Polyandry Around the World

Describe walking polyandry?

- "Nayar polyandry" after a prominent group that practiced it (1982, 90). - Walking marriage is when the woman is not married, or is ritually married to the clan, and chooses which man with whom to have sex each evening, and if she has sex. - The clan sets limits concerning which males have access to her, but the choice is hers within those limits. She is not economically dependent upon any man with whom she has sex, and the relationship can begin or stop without ceremony (Peters 1982, 90). - This work describes three communities tolerant of walking marriage (Appendix A, table 1), including the Lele of the Congo (Tew 1951), and the Mosuo of China (Walsh 2005)

Describe secondary polyandry and the Irigwe?

- "did not recognize divorce," - couples frequently moved on to other sexual partners and marriages anyway - spouses moved on to another marriage, but maintained sexual contact with their previous spouses, whenever they both wanted. - accepted and expected practice in the society. In this community, co-husbands reported no jealousy, but avoided each other because of the belief that the one could cause harm or death to the other just by his presence - The Ache of Paraguay allowed the practice of secondary polyandry when one husband and wife couple each took another spouse (Hill and Hurtado 1996, 229). Hill and Hurtado did not specify how the four engaged in sexual relations, even though the "four adults slept together at the same fire," (Hill and Hurtado 1996, 229).

Describe partible paternity in Venezuela?

- Barí women chose secondary fathers as insurance against the high mortality rate - Curripaco allowed the brothers of the husband sexual access to the wife to create the partible - The Piora believed the semen of the father created the fetus, but that the prayers of other men could nourish the fetus, creating the partible -The Ye'kwana and the Warao believed that the extra semen provided food and nourishment to the growing fetus, and that the fetus would not be healthy without extra semen. - Siona and Secoya of Ecuador believed all sex was dangerous, but automatically bestowed the partible to the brothers of the husband without those men having sex with the woman (Vickers 2002, 240).

Describe generally the different sexual acts that are part of a marriage contract?

- In some, sexual acts are part of a marriage contract involving three or more people - In some types, the marriage involves only two people, but the sexual access of the wife extends beyond the marriage - In one type, the extra-marital sexual activity is expected, and not entirely voluntary by all parties. This survey is the first to describe all six types with examples of each.

Describe the associated polyandry in the Marquesas Islands and Cubeo community?

- Marquesas Islands: polyandry exclusive to powerful and influential families - second husband enriched the household by providing assistance to the first husband, protected the household and had sexual access to the wife when the first husband was away from home. - Cubeo community in the Northwest Amazon basin: A woman had an affair with the younger brother of her husband. This younger brother had been unable to find a wife because of the seclusion of their community and the scarcity of women. The older brother avoided divorce by allowing his brother into the family. Goldman reported that the wife "fed both men and was a sexual partner of the junior husband only when her first husband was away," (1963, 147)

Describe Brazilian views of partible paternity?

- Matis were on the brink of extinction, adopted partible paternity as insurance against parental mortality - communities like Yanomami, and the Kulina believed that a child could not possibly be conceived with only one father. These societies believed the sperm built a ball inside the woman until it was large enough to create a fetus, and that the fetus blocked the passage of the menstrual blood - They believed the woman was only a carrying vessel, and did not contribute to the creation of the fetus (Alès 2002, 64). - The Tukanoan denied belief in the partible, yet several men would simultaneously observe the rituals required of a father upon the birth of his child (Chernela 2002, 171).

Describe associated polyandry?

- a woman marries two or more men separately - These marriage ceremonies or agreements are separate events - relationships regarded as separate marriages. - men hold a definite hierarchy within the household, with the second husband as the junior. - The second husband is acquired as an assistant to the first, or because the first husband is ill and unable to sexually satisfy the wife - the Marquesas Islanders (Frayser 1985; Handy 1923) and the Cubeo of Colombia (Goldman 1963).

Describe walking marriage in the Mosuo of China?

- a woman will invite a suitor to her home. - will arrive after dark and be sure to leave before sunrise - no expectation of exclusivity, but these couplings are frequently long term and mutually fulfilling - Mosuo men do not live with their sexual partners or their children, but they do invest in their children - struggle to maintain individual identity while performing their scripted culture according to the expectations of the tourists - The tourist interest in their community is so significant as to render their farming and fishing endeavors almost unnecessary

Describe the Paliyans of India and acceptance of associated polyandry?

- accepted associated polyandry when the first husband was ill and unable to sexually satisfy his wife - first husband resented the second, but chose to maintain the relationship rather than lose his wife. - Gardner described a case of group marriage involving two couples who lived next to each other. The older man acquired an illness that prevented sexual activity. He had a child before the injury, but then the wife seduced the neighbor and had two more children. The second husband did not contribute to the household of the first husband, but the community accepted both men as the husband of the wife (Gardner 2009, 50). Gardner (2009, 50) specified that both of these cases of polyandry occurred because the first husband was unable to satisfy his wife sexually, and that the first husband resented the presence of the second husband.

Describe associated polyandry in the Tlingit

- allowed associated polyandry if a "brother or close relative" could seduce the wife - if second husband avoided murder by the first husband, the second brought gifts for the first, assisted the first husband in providing for the household, and assumed the position of junior husband. - The Yokuts of California reportedly allowed one case of polyandry: Gayton (1948, 105) described that one woman had two husbands, "and they all slept together." Gayton alluded that the wider Yokut community disapproved of polyandry, but tolerated it nonetheless.

Describe familial polyandry in the Aleuts of Alaska?

- allowed the nephew of the husband sexual access to the wife - extended the list an Aleut man had sexual access to: "his wives, his wives' sisters, his older brothers' wives, his maternal uncles' wives, cousins, concubines (slaves), and transvestites." - The Tlingit of Alaska allowed the brothers and nephews of the husband sexual access to the wife (De Laguna 1972, 489-490). At Point Hope in Alaska, men offered their wives to travelers and friends in a show of hospitality (Vanstone 1962, 90). The Tigara of Alaska followed the same practice, and the women resented being used in such a way (Rainey 1947, 242).

Describe secondary polyandry in the G/wi

-compromise between one married couple and a friend of the husband. - The wife divorced the husband and married the friend, but wanted to maintain sexual contact with the first husband - differs from the associated polyandry because the woman divorced the first husband, and he did not live with the new couple, nor did he contribute to their household as the junior husband of associated polyandry would do.

What are the least equal forms of polyandry?

Associated polyandry offers the least equality for the husbands because of the clear hierarchy between them. Familial polyandry offers the least autonomy for the women because most societies that allow it hold an expectation that the women will participate without asking their opinion on the matter.

Describe walking marriage in the Nayar of India?

For the Nayar of India, women took pride that the number of lovers one had outnumbered others in the community (Gough 1952, 74). Before puberty, a Nayar girl ceremoniously married a member of her caste (Gough 1959, 25); at sexual maturity, she could have sex with any man with whom she chose as long as he was from her caste or higher (Gough 1965, 9). She was likely to accept him as a partner as long as he brought her small gifts during the festivals (Gough 1952, 73-74).

Describe the reasons for each of the forms of polyandry?

For the fraternally polyandrous societies in the Himalayan Mountain Region, the reason was to increase productivity and decrease procreation. For the familial polyandrous Matis and Aleut societies, the reason was to increase genetic diversity. Walking marriage societies such as the Nayar and the Mosuo provide genetic diversity and sexual autonomy. An outsider to the practice can only surmise the motivations of a practicing group. While no outsider can ever gain a completely emic perspective, it is important to understand a society from their point of view as much as is possible.

Which forms of polyandry were done for financial reasons?

Fraternal and associated polyandry were practiced mainly for financial or practical reasons.

What are the six types of polyandry?

Fraternal polyandry Associated polyandry Polykoidy polyandry Secondary polyandry Walking polyandry

Describe the difference between fraternal polyandry and all the others?

Fraternal polyandry requires that all of the husbands be brothers, and familial polyandry is extended to family members. Fraternal polyandry is the only type that requires equality between the husbands within the family

What are the sexual practices preferred by humans?

Over time and around the globe, modern humans have arguably preferred heterosexual monogamy as the most commonly practiced sexual experience, with slight polygyny as a close second

Which are the most equal forms of polyandry?

Secondary polyandry and walking marriage are the most equal toward all participants. In secondary polyandry and walking marriage, all participants make their own sexual decisions

Describe the qualities that make a country more likely to accept secondary polyandry

Secondary polyandry and walking marriage both present a high degree of autonomy to all involved. Secondary polyandry is only one step removed from walking marriage because of the requirement for marriage and divorce. If the society tolerant of secondary polyandry removed the assumption of formal marriage, walking marriage would be more common. Communities tolerant of walking marriage might be described as multi-male, multi-female mating systems, such as is found among baboons. Given the sexual dimorphism present in these groups in the wild, and the minimal sexual dimorphism in human populations, this might be considered devolution for humans. Contrariwise, both types of polyandry present a community expectation of a lack of jealousy between sexual partners and metamours (the lover of one's lover). This lack of jealousy might be considered an evolutionary step forward for humans.

How is secondary polyandry different from associated polyandry?

Secondary polyandry differs from associated polyandry described above because the series of couples did not live together, nor did they contribute to each other's households; they only enjoyed sexual relations when the mood arose.

Describe the debate around fraternal polyandry?

Tiwari = fraternal polyandry "minimizes financial risk," by "pooling resources," and "maximizing inclusive fitness," thus creating more wealth and a "higher socioeconomic status" for the family Goldstein = the purpose of polyandry was not to create wealth, but to preserve it. Tibetan families that practiced fraternal polyandry were a specific class allotted a plot of land that could not be divided among several offspring per generation . Rather than passing the land to the oldest offspring in a generation, the Tibetans preferred to minimize the number of offspring in each generation. Fraternal polyandry fulfills that requirement.

Which polyandry offers the woman most power over her own sexuality?

Walking marriage and polykoity

Describe familial polyandry in the Matis of Brazil?

- held festivals throughout the year where they expected marital couples to refrain from sex with each other, but to be available to members of the larger community other than their usual partner - their usual partners included their spouse, the siblings of their spouse, and their cross-cousins - to refuse sexual access to one's spouse, a sibling of one's spouse, or a cross-cousin was considered rude and inexcusable - rude to have sex with any of one's usual partners, and it was considered rude to refuse sex to a member of the wider community -. In the Himalayan Mountain region, the Pahari of Garhwal extended sexual access of wives to the brothers of the husband, even though they claimed that they did not participate in polyandry (Berreman 1962, 62). In Eastern Russia, the Koryak would "exchange wives for a night, or that the wife would be placed at the disposal of the transient guest," (Jochelson 1908, 755). Jochelson did not specify whether the Koryak women resented this arrangement as did the Tigara women in Alaska (Rainey 1947, 242).

What was the justification for fraternal polyandry according to Goldstein?

- it restricted the reproductive capacity - helpful bc the family planning goal for fraternally polyandrous families was to minimize the number of children born to each generation. - By allowing only one wife per generation, each male had sexual access, but minimal legitimate procreative capabilities. - served a vital purpose, given the conditions in which these communities lived. - justification of fraternal polyandry in this region with the desire to maintain the family land in one holding. As an example, if a family with two sons started out with ten acres of land and could divide the land for inheritance, the next generation would have had two plots of land of five acres each. If each of them had two sons, they then would have had four plots of land of only two and one-half acres each. It only takes a few generations to reduce the land to a plot too small to support a family. It is this very situation those in the Himalayan Mountains wished to avoid

What is the special thing about this research?

- most detailed description of polyandry to date - describes, compares, and contrasts the six types - Most previous studies focused on one community tolerant of polyandrous behavior, but did not always define which type that behavior constituted.

IS polyandry common?

- no, and there's not much research about it? - Less common around the world today, polyandry was previously more common in certain cultures. - enjoyed a larger following prior to "the European colonial expansion". - polyandry remains sufficiently rare as to be little known and poorly understood - Goldstein (1976, 223) called polyandry "the least well understood" form of marital practice.

Describe polykoity polyandry?

- one woman is married to one man, but has sex with other men in addition to her husband. - seen in the practice of partible paternity, the belief that more than one man is the genetic father of any child - ie Yanomami of Brazil (Alès 2002) and the Ache of Paraguay (Ellsworth 2014).

Describe fraternal polyandry?

- one woman is married to two or more brothers who hold equal rights within the household. - The marriage of all of the brothers is usually performed in one ceremony or agreement, and the entire family is seen by the community as a single family unit - EG: Tigara of Alaska (Rainey 1947) and the Paviotso of Nevada (Park 1937).

Describe secondary polyandry

- original married couple part ways and each acquires new mates, but they continue to have sexual relations with each other whenever they feel like it. - practice could be described as divorce-with-benefits. - little or no jealousy over extra-marital sexuality because this behavior is accepted and generally expected - ie G/wi bush people of the Kalahari Desert (Silberbauer 1972) and the Irigwe of Nigeria (Sangree 1980).

Describe fraternal polyandry in Alaska

- practiced mostly out of poverty. - Tigara families on the composed of one wife married to two poor brothers. - Aleuts, also accepted polyandry because of a lack of wealth - Elsewhere in the US, polyandry was acceptable as a natural extension of marital options, in addition to monogamy, serial monogamy, and polygyny. - On the islands of Hawaii sees fraternal polyandry in close families. A pair of brothers did not wish to part ways from each other, and chose to marry one woman between them. - Shoshoni of central and eastern Nevada, and southern Idaho. Fraternal polyandry was also found in Colorado and Utah (Smith 1974, 131), but less commonly than was found in Hawaii, Nevada, and Idaho.

Describe partible paternity?

- the concept that more than one man is the genetic father of a single child. - Ache of Paraguay: by adding a father to her child, the woman gained resources; by accepting secondary paternity over a child, the man gained sexual access and increased alliances in the community - found in many South American communities, such as the Cashinahua in Peru, who chose to acknowledge the partible only when it suited the family, based on social aspects such as the moieties of the parents - The Ese Eja reckoned partible paternity by the sexual relations of the mother, but also the partible maternity by adoption (Peluso 2002, 137). An Ese Eja couple was expected to give their first child "to the wife's parents" and their "second to the husband's parents," (Peluso 2002, 142).

What is polyandry defined as in this reading?

- umbrella term for one woman maintaining sexual access to more than one man.

Describe familial polyandry?

- when the woman is married to one man, and there is an expectation that she will be sexually available to others outside the marriage, especially family members. - not necessarily have a choice concerning with whom she has sex, such as is seen in Point Hope, Alaska (Vanstone 1962). - In some cases, it is her choice, such as is seen from the Cherokee of New York (Reid 1970)

What does this work do?

-compare of forty-three societies as examples of the six types of polyandry practiced around the world. -

Describe familial polyandry in the Pawnee tribal group of Kansas?

-complicated set of expectations that included both sides of the family. - brothers of the husband had sexual access to the wife, and the sisters of the wife had sexual access to the husband - the nephew of the husband usually lived with the couple before puberty, and it was expected that his first sexual experience would be with the wife - for the Cherokee of New York, the community expected women to be sexually available to others, but it was wholly her decision (Reid 1970, 119). This situation was similar to walking marriage, but was different because Cherokee women frequently married, while in walking marriages, the women do not marry.