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Polyandry Research Paper

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“Polyandry is officially defined as the practice or condition of having more than one husband or male mate simultaneous” (Parkin, 1997, p. 29). It is also described as a woman with multiple husbands at the same time. Different types of polyandry are also described; fraternal polyandry that involves marriage to multiple brothers, and Non-fraternal polyandry is characterized by unrelated husbands (Levine and Silk 1997, p. 378), where the husbands are not related. Although it is illegal to have more than one husband in Lebanon, it does occur in some cultures. The practice of polyandry is very rare these days; it is thought to be practiced between the Bahama of Africa and The Tibetans where there is economic hardship and too few women. However, …show more content…
It adversely affects women’s health, since women with multiple husbands are more prone to Sexually transmitted disease. It also destroys the family, which is the foundation of a healthy society. I think that it is usually not easy for a woman to perform her duties as a wife and a mother despite having several husbands. It increases sterility among women, it causes population problems, it increases the number of divorces, it threatens the social progress, and it may cause identification problems for the conceived …show more content…
It is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival. It is a rare form of marriage that exists not only among peasant families but also among the elite families. For example, polyandry in the Himalayan Mountains is related to the scarcity of land. The marriage of all brothers in a family to the same wife allows family land to remain intact and undivided. If every brother married separately and had children, family land would be split into unsustainable small plots. In contrast, very poor persons not owning land were less likely to practice polyandry in Buddhist Ladakh and Zanskar. In Europe, the splitting up of land was prevented through the social practice of impartible inheritance. With most siblings disinherited, many of them became celibate monks and

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