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Sunny Solanki

Anthropology 2H

Professor Wegnerd

October 31, 2013

he !a"ifications of Polygyny on #a"ily Alliances and $hildren

%any reno&ned conte"porary anthropologists ha'e confronted the effects of polygyny on fa"ily

alliances and on the social care of children( )n the book, Writing Women's Worlds, *ila Abu+*ughod &rote

a detailed ethnography detailing the dile""as and tensions eperienced &ithin the -edouin co""unity due

to the husbands "arrying "ore than one &ife( People.s sense of perception of the relationships and ideals of

polygyny practiced in "iddle eastern cultures are so"eti"es fallacious and "isleading( Although people

think that those fa"ilies &ho practice polygyny do it to ha'e "ore children, "any do not think of the

unintended conse/uences aroused &hen a "an has "ultiple &i'es he has to attend to( #or ea"ple, &hen

one &o"en gets a benefit or gift fro" a husband, the other &ife "ight feel secluded and resentful because

her husband did not gi'er her the sa"e gift( his is turn can cause a "aor dile""a in the fa"ily because

each &o"an feels they should be treated e/ually( )n the second chapter of the book, Polygyny, Abu+

*ughod discusses ho& the eperiences a"ong Sagr, ateefa, Safiyya, and Aa depend "ainly on the their

personalities and circu"stances( Her "ain intention for &riting this chapter is to sho& that Polygyny,

kno&n as the highest le'el of social function, does not al&ays see" to forge secure alliances, relationships,

and increase the nu"ber of children( As she eplicitly sho&s, relationships can ulti"ately backfire and

bring about "any tensions( )n chapter 3, !eproduction, Abu+*ughod discusses the discrete array of

notions "en and &o"en ha'e about children and parenting( Abu+*ughod presents so"e co"pelling

e'idence of the i"plications in'ol'ed in practicing polygyny and the inclination for &anting "ore children(

)n $hapter 2 of the book( Abu+*ughod ee"plifies ho& "en &ho forge relationships &ith

"ultiple &i'es, often face dile""as because no relationships are ne'er static and are constantly changing

o'er ti"e( he li'es of the &o"en and the &ay "en treat their &i'es pro'ide a precise i"age of the "any

polyga"y relationships occurring &ithin the co""unity( Within the co""unity, it &as often ideal for

affluent "en to ha'e "ore than one &ife because they &anted to ha'e as "any children as possible( his is

&hat Sagr did( Sagr &as %igdi".s second son &ho ulti"ately "arried three &i'es in hopes of ha'ing "ale

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children( etting an in+depth look at the story, one can see ho& the tension and suspense builds up bet&een

ateefa and Sagr because Sagr decided to treat his third co+&ife, Aa, differently fro" her( Abu+*ughod

eplicitly stated at the beginning of the chapter that %igdi" and areefa obected and ad"onished Sagr

fro" "arrying Aa because he ust &anted to "arry another &ife to ha'e sons( #ro" the 'ery "o"ent

Sagr "arried Aa, she started acting in &ays that &ere not custo"ary in the -edouin co""unity( ateefa

said, Aa &as loud, often s&ore, and ne'er prayed( She &as not unkind, but she &as also not al&ays easy

to get along &ith( Stubborn and o'er&orked, she so"eti"es lost her te"per and &ithdre& to her roo"(((

4Abu+*ughod, 20056789( his pri"arily sho&s that Aa &as seen as a &o"an &ho &as ada"ant, i"pious,

and sho&ed no "odesty &hen talking to "en in the co""unity( his aroused the tension bet&een areefa

and Sagr because Aa &as al&ays acted disrespectful in front of public, and &as allo&ed to stay at her

parent.s house &hene'er she &anted to( Aa used to get opulent stuff fro" her husband like rugs,

cushions, pads, and clothes that the his other co+&i'es &ere not allo&ed to ha'e( Sagr ad"itted that he

found it cu"berso"e to li'e &ith Aa because their relationship &as ne'er strong and she kept on going to

her parent.s house e'ery fe& "onths( ateefa obected to his "arriage &ith Aa because she &as not

decent and respectful( ateefa agreed that "en do "arry "ultiple &i'es, but not ones that are egocentric(

his ee"plifies that Aa &as ne'er seen as a &ife &ho &as truly passionate and cared for hi"( )n the

book Sagr (((found his grand co+&ife Aa attracti'e and, blind to her faults, "arried her secretly, against

the &ishes of her "other 4Abu+*ughod, 200561059( Sagr intentionally "arried Aa ust for her good

looks and 'ogue, but he ne'er scrutinied her de"eanor before "arrying her( )n other &ords, he &as

blinded by her good looks( She &as al&ays seen as obnoious in front of areefa, but she had to deal &ith

it according the custo"s(

Another source of changing relationships &as the indignation that aroused &hen Aa told

areefa that she had no kin( According to the book, ateefa presents herself as stoically putting up &ith

&hat her husband has i"posed on her 4Abu+*ughod, 200561059( Sagr kne& that ateefa had absol'ed hi"

for his bad udg"ents about "arrying "ultiple &i'es, but she still did not sy"pathie &ith hi"( ateefa

had to accept that the circu"stances she had to deal &ith ha'e re"ained intact and she had to "o'e on &ith

life( his ea"ple ser'es to sho& the "ain tension &as pro'oked bet&een ateefa and Aa &hen Aa

told her she had not kin or ties &ith fa"ily "e"bers( hey altercation started &hen Aa.s child started

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fighting &ith ateefa.s younger daughter(( Aa.s son ca"e into the kitchen and ate a bo&l of 'egetable

ste&, until ateefa.s younger daughter ca"e into the kitchen( ateefa.s daughter nagged in the kitchen

because Aa.s son &ould not share his 'egetable ste& &ith her( Aa.s son got angry and hit ateefa.s

daughter &ith a sandal( his caused ateefa to (((yell at hi" either to put the food back until it &as cooked

or to share it &ith the"( He refused( She thre& a plastic sandal at hi" 4Abu+*ughod, 20056 1129( At this

instant, Aa got angry &hen ateefa hit her son &ith a sandal( ateefa eplicitly stated that Aa did not

care &hen her son hit her daughter &ith a sandal( Aa stated that she &ould go to her fa"ily.s house

because she had brothers &ho &ould defend her, since ateefa insulted her( he cli"a of the altercation

happened &hen Aa bluntly told ateefa that she had no kin( Abu+*ughod said, What had incensed

ateefa &as the charge that she had no kin( o ha'e no kin is to be 'ulnerable and isolated, since the fa"ily

is such a crucial source of identity and of support 4Abu+*ughod, 200561139( #or a &o"an, ha'ing a kin is

such an i"portant facet for li'ing together, for socialiation, and for ha'ing so"eone to defend her

&hene'er she faces a "aor dile""a( hrough kinship there is a trans"ission of beha'ior, ideas, and

goods( What Aa said to ateefa &as clai"ed to be the truth( :'en though ateefa &as a "e"ber of a kin

group, she re"ained isolated in the co""unity( ateefa &as an integral part of the fa"ily.s functions, and

e'eryone enoyed spending ti"e &ith her, but it &as the &o"en residing &ithin her co""unity that

isolated her( :'er since ateefa "o'ed into Sagr.s ne& house, she beca"e alienated fro" the e'ents

surrounding the &o"en and &as al&ays busy doing her o&n household chores( Abu+*ughod said, So

alienated &as she that she refused to gi'e her eldest daughter, Sabra, in "arriage to one of the boys in the

ca"p to let their children "arry each other 4Abu+*ughod, 2005611;9( his sho&s that &o"en &ho had

inter"arriages bet&een close households, often for"ed close kinship ties( After each "arriage occurred in

the co""unity, ateefa and her daughters re"ained "ore isolated than e'er before( ateefa a'enged Aa

for saying she had no kin because ha'ing a kin is the "ost i"portant aspect of a &o"an.s life( ateefa

clai"ed that she has kin ties &ith her husband, daughters, and other "e"bers of the co""unity, e'en

though it is a partial lie(

)n chapter 3 of the book, Abu+*ughod.s "ain intention for &riting this chapter &as to discuss the

'ie&points of "ale and fe"ale children born in the co""unity( Within the contet of the chapter, there

see"s to be a strong preference for "ale children o'er fe"ale children( -edouin people do not ha'e strong

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resent"ent against ha'ing a girl, but they feel that boys play a "ore do"inant role in controlling

relationships and are belie'ed to epand the fa"ily o'er future generations( )n the book, %igdi".s youngest

daughter, *a&, clai"ed that Arabs prefer to ha'e boys, but ateefa obected that state"ent by saying,

hey are all e/ual &ith od( And He e'en prefers girls( )t is only the ignorant &ho prefer boys( So"e

daughters are &orth a hundred sons 4Abu+*ughod, 200561279( What this i"plies is that ateefa, seen as

the "ost sagacious, doubts the clai" that "en are the "ost i"portant aspect of the fa"ily( She is trying to

say that &o"en should be ha'e e/ual status as "en because od 'ie&s both sees &ith e/ual rights and

so"e &o"en can e'en play a "ore i"portant role in go'erning ho& the fa"ily should function( he

couple, ateefa and Sagr, see" to ha'e reasonable and thoughtful opinions about ha'ing sons and

daughters( Sagr said, -ut a girl is not like a boy+ he &ill beco"e a "an< the girl doesn.t ha'e as "uch

strength of &ill( As long as her father is ali'e, a girl doesn.t feel any pain 4Abu+*ughod, 20056 1809( Sagr

'ie&ed daughters as precious luggage or 'aluable ite"s that break &hen they are ta"pered &ith( What this

"eans is that daughters ha'e a sense of li'ing &hen their father is ali'e, but &hen he dies, they tend to lose

the "eaning of life( Ho&e'er, Sagr said that his sons "ust ha'e a stable ob and inco"e to pro'ide for his

future fa"ily( :'en though he "ight yell at his sons, he lo'es the" dearly( Sons can support the"sel'es

and their fa"ily, and are not nearly as hurt &hen their father passes a&ay( Sagr clai"ed that he has

eperienced "ore responsibility raising sons( =ust as a &o"an has ulti"ate control in raising her daughters

and "orphing the" into young &o"en, "en ha'e to take responsibility in raising his sons( Sagr also

contended that a &o"an also has a strong tendency for ha'ing sons because as she gets older, she can use

her sons (((to do"inate their>&o"an.s? husband 4Abu+*ughod6 2005,1829( !aising a son &ould allo& a

&o"an to get things in her fa'or that her husband usually opposes or curtails( On the other hand, ateefa

insisted that ha'ing too "any sons &as not the best idea because their culture has been di'ided into s"aller

pieces( She substantiated her clai" by telling a story of her grandfather &ho &as the only affluent son in

the fa"ily( Her grandfather literally controlled the &hole co""unity and things could not happen &ithout

his consent( She said, heir grandfather &as &ealthy, and his sons &ere only fe& 4Abu+*ughod6 2005,

1829( he "oral of this story &as the land that her grandfather.s children &ere li'ing on &as inherited fro"

hi", but not gi'en by od as a bounty( )f the sons keep on ha'ing "any children, then their land gets used

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and gets s"aller each generation( :"bedded in the contet, one can decipher the different 'ie&s "en and

&o"en ha'e on raising sons and daughters(