Well, we prevent people from voluntarily enslaving themselves, so the
point is taken.  But I don't see how polygamous marriage MUST be
oppressive.  Dramatic language is not evidence.  And the law applies
to polygynous marriages as well.  How are they oppressive?  Or would
you allow them?  There are evangelical religions that are quite
patriarchal.  Your theory would suggest that they should be
prohibited from marrying, on the grounds that the man will rule the woman.

At 06:28 PM 7/13/2011, Mortimer Sellers wrote:
>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
><<mailto:crossf@mail...>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, <mailto:hamilton02@aol....>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
><tel:512.471.5250>512.471.5250
>_______________________________________________
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>are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can
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>
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>
>
>--
>M.N.S. Sellers
>Regents Professor
>University System of Maryland
>
>Director
>Center for International and Comparative Law
>University of Baltimore
>1420 North Charles Street
>Baltimore, Maryland, 21201-5779
>
>telephone: (+1) 410-837-4650
><http://law.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=680>http://law.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=680

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