women are proteted in a sort-of comfortable a middle class; All protected, fed, clothed and able to enjoy watching their children grow.

3: a slave-class of oppressed men, too poor to support families, used as cannon-fodder in a violent society, who die alone.

Tell you what, I'm male, but given these choices, I'd rather be a woman!

PartTimeParent@pobox.com
www.fathers4equality-australia.org

Polygamy is male oppression? Then why are males rather than women promoting polygamy here and overseas? Where are the women's voices in favour of it? And why does this male feel quite happy not bothering with partnership (male or female) and quite happy being single? Am I oppressed and don't know it?

As for dying a virgin worse things can happen to you. And don't forget that the Catholic priesthood and religious groups in the US such as True Love Waits regard virginity as a positive.

If you want to be a woman then good luck to you with your sex-change operation. If you don't want to go through with that then have a self-imposed miserable life as a male. The choice is yours.

Both polygamy and 'gay' marriage is destructive for children. As soon as we stop promoting this perversion the better. The gay lobby lies habitually in order to gain acceptance with the wider community. Check out the facts here

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS04C02

DavidJS wrote: "Polygamy is male oppression? Then why are males rather than women promoting polygamy here and overseas?"

David, you missed my main point... there are three classes of people:
1: at the top powerfull men, who sometimes oppress
2: In the guilded cage, comfortable, protected women
3: opressed, powerless men.

To reply to your point, only those males who fantasise about being in the top class are talking about polygamy.

In the middle class, many muslim women do speak very positively about polygamy. Even on the politically correct feminist-controlled media like Australia's ABC, you occasionally see muslim women advocating polygamy, and talking of how it frees them from the suffering of facing competition. The veil frees women from having to compete or feel inferior if they are not rake-thin super-models).

And the voices of the third group, the voice of the oppressed? Well, dead men don't talk, and the oppressed male is never listened to.

Look at Aboriginals
In Australia, you can measure oppression by things like:
Life expectancy
completing school
Uni enrolments
rates of suicide
likelyhood of drug use
likelyhood of smoking
likelyhood of bring an alcoholic
likelyhood of being a victim of violence
likelyhood of being convicted for a crime and the length of time in jail
death from preventable illness
rates of obesity
income (after controlling industry, education and experience)

On all of these measures, and many others, there it is clear that Aboriginals are struggling, compared to non-aboriginal Australians... and also using these same statistics, it is clear that generally males are far worse off than women in Australia.

Don't let the few men who are at the top, blind us to the vast majority of the people at the bottom, who are also men.

PartTimeParent@pobox.com

When I read articles like this I'm left wondering why (apart from my own values) I should support gay rights.

If the authors views are typical of the gay community then the shared bond I'd imaginged in believing that the government should keep it's nose out of the domestic arrangements of consenting adults is not there.

If it's OK for other peoples views to restrict the legal protections of those who think two is not enough then why is it not OK for other peoples views to restrict the rights of those with a same sex orientation?

I've never been part of a poly relationship not had a pressing desire to be part of one but I've supported the idea of legal protections being extended to such relationships because I don't think it's the governments place to tell consenting adults what arrangements they may make between themselves. I've supported legal protection for gay relationship's on the same basis.

I've heard the arguments that it disadvantages women but any disadvantage in our overall legal framework would seem to be an existing one which is not made markedly worse by poly status.

I've heard the point that it disadvantages lower status men but perhaps a poly marriage with one women and several men might be an option that some would take up.

If gay rights are not in part about stopping other peoples morals from overriding the choices of consenting adults then what are they about?

R0bert

It is certainly true that many men are not part of the ruling class. Men doing time in prison, men with serious mental health problems and homeless men are some of those who are pretty much powerless. But then so are women prisoners, women with serious mental health issues and homeless women. And you can add to that list lesbians. Ok, not every lesbian. Kerryn Phelps and Penny Wong are well-off. However, most lesbians are not and, in addition to the usual crap women have to put up with, lesbians are certainly not allowed to marry the partner of their choice and suffer other forms of oppression solely due to their sexual identity.

I agree with the author on same-sex marriage. But sometimes I worry that it distracts from other problems faced by gay people which will not be solved even if same-sex marriage legislation was put in place tomorrow.