A cross cultural perspective of polygyny

As an institution, polygyny, the social arrangement that permits a man to have more than one wife at the same time, exists in all parts of the world. From our present knowledge, there are very few primitive tribes in which a man is not allowed to enter into more than one union. In fact, ethologists now believe that only one to two percent of all species may be monogamous (Tucker). None of the simian species are strictly monogamous; our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, practice a form of group marriage. Among the 849 human societies examined by the anthropologist Murdock (1957), 75% practiced polygyny. Many peoples have been said to be monogamous, but it is difficult to infer from the data at our disposal whether monogamy is the prevalent practice, the moral ideal, or an institution safeguarded by sanctions (Malinowski 1962).

Historically, polygyny was a feature of the ancient Hebrews, the traditional Chinese, and the nineteenth-century Mormons in the United States, but the modern practice of polygyny is concentrated in Africa, the Middle East, India, Thailand, and Indonesia. The extent to which men are able to acquire multiple wives depends on many factors, including t

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Health Depts, Priso Politically, Kanuri Bornu, Bantu Hamitic, Mormons Utah, Thailand Indonesia, Whiting Whiting, Tucker African, Tucker None, Rwanda Burundi, malinowski 1962, domestic responsibilities, form marriage, pasternak 1976, benson 1971, multiple wives, sex ratio, polygynous unions, existence polygyny, economic systems potential, economic rights, sexual services wife, potential female contribution, systems potential female, economic domestic responsibilities,
Approximate Word count = 3481
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)