Certain types of oppressive relationships -- even if eagerly entered into --
should not be legal.  I recall the German case where a contract to be eaten
alive, although willingly entered into, was not recognized as excusing the
cannibal.  What is polygamous marriage except a contract to be oppressed?
As Marci Hamilton has noticed and anyone who has observed such "marriages"
in the U.S. (remember Manson?) or overseas (Bin Laden) knows -- polygamous
marriages are cannibalism of the soul, through which many women are consumed
for the gratification of one man.  It is very hard to imagine anyone
entering into such a relationship who is compos mentis and not subject to
some form of coercion, but even if this were to occur, polygamous marriage
would still amount to a contract to be subjugated.  Conventional marriage
MAY be oppressive, but polygamous marriage MUST be oppressive. How could it
be otherwise?

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Frank Cross <crossf@mail...> wrote:

>
> I don't think the issue is being pro-polygamy.  It is about the personal
> choice of a woman to enter such a relationship.  There was considerable
> evidence, for a time at least, that divorce was very bad for women.  But we
> did not ban divorce (and that often was not even the woman's choice).
>
> At 05:19 PM 7/13/2011, hamilton02@aol.... wrote:
>
>> I am curious if anyone on this list other than myself has ever met a woman
>> who was in a polygamous marriage.  Sandy's nonchalant and pollyanna attitude
>> toward polygamy as though it is simply the latest household timesaver is
>> shocking to me.   Polygamy in the US is not a 60s free love commune formed
>> by a bunch of college-educated hippies seeking utopia or a babysitting club.
>>  It requires one man to be the equal of multiple women.  So each woman is a
>> percentage of 1.  And it more often than not guarantees the women will not
>> be well educated.  Which mom is going to be the one who does the housework
>> and babycare so the other mom can go to college or law school or grad
>> school?   Which one gets to be the slave while the others fulfill their
>> potential? There are always rules about pecking order--first wife is most
>> supported or last wife is most supported.  This is a historical and
>> worldwide phenomenon-- it is a fact that it is a  construct that denigrates
>> women's equality and child!
>>  ren's full potential in the vast majority of instances. Re-read
>> Reynolds--it describes polygamy as a practice that leads to oppressive
>> patriarchical rule.  That tendency remains.
>>
>> Marci
>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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>
> Frank B. Cross
> Herbert D. Kelleher Centennial Professor of Business Law
> McCombs School of Business
> University of Texas
> CBA 5.202 (B6500)
> Austin, TX 78712-0212
> 512.471.5250
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--
M.N.S. Sellers
Regents Professor
University System of Maryland

Director
Center for International and Comparative Law
University of Baltimore
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