解密复偶制婚姻
下面是我两年前学英文时所写一篇报告。有兴趣的朋友可以读一读。等我以后有时间再翻译成汉语。
汉译第一段：
对很多人来说，“复偶婚姻”这个词听起来陌生，令人不禁想起落后的农耕时代的景象：怪异的婚俗将对妇女的奴役合法化。事实上，复偶制婚姻仍然在许多国家盛行，包括一些工业化国家。本报告力图通过明晰其定义，衡量多配偶的利弊，展示其在大多数文化中的普遍性以及探讨其可能演化的趋势，来解密复偶婚姻。
Introduction
To many people, the word “polygamy” sounds foreign, and is reminiscent of the gloomy vistas of a pre-modern, agrarian world, where the enslavement of women was endorsed by a grotesque matrimonial custom. In fact, polygamous marriage still prevails in many countries, even some industrialized ones. This report is intended to demystify polygamy by clarifying its definition, weighing the pros and cons of having multiple spouses, demonstrating its commonplace occurrence in the majority of cultures, and exploring the possible directions in which it may evolve.
Definition
As the Greek roots poly meaning many, and gamos marriage imply, polygamy is commonly referred to as misleading terms such as “many spouses” or “plural marriage”. Literatures have given various ways of defining this form of marriage, but few are complete or accurate. For example, the Gage Canadian Dictionary defines it as “the practice or condition of having more than one spouse at one time” (873). Another good one can be found in Love, Sex, and Marriage written by Bernard I. Murstein:
The form of marriage involving multiple spouses of one sex with one member of another sex is called polygamy. (15)
If all these pieces were put together, however, a clear and thorough picture of polygamy would come in sight: Polygamy is the form of marriage involving more than one spouse of one sex with one member of another sex at one time.
This version is satisfactory because it includes all three aspects of polygamy: heterosexuality, simultaneity and one-partner singularity.
First, polygamy has been exclusively used in marriage between two opposite genders—man and woman. The increasing legalization of same-sex marriage or civil union in different parts of the world may challenge and ultimately complement this traditional definition, but the impact is yet to come.
Second, marital relationships in a polygamous marriage are concurrent. People who have multiple spouses consecutively through serial remarriages after getting windowed or divorced, are not considered polygamists, so long as they are married to one person at a time.
Finally, one of the two sexes has only one member, meaning that polygyny has to be monandrous, and polyandry monogynous. This is an important feature distinguishing polygamy from polyandrygyny, or group marriage. However, as Gwen J. Broude mentions in her book Marriage, Family and Relationships: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia, polygamy is associated with polyandrygyny, as either one could transform into the other when the number of spouses changes (212).
Polygamy takes two forms——polygyny and polyandry whose etymological connotation also can be derived from their Greek roots: poly—many, gyny—woman, andry—man. Their definitions are best stated by Hilary M. Lips in her book Sex & Gender: an Introduction: polygyny means “one husband having several wives at the same time”; and polyandry “one wife having several husbands at the same time” (294). Because the vast majority of polygamous marriages are polygyny, some authorities use these two words interchangeably, as David H. Olson and John DeFrain do in their book Marriage and The Family Diversity and Strengths (40).
Cross-cultural Prevalence
Among 849 surveyed human cultures, 708 feature polygyny as the preferred pattern of marriage. Only 137 are monogamous ( Gribbin and Cherfas 136). This discovery is echoed by many other observations. The figures quoted in different books may vary slightly, but by and large all statistics reveal that polygamy is practiced in the majority of all human societies, as Peggy Fletcher Stack sums up, “Polygamy...in the global community is common, normal and accepted” (Globally).
Another phenomenon reflected by these numbers is that the two forms of polygamy provide stark contrast in presence. The author of Anatomy of Love, anthropologist Helen E. Fisher points out the overwhelmingly predominance of polygyny, which exists in approximately 95 per cent of polygamous societies, and the rarity of polyandry, enumerating the only four polyandrous societies which have ever been reported: the Toda of India, Tibetans, Marquesans of Oceania, and Nayar of India (69).
Polyandry also differs from polygyny for the fact that most polyandrous marriages are fraternal mode, which means that co-husbands are often brothers; while only some polygynous societies allow sororal mode in which co-wives are sisters, and others do not (Broude 209). For example, Islamic law prohibits a man having wives who are sisters at the same time (Wlther 58).
Polygamy still can be found in many parts of the world. In addition to traditionally polygamous African and Asian countries, it has been reported as a routine practice among limited populations in France, Britain and North America (Marrying).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Polygamy
Polygamists have multiple spouses at one time for varied reasons. The benefits of polygamy can be categorized into three groups: biological, socioeconomic, and religious.
Polygyny is biologically advantageous to a husband who has more than one wife. The number of children a woman can bear is limited, because she can only get pregnant copulating at a certain time of her menstrual cycle. Moreover, a woman takes nine months to bear the child, and then it is often several more months or years before she can conceive again (Fisher 88). On the other hand, a man by having several wives——his “reproductive strategy”——can maximize offspring numbers. Should a man’s first wife be barren, his chance to sire children would not be removed if he married another one. In addition to sexual variety, “the taboos of sexual abstinence during the wife’s menstruation, pregnancy, and postnatal care could be obviated by turning to another wife” (Murstein 16). As a result, The world record for fatherhood is the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco, Moulay Isamil(1672-1772), who sired more than 867 children. In contrast, the most productive mother, a Russian woman, only recorded sixty-nine offspring (Gribbin and Cherfas 136-137).
Another important merit that lures people to build harems is that numerous socioeconomic needs can be met by polygamy. Extra sex access can not always explain why men prefer polygyny while prostitution and adultery is readily available. Most cultures believe polygynous marriage compels a man to take full responsibility for every relationship he has with women and for every child he begets (Islam). The evolutionary perspective shows that being cared for by two parents is the most favorable condition for human children to survive. In a polygynous family, a man has the chance to have and parent a relatively large number of children as their acknowledged father (Broude 213). Women can benefit from polygyny too. Muslims view polygamy in their culture was set up on the elevated ground to a protect, not to exploit women, and “for the stability of the community by those men who can afford to marry, or to take on another wife” (Islam). In some places where frequent warfare creates a large number of unbalanced sex ratios and shortage of labours, having multiple wives at one time is encouraged in order to help those women who can not acquire economic resources to survive. In addition, polygyny enables co-wives to share chores, and alleviate loneliness (Broude 209). For men, polygynous marriage can establish political alliance(Walther 58), bring high social status(Fisher 67), and increase income with extra help hands(Murstein 16).
Polyandry is mostly backed by economic reasons. In Toda society, brothers have to pool money to pay a high bride-price so that they can afford and share a wife (Broude 210). In Limi, Nepal, where farm lands are scarce, Tibetan brothers from a poor family often marry only one wife because establishing separate households signifies dividing lands among brothers and the ensuing devaluation of property (Fisher 70).
Finally, many societies practice polygynous marriage out of religious beliefs. Besides the well-known Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the Mormons, polygamy is allowed in Islamic, some Jewish and some Christian communities. The devout polygynists claim that they are doing what God told to, by following the examples like Abraham, David and Solomon (who was the most married, with 700 wives and 300 concubines) or the Prophet Muhammad, who was married to 10 wives and 2 concubines, though later, in the Koran he limited a Muslim to having up to four wives (Globally).
All these driving forces are often interwoven with one another, motivating polygamy to endure to modern era.
Even though the vast majority of societies sanction polygamy, few people are engaged in such marriage arrangement. Only about 5 to 10 percent of men in polygynous societies have several wives simultaneously (Fisher 69). This is because polygamy is a double-edged sword, entailing tremendous disadvantages.
First, it is very costly to have multiple wives. For example, Islamic law requires a man to provide each of his wives with a household of her own. This makes polygyny the privilege of the prosperous.(Walther 58).
Second, it is not always easy to manage a number of spouses. There exists jealousy among co-wives (Walther 58)or co-husbands (Broude 211). In polygynous marriages, equally treating each wife, financially and emotionally can be a demanding task. The husband is “subjected to multiple conflicting pressures which leave him no peace,” or can be excluded from a closed group formed by his wives and children(Murtein 16).
Moreover, due to the increasing awareness of equal rights for both genders , polygyny frequently becomes the target of fierce criticisms for it can be construed as to put women in a subordinate position (Murtein 16).
Lastly, some people oppose polygamy assuming it unbalances the numbers of marriageable men and women. For example, teenage boys have been reportedly driven out from some Fundamentalist Mormon communes as the result of the high profile members attempting to reduce competition from other male youth(Castaways).
The Future of Polygamy
The outlook of polygamous marriage is unsure, but some predictions can be made based on the trends observed so far, and the assumption that the tendency will continue its course.
Industrialization and urbanization have delivered significant impacts on traditional ways of living in societies where polygamy is practiced, weakening the advantages of plural marriage. The amount of time, money and energy called for to accommodate multiple families has discouraged many of the coming generation from following their polygamous parents (Islam and Polygamy). Increased ideology of egalitarian marriages and stronger economic position of women enable them not to share a husband with other women (Murstein 543). On top of that, more and more countries have officially banned polygyny through legislation (Islam).
However, this does not necessarily mean that polygamy will disappear in the foreseeable future. In Islamic countries, some teachers, doctors and other professional men with moderate education and wealth have managed to maintain a life with multiple households in modern days (Globally). Even in Western countries, it is hoped that polygyny limited to certain groups of population may help to solve some of the major social problems. For example, due to the difference between the life spans of men and women, among the aged, widowers are far outnumbered by widows. The deprivation of family life, companionship, and sex does not have to be the price for longevity, if polygyny could be instituted in these countries through enlightened legislation and permitted among the elderly (Murstein 543). The British Inland Revenue is planning to recognize polygamy to accommodate increasing legal needs for inheritance issues encountered by the Muslim community, such a move would make a Muslim husband's estate tax-free when divided among his several wives (Marrying).
These facts suggest that traditional polygamy will persist with a decreased number of participants. However, if the ever-changing social and cultural values are taken into consideration, its prospect also can be very unascertainable. Many once-forbidden taboos have become the norm today. Premarital even extramarital sexual relationships are commonly accepted and tolerated (Murstein 386,545). An increasing number of people have multiple sexual partners, have children and even live together with them (Polygamy Laws Expose). In terms of common laws, these people are polygamists, though not in a traditional meaning. Their legal rights need to be recognized and protected. Therefore, it is premature to rule out the possibility of legalizing polygamy.
Conclusion
Even though polygamy has been existing in many communities throughout the world for thousands years, it remains one of the most controversial and least understood social issues. It is just an alternative way of interpreting love to family, relationship to responsibility. After examining a number of aspects of plural marriage in a reasonable closeness, informed decision regarding the adoption or abolition of polygamy is likely to be made based on the understanding that this form of marriage is the reflection on the environment and value of those cultures where it is accepted.
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