In the second season of TLC’s “Sister Wives,” in 2011, we saw the polygamous Brown family move to Las Vegas in a hasty attempt to avoid bigamy charges in their native Utah. This huge family, consisting of 17 kids, four wives and one dad, Kody Brown, uprooted everyone and moved to Vegas to try to evade prosecution. Charges were eventually dismissed against them, and then last year the Browns sued to state of Utah in an attempt to overturn the polygamy laws there. On Friday they won their lawsuit when a federal judge declared Utah’s polygamy law unconstitutional.
A U.S. District Court judge has sided with the polgyamous Brown family, ruling that key parts of Utah’s polygamy laws are unconstitutional.
Judge Clark Waddoups’ 91-page ruling, issued Friday, sets a new legal precedent in Utah, effectively decriminalizing polygamy. It is the latest development in a lawsuit filed by the family of Kody Brown, who became famous while starring in cable TV channel TLC’s reality series “Sister Wives.” The show entered a fourth season at the end of the summer.
Waddoups’ ruling attacks the parts of Utah’s law making cohabitation illegal. In the introduction, Waddoups says the phrase “or cohabits with another person” is a violation of both the First and 14th amendments. Waddoups later writes that while there is no “fundamental right” to practice polygamy, the issue really comes down to “religious cohabitation.” In the 1800s — when the mainstream LDS Churh still practiced polygamy — “religious cohabitation” in Utah could have actually resulted in “multiple purportedly legal marriages.” Today, however, simply living together doesn’t amount to being “married,” Waddoups writes.
“The court finds the cohabitation prong of the Statute unconstitutional on numerous grounds and strikes it,” Waddoups later writes.
Utah’s bigamy statute technically survived the ruling. However, Waddoups took a narrow interpretation of the words “marry” and “purports to marry,” meaning that bigamy remains illegal only in the literal sense — when someone fraudulently acquires multiple marriage licences.
The Browns could not immediately be reached Friday night, but issued a statement through their lawyer calling the decision humbling and historic.
“While we know that many people do not approve of plural families, it is our family and based on our beliefs,” Brown wrote. “Just as we respect the personal and religious choices of other families, we hope that in time all of our neighbors and fellow citizens will come to respect our own choices as part of this wonderful country of different faiths and beliefs.”
Jonathan Turley, the attorney representing the Brown family, called the opinion “magnificent” Friday in a phone conversation. In a blog post, he added that it strikes down “the criminalization of polygamy” and will allow “plural families to step out for the first time in their communities and live their lives openly among their neighbors.”
“Regardless of how you feel about the legal issues in the case,” Turley told the Tribune on Friday, “this is a decision that was rendered after considerable amount of reflecting and consideration by the court.”
Turley explained that the ruling means everyone is entitled to freedom of religion as well as due process. He also expects the ruling to stand up over time, and potential appeals, which the Utah Attorney General’s Office has indicated in the past it might pursue.
I agree with this ruling and think that it should not be illegal to have multiple live-in partners, for either men or women, as long as all the partners are of age and consenting. (Which was not the case with Warren Jeffs’ FDLS compound. The Browns do not follow the FDLS faith.) The issue of marriage rights for one person and more than one other person is a different one, and should not be conflated with same sex marriage rights. Those two things are not the same. The Brown family has expressed their support of same sex marriage. As for plural marriage, Kody Brown has made it more than clear that he does not support his wives having multiple husbands.
Since Sister Wives hit the scene, several other shows about polygamous families have premiered. There’s Polygamy USA on The National Geographic Channel (I caught a few episodes of that and found it interesting), the newer Breaking The Faith on TLC, a show about ex-polygamists which has been criticized as faked, and Escaping the Prophet on TLC, which follows former ex-FLDS member Flora Jessop as she tries to help other families escape. TLC also premiered My Five Wives this fall, which focuses on a polygamous family with one dad, five wives and 24 kids. Unlike the Brown Family, the Williams family of My Five Wives has no organized religion and teaches values of all faiths to their children. However Sister Wives trumped My Five Wives in the ratings and it’s thought that My Five Wives is cancelled.
Thanks to Frosty for the tip!
Photos are from 12-14-13 and 4-14-12. Credit: FameFlynet
Well, he certainly looks proud of himself! What a creep.
Even looking at him just makes me CRINGE. He always looks dirty and greasy.
Like the original three wives, can’t stomach him.
I tried to watch the show with my husband. He said “this guys a douche-bag”. I asked why and he said “he clearly got a new one every time the old one got fat” lol. I love my husband.
Yes! He is so lecherous goofy and gross Is like the creepy mormon version of the puka shell wearing way too old over grown dingbat fratboy
Hahaha amazing!
If they’re all consenting and legal adults, go for it.
Though, ten to one says this ass clown wouldn’t share his wives with other men ._.
that’s the part I don’t get – are the Sister Wives allowed to have other husbands? If so, why dont they want to?
The anwer is in the text: “As for plural marriage, Kody Brown has made it more than clear that he does not support his wives having multiple husbands.”
if the wives had husbands it would no longer be polygsamy .. they would then venture into polyamory. ( google it)
there are cultures in india.. that the woman has more than one husband.. that is called polyandry and the men only have the one woman. this is their faith / cultural practice whatever….to ask such things as other men.. then in their minds the women believe they would be committing adultery very much like a wife cheating on her one husband. same with polyandry where there is one woman and multiple men.. if the men have another”wife” he would be cheating..
the brown women are committed to Kody and Kody is committed to them and the wives are committed to one another. I have a background in Anthropology and have observed polygamous and polyandrous cultures.. the women do not feel cast down or less than in most instances.. They are looking for a family unit.. sometimes it is due to a shortage of men or women.. it is not always about sex . We Americans tend to focus on sex and think that it is the primary reason..
I watch the show and I can see that he has developed and meaningful relationships with each of them.. he loves them all separately and together ..it is rather lovely to see . Now the ladies might have issues but that is expected.. but they do seem to care for one another.
anthrochick, I agree with you. Their situation is not my cup of tea but they do an admirable job all things considered. And Kody (as I stated in another post) does really listen and respect his wives and children. Props for that.
Thanks anthrochick – I agree with you too. Why does everything ALWAYS go to sex? I’d personally be unhappy in that situation but who am I (or anyone) to judge what works for them, especially if it makes them happy? If that’s their belief system, then that’s their belief system. I’m agnostic and lean towards atheism, but I totally respect a Christian or Muslim’s right to their beliefs if that is how they feel and if they aren’t infringing on the rights of others, and I expect the same in return. To me this is a civil rights issue in the same vein as gay marriage.
He said he won’t. Which says it all for me. If he truly thinks everyone should be able to have a polygamous relationship, then it should be for everyone. And if one of his daughters wants to have more than one husband he’d be the King of Hypocrisy to say she couldn’t.
His way is more about property rights to me.
ita
just one more douchey guy having his cake and eating it too
Nor would he approve of a woman having multiple “husbands.”
If an [idiotic] adult woman wants to live with a man who has other, er, “wives” (whom he has not attempted to legally marry), it’s ridiculous to try to stop her. As long as he doesn’t try to legally marry multiple women (and then attempt to count them as dependents for tax purposes), he can call his live-in girlfriends “wives,” “good buddies” or “Queens of Romania.”
A non-issue, unless creeps like this guy try to coerce underage girls into his living arrangement, or try to defraud the state and federal government by claiming them as dependents. Then the hammer should come down on him, hard.
@Maria & Carol– He said on his show that the very idea of his wives having multiple male partners disgusts him. If we get right down to it, this is about religious freedom and how they want to live their lives. If the wives voluntarily subjugate themselves to him, then what’s the harm? It just wouldn’t be me. I would want a bunch of young, hot husbands lol.
Now, the fact that they have said in the past that they support gay marriage really surprises me. Due to their religious beliefs, I wouldn’t be shocked if they think it is an “abomination” behind closed doors. I think their support of gay marriage makes them more accessible and helps support their cause for polygamy.
I’m glad for this! I agree that consenting adults should be able to cohabitate however they chose. And certainly many “mainstream” (non FLDS) families have loving and functional families – why punish that?
Agreed^
I’m all for consenting adults doing what they please, but from what I understand a lot of these polygamous families set each woman up on welfare and food stamps (since a man can’t legally marry more than one woman) and the man doesn’t work. I object to that. Live how you want, but don’t expect the taxpayers to support you and the multiple families you choose to have.
^^^THIS. It is very easy to say that people have a right to ‘co-habitate’ as they please… and they do. It is quite common though, for those in polygamous communities to live off welfare, with one man having ‘spiritual marriages’ to many women, creating oodles of children, and letting the state support them. I strongly object to this.
Completely agree – do what you want under your own roof (assuming everyone is legal and consenting) but PAY for your own roof.
But if polygamous or polyamorous relationships in general were legally recognized by the state(s) then it wouldn’t be an issue. Or not as much of one. That’s why it’s an important issue, for me at least. I worked with a refugee family from Somalia, a single mother and five children under 18. But she was only a single mom because her husband had had to divorce her in the refugee camp before they came to the US because we don’t recognize multiple marriages (she was his second wife). Her kids would have had their father, half-siblings and “second” mother for support if we recognized multiple marriages.
That said, this guy sounds like a complete hypocrit in that it’s okay for him to have multiple wives, but his wives can’t have multiple husbands. That’s complete BS.
Our state has never punished it, the reason we didn’t was because it was too expensive for Utah to take care of all the children. The majority are all FLDS and the way they treat their children is despicable, just look up the lost boys.
The state is supporting many of these children already through abuse of the welfare system.
I just feel sorry for the girls growing up in that situation. The man can do what he wants, but the women can only be faithful to him. What kind of independence are they going to learn?
I agree. I think these women have a right to make this choice, though I think it’s disgusting because the man has all of the power and he’s like a little god at the center of his harem, while they must be faithful to him. But children of both sexes will get such bad messages about women, marriage and equality. That’s the ironic thing to me – they are claiming a victory for equality, but the essence of their beliefs is that men have rights that women do not.
GoodNames, I dislike the fact that Kody does not support his partners sharing in his freedom. However, I do applaud them all for entering into this as consenting adults. Plus, Kody does really listen to his wives. Unlike another polygamous family that was on the show (they went on vacation together) — it’s not him being the super alpha male.
Also, a few of their daughters have stated this life isn’t for them. And while the parents are disappointed, they do understand. So while I’m not nuts about this way of life — I must admit the adults are fairly respectful of other people’s opinions, including those of their children.
LadySlippers ~ I don’t watch the show, but, regardless of his demeanor, the situation is inherently unfair. They are, though, as you say, consenting adults, so if they want to enter into an unfair relationship, it’s none of my business. I’m glad to hear they don’t force it on their children.
GoodNames, I haven’t watched the show in some time but it was more respectful than what I imagined their situation to be. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that’s why the show is successful — it’s presenting us with an alternative lifestyle that doesn’t 100% conform with our preconceived perceptions.
When they went on vacation with another polygamous family, it really highlighted how respectful Kody IS. On the other hand, the other husband showed us that the stereotype of the alpha male with subservient women does have some merit. And that is what I really have issues with.
Then the blame for their status within these households lies squarely on these women. No one can compel you to do anything you don’t want to do. If these women want to be part of a harem and relinquish all of their rights and power to one man, that’s their choice.
And as for Kody being “respectful” to his “wives” – please. The very nature of their relationships shows no mutual respect whatsoever, and anyway, the cameras were rolling.
Wow. Just because a family shown on a reality show appears to ‘be respectful’ and ‘offer choices’ to daughters doesn’t mean this is the norm. Most polygamists live in a community in which children are raised to conform… and getting out is very difficult. I’m shocked at some of the posts suggesting that the women have choices and if they choose this life… it is their own fault. So many young girls in these communities don’t feel as if they have a ‘choice’.
First, I’m not blaming women — nor should anyone. This is their religious belief. So blame Joseph Smith for re-introducing this idea back into society after it was dismissed a long time ago. And for good reasons. (My opinion)
Second, just want to be clear on this issue. Just because I see the Browns’ as respectful does not imply I think all polygamous situations are. Power tends to corrupt and I think any polygamous situation can easily go down that route which is why I’ve said this would not be something I would choose. On the show, we’ve seen an example of a family where the women clearly are disempowered which is not right.
So third, IF the women are adults, i.e. fully informed AND consenting, AND are being treated with utmost respect, including (but not limited to) making decisions for themselves and their children/extended family, I cannot object as it’s not my call. But I would not ever endorse any relationship of any kind that involved abuse, coercion, or underage girls.
That was my thought too.
My friend is in a polyamorous relationship and I fully support her because they are both allowed multiple partners. It’s an equal relationship.
The Mormons and these people just don’t seem fair or balanced in my opinion.
Glad the operational term isn’t just “consenting”, but also “equal”. The concept this guy wants the liberty to pursue his wants, but does not consent to these women having the same right is very revealing and distressing.
(On the note of “consenting” to the choice, I can think of many behaviors adults consent to that doesn’t necessarily mean it would be a great idea to legalize them.)
Just FYI, Mormons do not support polygamy. It was outlawed it the Mormon church over 100 years ago. FLDS is not associated with the Mormon church. Sort of like Westboro Baptists aren’t Christians, even though they claim they are.
It would also be one thing if it was equal to all the men in the FLDS. But it also damages the lives of young teenage boys in FLDS because they are seen as ‘competition’ to the older men who want to have multiple women to control. The leaders usually find some kind of excuse to kick them out of the compound and then they are left on their own. They are known as the lost boys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_boys_%28Mormon_fundamentalism%29
There’s a terrific documentary covering that called ‘sons of perdition’ I highly recommend it.
They also explore this phenomenon of displaced boys on a show called Vice on HBO. It’s fascinating and sad. I think there are so many things wrong with this, not the least of which being the fact that this kind of unit reemphasizes the idea that female sexuality is supposed to be nonexistent and that girls should subscribe to traditional gender roles of domesticity and complete subservience to their husbands. I bet none of these women care about accomplishing any kind of personal goals beyond raising children and providing a home for Cody. And if they’re raising their daughters to follow this social structure, that’s even more unfortunate.
Yes, that is what has always bugged me about this show. The women obviously do not have the same opportunities and equalities as the husband Kody has. It’s warped and messed up. And he is definitely no prize either, so I have no idea how he managed to snag 4 seemingly intelligent women (from what I’ve seen of the show). He’s immature and quite thoughtless at times.
I can’t see why one woman would want to marry him, let alone four but that’s just me. I haven’t watched a whole lot of the show, but from what I’ve seen the dude is gross.
+1
This. Id be so embarassed to be married to this man at all. Forget the plural wives thing, he’s such a tool all by himself. I’m still rooting for Janelle to get out. She’s pretty awsome, and I bet her 40 (?)yr old self feels alot different about this tool than her 20 yr old self. She is so obviously completely unsatisfied as a woman by this man and their “marriage”, and it’s too bad cause she so could make a man crazy happy for life all by herself. I’m glad her daughter is one of the ones that is solid in her rejection of this misogynistic lifestyle. I forget her name, but she’s a pretty cool kid!!
If they’re all consenting adults and doing no harm to anyone, it’s really none of anybody’s business how they choose to live their lives. I would wonder what the women feel they get out of the situation, but I mean that in complete sincerity and would really be interested in finding out.
What does he do to support 22 kids? A lot of those polygamous families have the kids on welfare, which torques me. If you want to live your faith fine, but if you can’t support them and let the state support them, then that’s not right. I don’t watch this show, so I don’t know if Cody and his wives all work and support their own children or not.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/05/how-polygamy-affects-your-wallet.html
There have been rumors that some if not all the wives have been on forms of public assistance. Also Google ‘sister wives bankruptcy’. All seem to be great money managers, eh?
Thank you, Blannie. You are right on the money. I doubt many of these men can afford all these wives and children. It shouldn’t be taxpayers who support them.
this is what i am interested in: what do the women get out of it? like in case of divorce does she get a half of family estate? or when he dies – who inherits his property? maybe there is a Mormon supported centralised system of financial/material support like food banks?
The Browns fled because they were about to get nailed for government assistance fraud. Janel is the only one who appears to actually work. Only the first wife, in this case Meri, has the legal marriage & would stand to inherit anything or split assets.
What a freak show.
I think that the Duggars should adopt Justin Bieber and put him on chore schedule just like the rest of the kids. Keep him busy and give him a real upbringing. They can pawn Miley “The Tongue” Cyrus off on some other quiver-full buddy and give her the same treatment.
As for Lindsey Lohan, she should become Kody’s next wife. Keep her busy out in the ‘burbs and the wives can provide her with drama as they strive to keep the Cracken under control.
Why not hybridize these things? Change is good, I say.
This would be television actually worth watching – Thanks for the chuckle 🙂
I’m laughing too, Gawd help me!
I pity the fool who has to juggle that many wives.
If polygamy becomes mainstreamed here (in the “developed” world), then rich and/or handsome and/or powerful men will easily attract multiple wives. This means that a huge segment of the male population will end up with no wives at all, no hope to ever raise a family, etc. This could create quite a few problems for society as a whole: http://reason.com/archives/2006/04/03/one-man-many-wives-big-problem
No-fault divorce basically turned marriage vows into a joke anyway I suppose, so why worry about this? Eh.
Already happens – in Islam a man can have up to four wives and quite a lot of the oil sheikhs do. A woman, however, cannot have up to four husbands…
Actually, I studied Islamic law in law school and this is still the subject of ongoing debate amongst Islamic leaders. It’s not set out in the Koran. It is only acknowledged that Mohamed had four wives and so it has been spread that, technically, a man can have four wives if “one has the capacity to treat them all equally”. The debate comes regarding the ability of a normal man to treat all wives equally, inlcluding his affections. Many Islamic leaders have said it would be impossible to do and for that reason, no Muslim man should attempt this. There are quite a few sects who frown upon men who opt to take four wives. they think it’s cheeky. Divorce is quite high in the Middle East too partially as polygamy is on the out. But the high profile, oil wealthy emirs do take liberties and give the region a massively bad rep regarding marriage (although, in fairness, the entire region needs a clean up regarding underage marriage, sex traficking, etc: it’s a developing nation thing vs an Islam only thing).
There’s more to polygamy in Islam then just fancying a woman and proposing to her. I am Muslim and i don’t agree with polygamy but it bothers me how lightly people (both Muslim and non-Muslim) take polygamy in Islam. One of the most important criteria for a man to practice polygamy is financial capabilities. Judging by the comments on this thread, the Browns seem to be dependent on state welfare and aren’t financially independent. This would not fly in Islam and would in fact prohibit you from taking another wife.
Additionally and as explained by endoplasmic_ridiculum, a man must also treat all his wives equally. This means financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and whatever else that falls under the umbrella of responsibilities a husband has toward his wife. Again, if a man is incapable of providing equal treatment to his wives in any one of these categories, he cannot practice polygamy. If a woman does not consent to her her husband’s desire of taking another wife, he cannot practice polygamy.
Sadly, many men abuse the concept of polygamy, which leads to neglected wives and children. The Prophet himself was a practitioner of polygamy but he mostly married older women who were left widowed due to wars and had children to take care of but this is a story for another day. Bottom line is, even with all the explaining that i’ve done, polygamy remains a very complicated and hotly contested issue within the Islamic world and should not be used as a measure of gender equality or rights among Muslim men and women.
endoplasmic_ridiculum and tifzlan, thank you both for your informatively nuanced posts regarding polygamy. May I respectfully ask your opinion of what should be used as a measure of gender equality or rights among Muslim men and women?
The Muslims I’ve known here in North America treated me like a jewel; they were from 2 differing sects. One family owned the company I worked for, and his wife was my boss. The other family I met several years later were my clients through a business I owned. When I first met them, these two very different Muslim families were of very modest means, but worked hard to become successful.
Both families were amazing, beautiful, intelligent, cultured, warm, and kind people who not only had me in their homes and treated me like their family, but they were also gratefully welcomed into my home. Women in one of the families wore Chadors, and in the other they wore Hijabs with full body clothing of long sleeves and tunics over pants. In both of my friends’ one wife Muslim families, women were college educated, successful, and treated equally, their opinions & feelings given equal weight and respect as the men’s. I was called daughter, and they never gave it a moment’s thought hiring me over men and later partnering with me in my own business.
When I became deathly ill a couple years after I’d met them, as I sickened and slowly became housebound, they prepared meals for me and my husband, ran errands for us, and prayed with me. I’ll never forget each individual from these heaven sent families who helped me to the bathroom, bathed me, talked me through my gut wrenching fear and pain by sharing topics ranging from philosophy to existentialism, and who simply spent sitting quiet hours with me as I struggled to live. They wanted nothing in return but my promise to pay it forward. I credit their including me in their around the clock prayers, and the powerfully simple kindnesses they showed me, an outsider, with my recovery. At my lowest, angels of mercy appeared to bring me through the other side and back to life. I’ll never forget everything they did for me.
Ya know, for him to add a new wife the current wives ALL have to agree. Someone following the “honest-to-GOD” way of polygamy can WANT another wife all he wants but the woman has the final say.
And the FLDS perverted the entire thing by abusing children and forcing it upon others.
Oh, they say that. But even for all their words about being so happy to add Robin to their family, it was beyond obvious they secretly hate her.
The Robin hate was more than obvious. One episode showed them all saying it’s not how they don’t like her, it’s how they have to adjust to her.
When Robin joined the family, it did not seem like any of the three previous wives wanted her there. But Kody was hell bent on her “joining” his family, so I don’t really think the wives had much of a say.
Polygamy isnt for me but I support it among consenting adults. Even so, that whole situation with the Sister Wives seems like a pretty unequal situation – why aren’t the wives allowed other husbands too?
The polygamy law is still on the books-you can’t have multiple marriage licenses. What the section does is take back the part that multiple people who are living together are not ‘purporting to be married’. Basically stating that the old idea of a man and woman shacking up together=married doesn’t work in today’s society. So you can consider yourself married personally (like the sister wives do), but you still can’t go and legally get married to several people
The only people that ‘win’ here are the FLDS folks, with their continued abuse of women and young girls. It’s interesting that for all this ‘consenting adults’ talk, that really what it is about is having one guy share multiple women and having control over them. The ultimate idea of patriarchy. There’s not one polygamous society that encourages or endorses women having multiple husbands, and until that happens-sorry I’m not ever going to be on board.
I am not familiar with this show; does anyone know if all the extra “wives” are on public assistance? It is my understanding that the supplemental females are usually on welfare, which is the only way that one man can actually “support” all these women and children.
There are economic implications with multiple marriage that do not exist with gay marriage. Long story short, in a non-agrarian society, the numbers simply don’t work out – you can’t keep sending all those extra kids out to work in the fields to grow more food. The money has to come from somewhere or someone…and more often than not, that someone is us, the taxpayers.
For those of you that would like to educate themselves further on the TRUTH about the Browns & polygamy:
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/?m=1
I found this blog by accident & it really helped open my eyes to how twisted & corrupt situations like the Browns are
DISGUSTING. . . .
If Kody is a cross dresser, the beauty of having four wives is he would have lots of clothes and shoes to choose from.
Well, if the “sister-wives” choose to live a controlled and oppressed life, I suppose that’s their right. (Though I would probably argue that). But what about their children, particularly daughters, growing up to assume and be instructed that this lifestyle is what they can expect and aspire to? What an existence – warped, rigid and soul-sucking.
They often ask/interview the kids on what their choice of lifestyle will be for themselves. Some of the girls & boys are totally for it, some against it, & some undecided. It’s nice to see some are thinking for themselves
I agree with the ruling and “to each their own.” But everything about Kody Brown still creeps me out and I think he just preyed on 4 very insecure women. Unfortunate but not illegal.
So, you are okay with paying for all of the children produced in these polygamous arrangements? Because most of them are abusing the welfare system in order to raise the many children that the ‘father’ cannot afford to pay for.
To each their own I guess…. so simple, but not really.
These sort of situations always confuse me. Because obviously a woman could handle the sexual aspect of multiple husbands much better than a man can take care of multiple wives.
I don’t understand how this guy can get A woman, let alone several.
I agree.
Even though he thinks he’s a hot dog, there is NOTHING remotely attractive about him from his stupid hair and cheshire cat grin to his repulsive personality (or lack thereof).
Wow, this is truly a landmark decision. Very interesting.
It REALLY is from a legal perspective.
I agree with this ruling but Utah already SUCKS at prosecuting the underage marriages of little girls to disgusting old men in the FLDS. This is just going to make that worse. I highly reccommend Flora Jessop and Carolyn Jessop’s memoirs if anyone wants to learn about the systemic failures of Utah’s attorney general and CPS to prevent and stop abuse. It’s horrifying – their policy is to send minors back to families where it is clear and proven the children are being abused (including molestation by family members) and neglected and want out. There needs to be a strengthening of the enforcement of age of consent laws to accompany this court ruling. Children are enslaved in this country and we turn a blind eye to it. It must stop. Polygamy between consenting adults is completely different than forcing teenage girls to marry men older than their fathers under the threat of being condemned to hell. Although even adult FLDS women aren’t given a choice, and since everyone is pulled out of school around age 10, they grow up believing that women do not have the same legal rights as men, which has a lot to do with why they will not leave (they are actuallh taught that women cannot hire attorneys, or that they have custody rights to their own children).
I don’t see how any self-respecting woman would go for this, its not equal, and it can’t be good for self esteem, seems to be part of a herd mentality. Its like being a fraction of a woman for one guy, but hey if you like being part of harem or for that matter sled dog team while your master commands on the sled, why not!
Because it’s “religion.”
So basically the judge has said adultery isn’t illegal and Kody is free to have all the “hos” he wants. Not exactly an earth shattering decision and I can certainly see why Kody is so happy with the decision.
I can’t help it. This just makes me gag. And how come it always seems to be one man with plural wives? Is it ever one woman with plural husbands? All I can think of is the family that lies together STDs together. Ugh.
I can’t even explain how much I hate this guy, and how stupid these women are. The children are clearly miserable not that any adult seems to care or notice as long as they get a few days a month with their pretend husband who is off doing his other non wives. You can’t be same sex married in Utah or Nevada but you can certainly marry as many women as you like, as long as they are pretend and the women are just live ins with no rights. I hope that 4th wife realizes if she tries to leave she’s have about the same rights as an employed nanny and she will walk away with her kids, maybe if she ever gets a job. This is just a way to abuse children and women. I’d love to know who appointed that federal judge, and because it’s UT was the ruling done so they didn’t have to fund about 250k investigations that need to be done.
I’m in the minority, but I’m not loving this “consenting adults” line. Polygamy only exists by keeping things unequal and by oppressing women financially, physically, socially. It would be interesting to see what would happen if one of Kody’s wives left him — my guess would be ostracization from the community and no custody of the kids. This is NOT a win for democracy. Gay marriage – democratic; multiple marriage — women and children suffer.
This group of people fascinates me to no end.
I cannot understand why these women would want to humiliate themselves by submitting to polygamy…especially the latest wife, who was gainfully employed prior to joining this … group. Could she not have found another man to be with? What is it about this Brown guy that compels her to join in such an arrangement?
Its not the marraige – its not the wives (or husbands) – its the kids. What happens if Kody dies? He doesn’t have enough social security to help pay for them. Should society accept these women, who made a choice, as truly destitute and pay for them and their slew of kids? Should we have to pay when they have no health care? Are the kids even getting enough attention? Its bad enough now – let alone that the planet can’t stand this many people…..
so sexist! so a male can have many wives but a female cannot have many husbands? Sexist! He’s just a selfish pig who wants women to fight over him.