Polygamy

This article on Jacob Zuma and polygamy in South Africa caught my eye the other day.

There are some interesting elements of explanation here, though also some rather normative comments from a researcher at the University of Pretoria. Of course, feminists and many others, would agree that polygamy is a social system which will be quite likely to lead to highly imbalanced gender relations. The point is to study these things sociologically. That said, I do remember being shocked when a sociologist tried to point out to me back in the 1980s that women - in Britain - had all sorts of power within families. I suppose he was right - in a way. But for me, the more radical feminist views provided the more accurate perspective; women were dominated. I guess I would probably take a similar view about South African, or indeed any other, form of polygamy. Sociologists are always influenced by their values, and I’m no different.