#but who show concern about the wives and the kids when they're shown to be mistreated | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gh-0-stcup · 2 days ago

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I don't think the solution to all the problems with polygyny is to criminalize it or crack down harder. It's clear that communities who practice polygyny, especially for religious reasons, will find ways to do so regardless of the legal status. They'll just become more and more isolated the more the government tries to eliminate their lifestyle.

Legal protections for all the wives and their children seems a much better solution. Removing the fear their families will be torn apart or arrested if they try to seek help. Giving them a guarantee of support for themselves and their children if they'd like to leave. And just a social situation where the wives and children don't feel they have to hide what goes on their home.

The shadows are where abuse flourishes. There's nothing inherently wrong with polygyny - the communities that tend to practice this already have issues with misogyny. If the husbands are taught to see women as little more than maids and breeding tools, of course the marriages are going to be fucked.

#yeah reading the sister wives reddit again lol #i keep coming across people whose conclusion from all this is that polygyny was the problem #but i just don't think that's true #and if sw has shown us anything it's that bringing things into the light is a fantastic way of utterly destroying toxic situations #if there hadn't been an audience roasting kody and telling the wives they deserve so much better for a decade #would the og3 ever have realized they could and should get away from kody?#the cool thing about it is that the audience has been largely interested in and sympathetic to their polygamist lifestyle #the criticism has largely been centered on how kody treats his wives (and kids) and not the fact that he has multiple wives #an audience of people open to showing tolerance towards the lifestyle and religion even if they personally disagree with it #but who show concern about the wives and the kids when they're shown to be mistreated #idk i'm just endlessly fascinated by the show and its fanbase/viewers #it was definitely started as this sideshow freak type reality show - look at these weirdos with their crazy family set up deal #to capitalize on the scandals with abusive polygamist cults that was big in the news around the time the show came out #and it ended up gaining an audience who were empathetic and supportive to the women involved #and culminated in 3/4 of the women freeing themselves from their emotionally and financially abusive spouse #it's neat #somebody should do a video essay retrospective on all this in 10 years

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