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Monogamous kinship systems approach a state of equilibrium where every man and woman can expect to find a spouse. This state of equilibrium is impossible in a polygynous system since - assuming an equal number of females and males in the society - every extra wife one man takes will deprive another man of the possibility of finding a bride (imagine a desert island with five men and five women and what happens if one man takes two wives...). Females become a commodity with both inherent value (their beauty, and their reproductive and home-making capacities) and status value (the more you have the higher your status). This fuels a dynamic where the demand for marriageable females always exceeds the supply, where elite men can never have enough wives and poor men are doomed to systemic bachelorhood/celibacy. | Monogamous kinship systems approach a state of equilibrium where every man and woman can expect to find a spouse. This state of equilibrium is impossible in a polygynous system since - assuming an equal number of females and males in the society - every extra wife one man takes will deprive another man of the possibility of finding a bride (imagine a desert island with five men and five women and what happens if one man takes two wives...). Females become a commodity with both inherent value (their beauty, and their reproductive and home-making capacities) and status value (the more you have the higher your status). This fuels a dynamic where the demand for marriageable females always exceeds the supply, where elite men can never have enough wives and poor men are doomed to systemic bachelorhood/celibacy. | ||
The 'bride-famine' that develops amongst poor low-status men is alleviated by introducing ever more females to the system: children, cousins, and females captured in raids (either to be taken as wives by the raiders, or sold as sex-slaves to the elite). Where such raids are not an option - celibate young men direct their sexual frustration towards females closer to home: the girls and women of their community. Polygynous societies are violent, and particularly sexually violent<ref>[https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/files/henrich/files/henrich_boyd_richerson_2012.pdf The puzzle of monogamous marriage] by Joseph Henrich et al. (2012)</ref>. And this sexual violence further amplifies the society's anxieties with regard to the chastity and purity of their females - leading them to sequester and protect their females even more from young men. This is a positive feedback dynamic whose endpoint is the complete absence and invisibility of non-familial females from the lives of the low-status young men, who are doomed to systemic and chronic bachelorhood. {{Quote|[https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Civilization-Monogamy-Made-Human/dp/1621572013 'Marriage and Civilization' by William Tucker (2014)]|'In a 2004 New York Times article, a graduate student in his twenties described what it was like growing up in Saudi Arabia. He said that he had never been alone in the company of a young woman. He and his friends refer to women as “BMOs – black moving objects” gliding past in full burkas. Brideprices are steep and men cannot think of getting married until they are well established in a profession. All marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to meet at their wedding.'}} | The 'bride-famine' that develops amongst poor low-status men is alleviated by introducing ever more females to the system: children, cousins, and females captured in raids (either to be taken as wives by the raiders, or sold as sex-slaves to the elite). Where such raids are not an option - celibate young men direct their sexual frustration towards females closer to home: the girls and women of their community. Polygynous societies are violent, and particularly sexually violent<ref name=":3">[https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/files/henrich/files/henrich_boyd_richerson_2012.pdf The puzzle of monogamous marriage] by Joseph Henrich et al. (2012)</ref>. And this sexual violence further amplifies the society's anxieties with regard to the chastity and purity of their females - leading them to sequester and protect their females even more from young men. This is a positive feedback dynamic whose endpoint is the complete absence and invisibility of non-familial females from the lives of the low-status young men, who are doomed to systemic and chronic bachelorhood. {{Quote|[https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Civilization-Monogamy-Made-Human/dp/1621572013 'Marriage and Civilization' by William Tucker (2014)]|'In a 2004 New York Times article, a graduate student in his twenties described what it was like growing up in Saudi Arabia. He said that he had never been alone in the company of a young woman. He and his friends refer to women as “BMOs – black moving objects” gliding past in full burkas. Brideprices are steep and men cannot think of getting married until they are well established in a profession. All marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to meet at their wedding.'}} | ||
The case of Liberia seems to confirm that Islamic laws alone, even in the absence of doctrine explicitly favourable to FGM, may be sufficient to cause FGM. In Liberia FGM is practiced as an initiation rite into women's secret societies. A 2020 survey found that 38.2% of Liberian girls and women have been subject to FGM.<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.20-043407/https://www.28toomany.org/country/liberia/ Liberia - 28 Too Many]</ref> Whilst only 12% of Liberia's population is Muslim, its marriage and kinship practices are essentially Islamic: men can have up to 4 wives, a third of all Liberian marriages are polygamous, a third of married women aged between 15-49 are in polygamous marriages, and married woman's rights to inherit property from her spouse are restricted.<ref>https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/LR.pdf</ref> Liberia is marked by the sexual violence that is a characteristic of polygynous societies, and to which chastity assurance practices such as FGM are a response (it should be taken into account that Islamic polygyny and FGM were probably introduced to what would become Liberia by Islamic immigration from Sudan and from empires based in today's Mali, starting from the 13th or 14th century).{{Quote|[https://odi.org/en/publications/the-fallout-of-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/ The fallout of rape as a weapon of war]|[Liberia] has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases.}}The supposed perfection of Islam, makes it hard for Muslims to identify the social causes of the sexual violence endemic to their societies. It is instead attributed to notions that female sexuality is excessive, indiscriminate and dangerous if left unchecked by chastity assurance measures such as FGM. Islam thus creates a concurrence of dysfunctional marital, sexual and kinship practices. It overvalues the chastity and purity of females whilst, at the same time, creating sexually violent societies which put that very chastity and purity at increased risk. The solutions Islam offers to this conundrum exacerbate the problems and create a social and normative context in which chastity assurance measures such as FGM, become useful or even necessary. | The case of Liberia seems to confirm that Islamic laws alone, even in the absence of doctrine explicitly favourable to FGM, may be sufficient to cause FGM. In Liberia FGM is practiced as an initiation rite into women's secret societies. A 2020 survey found that 38.2% of Liberian girls and women have been subject to FGM.<ref>[http://archive.today/2021.04.20-043407/https://www.28toomany.org/country/liberia/ Liberia - 28 Too Many]</ref> Whilst only 12% of Liberia's population is Muslim, its marriage and kinship practices are essentially Islamic: men can have up to 4 wives, a third of all Liberian marriages are polygamous, a third of married women aged between 15-49 are in polygamous marriages, and married woman's rights to inherit property from her spouse are restricted.<ref>https://www.genderindex.org/wp-content/uploads/files/datasheets/LR.pdf</ref> Liberia is marked by the sexual violence that is a characteristic of polygynous societies, and to which chastity assurance practices such as FGM are a response (it should be taken into account that Islamic polygyny and FGM were probably introduced to what would become Liberia by Islamic immigration from Sudan and from empires based in today's Mali, starting from the 13th or 14th century).{{Quote|[https://odi.org/en/publications/the-fallout-of-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/ The fallout of rape as a weapon of war]|[Liberia] has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases.}}The supposed perfection of Islam, makes it hard for Muslims to identify the social causes of the sexual violence endemic to their societies. It is instead attributed to notions that female sexuality is excessive, indiscriminate and dangerous if left unchecked by chastity assurance measures such as FGM. Islam thus creates a concurrence of dysfunctional marital, sexual and kinship practices. It overvalues the chastity and purity of females whilst, at the same time, creating sexually violent societies which put that very chastity and purity at increased risk. The solutions Islam offers to this conundrum exacerbate the problems and create a social and normative context in which chastity assurance measures such as FGM, become useful or even necessary. | ||
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The payment of bride-price (''[[Mahr (Marital Price)|mahr]]'') by the groom (or his family) to the bride (or her family) is mandatory in Islamic law. | The payment of bride-price (''[[Mahr (Marital Price)|mahr]]'') by the groom (or his family) to the bride (or her family) is mandatory in Islamic law. | ||
All marriages in polygynous kinship systems involve some kind of bride-price. The scarcity of marriageable | All marriages in polygynous kinship systems involve some kind of bride-price. The scarcity of marriageable females cause by polygyny turns them into a valuable asset, that is cashed in when she is 'sold' in marriage. The scarcer marriageable women are the greater the dowries. This makes marriage un-affordable to low-ranking young men, even if they do manage to find a bride. But if a girl is perceived to be unchaste, or if she’s been a victim of sexual violence, she becomes impure and un-marriageable, and loses all her economic value. This leaves her family stuck with a valueless commodity that they must support for the rest of their lives. This creates a further incentive for parents to engage in chastity assurance practices such as FGM. | ||
====Child marriage==== | ====Child marriage==== | ||
[[Child Marriage in Islamic Law|Islamic law sets no lower age at which a girl can be married off]]. [[File:Niqab-eyes-hijab-niqab.jpg|thumb]]Introducing little girls into the marriage market is a response to the the scarcity of women caused by polygyny | [[Child Marriage in Islamic Law|Islamic law sets no lower age at which a girl can be married off]]. [[File:Niqab-eyes-hijab-niqab.jpg|thumb]]Child marriage is universal to polygynous societies. Introducing little girls into the marriage market is a response to the the scarcity of women caused by polygyny. Dowry further incentives child-marriage, as it becomes advantageous for parents to ‘sell-off’ their daughters before adolescence, when reputations (and therefore also the girl's economic value) are at greater risk. The bride-price for a child is generally less than for an adolescent or adult woman. This makes children a more affordable to poor and low-status men. | ||
Polygyny increases mens' anxieties and doubts concerning paternity. Polygyny also also creates anxieties connected to the general management of multiple wives. Therefore submissiveness, obedience, manipulability - characteristics more pronounced in younger brides - are characteristics of a wife that are more valued in polygynous societies than in monogamous ones. It has been observed that polygamous men select younger girls as wives (even as first wives) than monogamous men. | |||
In monogamous societies, the incest taboo extends not only to daughters but also to women young enough to be a man's daughter. This separation of generations does not naturally occur in polygynous cultures. Polygyny thus sexualises the society's perception of prepubescent girls, making them vulnerable to the sexual violence endemic to polygynous societies. This drives down the age at which chastity assurance practices (including FGM) are felt to be required. | In monogamous societies, the incest taboo extends not only to daughters but also to women young enough to be a man's daughter. This separation of generations does not naturally occur in polygynous cultures. Polygyny thus sexualises the society's perception of prepubescent girls, making them vulnerable to the sexual violence endemic to polygynous societies. This drives down the age at which chastity assurance practices (including FGM) are felt to be required. | ||
====Sexual dysfunction and incest==== | ====Sexual dysfunction and incest==== | ||
Long-term prisoners and boys in single-sex boarding schools, when deprived of contact with female coevals, tend to direct their sexuality at the next best things available viz other boys or other prisoners. Under Islamic | Long-term prisoners and boys in single-sex boarding schools, when deprived of contact with female coevals, tend to direct their sexuality at the next best things available - viz. other boys or other prisoners. Under Islamic restriction,s boys and girls are deprived of contact with unrelated coevals of the opposite sex. The next best thing available - those whose faces are visible, to whom they can talk, whom they might touch - will be mothers, aunts or sisters - or other boys, babies and children, or even livestock. The evidence for the effects of this on sexual health is anecdotal, but one can hypothesise that rates of incest, bestiality, paedophilia and otherwise deviant sexuality will be higher in polygynous societies, especially where multiple chastity assurance practices are in place, and that paedophilia, incest and bestiality are considered more acceptable than in monogamous cultures, where chastity assurance practices are absent. FGM, infibulation in particular, may serve as much to protect a girl's chastity from the attentions of immediate family members, as from sexual violence of the wider community. | ||
====Violence against girls and women==== | ====Violence against girls and women==== | ||
[[Wife Beating in Islamic Law|Islamic law permits wife beating.]] | [[Wife Beating in Islamic Law|Islamic law permits wife beating.]] | ||
Social scientists such as Joseph Heinrich, et al. and William H. Tucker have shown that polygynous societies are by their very nature belligerent and sexually violent. These societies develop chastity assurance measures to protect girls and women from this sexual violence. | Social scientists such as Joseph Heinrich, et al.<ref name=":3" /> and William H. Tucker <ref>'[https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/02/monogamy-made-us-human-william-tucker/ Monogamy Made Us Human' by William Tucker]</ref><ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Civilization-Monogamy-Made-Human/dp/1621572013 'Marriage and Civilization: How Monogamy Made Us Human'] by William Tucker</ref><ref>[https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/05/polygamy-and-african-sex-kidnappings-william-tucker/ Polygamy and African Sex Kidnappings by William Tucker]</ref> have shown that polygynous societies are by their very nature belligerent and sexually violent. These societies develop chastity assurance measures to protect girls and women from this sexual violence. | ||
The bride-famine created by polygyny dooms a sizeable proportion of young men to systemic bachelorhood. The resulting sexual frustrations can be relieved by them capturing females from neighbouring tribes and countries. However, a more available and less dangerous option is to engage in sexual violence towards girls and women of their own community. | The bride-famine created by polygyny dooms a sizeable proportion of young men to systemic bachelorhood. The resulting sexual frustrations can be relieved by them capturing females from neighbouring tribes and countries. However, a more available and less dangerous option is to engage in sexual violence towards girls and women of their own community. | ||