title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Nigeria. In the region of sub-Saharan Africa, polygyny is common and deeply rooted in the culture, with 11% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa living in such marriages (25% of the Muslim population and 3% of the Christian population, as of 2019). Polygyny is especially widespread in West Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygyny prevalence in the world as of 2019 being Burkina Faso (36%), Mali (34%) and Gambia (30%). Outside of Africa, the highest prevalence is in Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq.


title: Polygyny

text: Historically, polygyny was partly accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China, and in sporadic traditional Native American, African and Polynesian cultures. In the Indian subcontinent, it was known to have been practiced during ancient time. It was accepted in ancient Greece, until the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church.


title: Polygyny

text: In North America, polygyny is practiced by some Mormon sects, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church).


title: Polygyny

text: Boserup (1970) was the first to propose that the high incidence of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa is rooted in the sexual division of labor in hoe-farming and the large economic contribution of women.


title: Polygyny

text: In some regions of shifting cultivation where polygyny is most frequently recorded, labor is often starkly divided between genders. In many of these cases, the task of felling trees in preparation of new plots, the fencing of fields against wild animals, and sometimes the planting of crops, is usually done by men and older boys (along with hunting, fishing and the raising of livestock). Wives, on the other hand, are responsible for other aspects of cultivating, food processing and providing meals and for performing domestic duties for the family. Boserup notes that though the work completed by women calculates for a larger percentage of the tasks that form the basis of sub-Saharan life, women often do not receive the majority portion of the benefits that accompany economic and agricultural success.


title: Polygyny

text: An elderly cultivator, with several wives and likely several young male children, benefits from having a much larger workforce within his household. By the combined efforts of his young sons and young wives, he may gradually expand his cultivation and become more prosperous. A man with a single wife has less help in cultivation and is likely to have little or no help for felling trees. According to Boserup's historical data, women living in such a structure also welcome one or more co-wives to share with them the burden of daily labor. However, the second wife will usually do the most tiresome work, almost as if she were a servant to the first wife, and will be inferior to the first wife in status. A 1930s study of the Mende in the West African state of Sierra Leone concluded that a plurality of wives is an agricultural asset, since a large number of women makes it unnecessary to employ wage laborers. Polygyny is considered an economic advantage in many rural areas. In some cases, the economic role of the additional wife enables the husband to enjoy more leisure.


title: Polygyny

text: Anthropologist Jack Goody's comparative study of marriage around the world, using the Ethnographic Atlas, demonstrated a historical correlation between the practice of extensive shifting cultivation and polygyny in many Sub-Saharan African societies. Drawing on the work of Ester Boserup, Goody notes that in some of the sparsely-populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place in Africa, much of the work is done by women. This favored polygynous marriages, in which men sought to monopolize the production of women "who are valued both as workers and as child bearers." Goody, however, observes that the correlation is imperfect, and also describes more traditionally male-dominated though relatively extensive farming systems, such as those common in much of West Africa, particularly the savanna region, where more agricultural work is done by men, and polygamy is desired more for the production of male offspring whose labor in farming is valued.


title: Polygyny

text: Goody's observation regarding African male farming systems is discussed and supported by anthropologists Douglas R. White and Michael L. Burton in "Causes of Polygyny: Ecology, Economy, Kinship, and Warfare", where the authors note: "Goody (1973) argues against the female contributions hypothesis. He notes Dorjahn's (1959) comparison of East and West Africa, showing higher female agricultural contributions in East Africa and higher polygyny rates in West Africa, especially in the West African savanna, where one finds especially high male agricultural contributions. Goody says, "The reasons behind polygyny are sexual and reproductive rather than economic and productive" (1973:189), arguing that men marry polygynously to maximize their fertility and to obtain large households containing many young dependent males."


title: Polygyny

text: An analysis by James Fenske (2012) found that child mortality and ecologically-related economic shocks had a stronger association with rates of polygamy in Subsaharan Africa rather than female agricultural contributions (which are typically relatively small in the West African savanna and Sahel, where polygyny rates are higher), finding that polygyny rates decrease significantly in line with child mortality rates.


title: Polygyny

text: Most research into the determinants of polygyny has focused on macro-level factors. Widespread polygyny is linked to the kinship groups that share descent from a common ancestor. Polygyny also served as "a dynamic principle of family survival, growth, security, continuity, and prestige", especially as a socially approved mechanism that increases the number of adult workers immediately and the eventual workforce of resident children.


title: Polygyny

text: According to scientific studies, the human mating system is considered to be moderately polygynous, based both on surveys of world populations, and on characteristics of human reproductive physiology.


title: Polygyny

text: Scholars have argued that in farming systems where men do most of the agriculture work, a second wife can be an economic burden rather than an asset. In order to feed an additional wife, the husband must either work harder himself or he must hire laborers to do part of the work. In such regions, polygyny is either non-existent or is a luxury which only a small minority of rich farmers can indulge.


title: Polygyny

text: A report by the secretariat of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) quotes: "one of the strongest appeals of polygyny to men in Africa is precisely its economic aspect, for a man with several wives commands more land, can produce more food for his household and can achieve a high status due to the wealth which he can command". According to Boserup's 1970 studies, through the hard work, economic, and agricultural assistance of a man's many wives, a husband could afford to pay the bride price of a new wife and further his access to more land, meanwhile expanding his progeny. According to Boserup, in 1970, over much of the continent of Africa, tribal rules of land tenure were still in force. This implies that members of a tribe which commands a certain territory had a native right to take land under cultivation for food production, and in many cases, also for the cultivation of cash crops. Under this tenure system, an additional wife is an economic asset that helps the family to expand its production.


title: Polygyny

text: The economist Michèle Tertilt concludes that countries that practice polygyny are less economically stable than those that practice monogamy. Polygynous countries usually have a higher fertility rate, fewer savings reserves, and a lower GDP. A 2014 study estimates that fertility would decrease by 40%, savings would increase by 70%, and GDP would increase by 170% if polygyny were banned. Monogamous societies present a surge in economic productivity because monogamous men are able to save and invest their resources due to having fewer children. Polygynous societies have a higher concentration of men investing into methods of mating with women, whereas monogamous men invest more into their families and other related institutions.


title: Polygyny

text: Despite the expenses of polygynous marriages, a 1995 study suggests that men benefit from marrying multiple wives through the economic and social insurance that kinship ties produce. With a large network of in-laws, these men have the ties they need to compensate for other economic shortages.


title: Polygyny

text: Some analysts have posited that a high libido may be a factor in polygyny, although others have downplayed its significance. The sex drive as a factor in some Asian cultures was sometimes associated with wealthy men and those that were adjunct to an aristocracy, although such libidinal perceptions were at times discarded in favor of seeing polygyny as a factor of traditional life. For example, many Sub-Saharan African societies view polygyny as essential to expand their progeny and kinship, a practice of high cultural importance. In this case, it would be hard to determine whether the origin was that of high libido, as polygyny would be practiced regardless. Other explanations postulate that polygyny is a tool used to ward off inclinations towards infidelity. In Edith Boserup's 1970 article on the study of Sub-Saharan African polygyny, higher incidences of adultery and prostitution where recorded in regions where polygyny was practiced, but delayed by males.


title: Polygyny

text: Researchers have suggested that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands. The concept was expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his semi-imaginary "History of The Normans". Rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines, and these polygynous relationships might have led to a shortage of eligible women for the average Viking male. Due to this, the average Viking man could have been forced to perform riskier actions to gain wealth and power to be able to find suitable women. Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines. The Annals of Ulster states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity".


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny in West Africa, the region of the world where the practice is most common, exists in a societal context where historical factors, such as the slave trade, and the local religion, Islam, interact creating a culture where polygyny is widespread. The slave trade's impact on the male-to-female sex ratio has been cited as a key factor in the high prevalence of polygynous practices in this region of Africa.


title: Polygyny

text: Of the 1,231 societies listed in the 1980 Ethnographic Atlas, 186 were found to be monogamous; 453 had occasional polygyny; 588 had more frequent polygyny; and 4 had polyandry. Some research that show that males living in polygynous marriages may live 12 percent longer. Polygyny may be practiced where there is a lower male:female ratio; this may result from male infants having increased mortality from infectious diseases. However, the natural sex ratio at birth is actually slightly biased in favour of males (the natural sex ratio is around 105 boys/100 girls at birth; generally in the range of 103–107); presently in some countries this is even more biased in favor of males due to sex selective abortion and female infanticide.


title: Polygyny

text: Other research shows that polygyny is widely practiced where societies are destabilized, more violent, more likely to invade neighbors and more likely to fail. This has been attributed to the inequality factor of polygyny, where if the richest and most powerful 10 percent of males have four wives each, the bottom 30 percent of males cannot marry. In the top 20 countries in the 2017 Fragile States Index, polygyny is widely practiced. In West Africa, more than one-third of women are married to a man who has more than one wife, and a study of 240,000 children in 29 African countries has also shown that, after controlling for other factors, children in polygynous families were more likely to die young. A 2019 study of 800 rural African ethnic groups published in the "Journal of Conflict Resolution" found that "young men who belong to polygynous groups feel that they are treated more unequally and are readier to use violence in comparison to those belonging to monogamous groups."


title: Polygyny

text: In a 2011 doctoral thesis, anthropologist Kyle R. Gibson reviewed three studies documenting 1,208 suicide attacks from 1981 to 2007 and found that countries with higher polygyny rates correlated with greater production of suicide terrorists. Political scientist Robert Pape has found that among Islamic suicide terrorists, 97 percent were unmarried and 84 percent were male (or if excluding the Kurdistan Workers' Party, 91 percent male), while a study conducted by the U.S. military in Iraq in 2008 found that suicide bombers were almost always single men without children aged 18 to 30 (with a mean age of 22), and were typically students or employed in blue-collar occupations. In addition to noting that countries where polygyny is widely practiced tend to have higher homicide rates and rates of rape, political scientists Valerie M. Hudson and Bradley Thayer have argued that because Islam is the only major religious tradition where polygyny is still largely condoned, the higher degrees of marital inequality in Islamic countries than most of the world causes them to have larger populations susceptible to suicide terrorism, and that promises of harems of virgins for martyrdom serves as a mechanism to mitigate in-group conflict within Islamic countries between alpha and non-alpha males by bringing esteem to the latter's families and redirecting their violence towards out-groups.


title: Polygyny

text: Along with his research on the Tamil Tigers, anthropologist Scott Atran found that Palestinian terrorist groups (such as Hamas) provide monthly stipends, lump-sum payments, and massive prestige to the families of suicide terrorists. Citing Atran and other anthropological research showing that 99 percent of Palestinian suicide terrorists are male, that 86 percent are unmarried, and that 81 percent have at least six siblings (larger than the average Palestinian family size), cognitive scientist Steven Pinker argues in "The Better Angels of Our Nature" (2011) that because the families of men in the West Bank and Gaza often cannot afford bride prices and that many potential brides end up in polygynous marriages, the financial compensation of an act of suicide terrorism can buy enough brides for a man's brothers to have children to make the self-sacrifice pay off in terms of kin selection and biological fitness (with Pinker also citing a famous quotation attributed to evolutionary biologist J. B. S. Haldane when Haldane quipped that he would not sacrifice his life for his brother but would for "two brothers or eight cousins").


title: Polygyny

text: Inequality between husbands and wives is common in countries where polygyny is more frequently practiced because of limited education. In Africa polygyny was believed to be part of the way to build an empire. It was not until the post colonialism era in Africa that polygyny began to be viewed as unjust or taboo. According to Natali Exposito, "in a study of the Ngwa Igbo Clan in Nigeria identified five principal reasons for men to maintain more than one wife: because having more than one wife allows the Ngwa husband to (1) have the many children that he desires; (2) heighten his prestige and boost his ego among his peers; (3) enhance his status within the community; (4) ensure a sufficient availability of labor to perform the necessary farm work and the processing of commercial oil-palm produce; and (5) satisfy his sexual urges." Out of all of the reasons stated none are beneficial to the wives, but instead only beneficial to the husbands. In Egypt, feminists have fought for polygamy to be abolished, but it is viewed as a basic human right so the fight has been unsuccessful. In countries where polygyny is practiced less frequently, women have more equality in the marriage and are better able to communicate their opinions about family planning.


title: Polygyny

text: Women participating in polygynous marriages share common marital problems with women in a monogamous marriage; however, there are issues uniquely related to polygyny which affects their overall life satisfaction and have severe implications for women's health. Women practicing polygyny are susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases, infertility, and mental health complications. Among the Logoli of Kenya, the fear of AIDS or becoming infected with the HIV virus has informed women's decisions about entering polygynous marriages. Some view polygyny as a means to prevent men from taking random sexual partners and potentially introducing STDs into relationships. Interviews conducted with some of the Logoli tribe in Kenya suggested they feared polygynous marriages because of what they have witnessed in the lives of other women who are currently in such relationships. The observed experiences of some of the women in polygynous unions tend to be characterized by frequent jealousy, conflicts, competition, tensions, and psychological stresses. Some of the husbands fail to share love and other resources equally; and envy and hatred, and sometimes violent physical confrontations become the order of the day among co-wives and their children. This discourages women from entering a polygynous marriage. Research shows that competition and conflict can intensify to unbearable level for co-wives causing women to commit suicide due to psychological distress. Findings show that the wife order can affect life satisfaction. According to Bove and Valeggia, women who are senior wives often misuse their position to obtain healthcare benefits in countries where only one wife can become a recipient. The conflict between co-wives can attribute to the higher rates of mental health disorders and issues such as anxiety, depression, somatization, psychoticism, and paranoia. As well as this reduced marital/life satisfaction and low self-esteem has been shown to be more prevalent among women in polygynous relationships when compared to women in monogamous relationships.


title: Polygyny

text: Various methods have been used to reduce the amount of jealousy and conflict among wives. These include sororal polygyny, in which the co-wives are sisters; and hut polygyny, in which each wife has her own residence and the husband visits them in rotation. A clear status hierarchy among wives is also sometimes used to avoid fighting by establishing unequivocally each wife's rights and obligations. Although there are several harmful aspects of this practice related to women, there are some reported personal and economic advantages for women such as sharing household and child rearing responsibilities. Also, wives share companionship and support with co-wives.


title: Polygyny

text: Studies of the Ngwa group in eastern Nigeria shows that on average, women in polygynous unions are 22–26% less fertile than women in monogamous unions. Data shows that the greater the intensity of polygyny, the lower the fertility of successive wives: 15 percent deficit for first wives; a 37% deficit for second wives; and a 46% deficit for third or more wives. Studies show that seems to exist because of the widening age gap between the successive order of wives and because of the decreasing exposure to coitus, if all coitus occurs in marriage.


title: Polygyny

text: Studies show there are two mechanisms that could lead to higher prevalence rates of HIV in men and women who are in polygynous unions: partners in polygynous unions have more extra-marital relationships and thus increase each other's exposure to HIV; women who are recruited into a polygynous union are more likely to be HIV positive than those who marry a monogamous husband. In addition to these two mechanisms, variation in HIV prevalence rates by union type is possibly due to individuals in polygynous unions are typically part of a sexual network with concurrent partnerships.


title: Polygyny

text: The ecological association between polygyny and HIV prevalence is shown to be negative at the sub-national level. HIV prevalence tends to be lower in countries where the practice of polygyny is common, and within countries it is lower in areas with higher levels of polygyny. Proposed explanations for the protective effect of polygyny include the distinctive structure of sexual networks produced by polygyny, the disproportionate recruitment of HIV positive women into marriages with a polygynous husband, and the lower coital frequency in conjugal dyads of polygynous marriages.


title: Polygyny

text: For example, studies in Malawi have shown that for men and women in polygynous marriages, the rate of HIV is between 10–15%. About 14% of Malawi's population is infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, according to official figures. There are approximately 78,000 AIDS-related deaths and 100,000 new infections every year in the country.


title: Polygyny

text: Criticism against polygyny focuses on the wellbeing of the wives in such marriages, including coercion, buying and selling of wives (such as through bride price, which is common in societies that practice polygyny), concerns about inequality and the fate of the young men left without wives (such as the lost boys in the FLDS Church), as well as the relation between polygyny practiced on a large scale in a society and war.


title: Polygyny

text: A notable critic of polygyny was Thomas Aquinas nearly eight centuries ago. He contended that polygyny is unjust to wives and children. He also argues that it creates rival stepchildren and forces them to compete for attention, food, and shelter. According to Aquinas, polygyny violates the requirements of fidelity between husband and wife.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny has been criticized by feminists such as Professor John O. Ifediora, who believes that women should be equal to men and not subject to them in marriage. Professor Ifediora also believes that polygyny is a "hindrance to social and economic development" in the continent of Africa due to women's lack of financial control. Standard polygynist practices often leave women at a disadvantage if they make the decision to remove themselves from the polygynist lifestyle. To leave the marriage, women must repay their bride price. Though this is simple in thought, this is not simple in execution. To prevent their wives from leaving, husbands will often keep the bride price at high levels, which is often at an unpayable level for women. In most cases, women do not have access to their children if they decide to leave polygyny, nor are they allowed to take them, due to cultural ideas of ownership in relation to progeny. Marci Hamilton sees polygyny as a form of oppression of women; she wrote: "In polygamy, also not a victimless crime, the practice is built on the subjugation of women to the men's needs and demands. Moreover, for many of the religious polygamists, the women are nothing but the means to a particular doctrinal end – creating more children to increase the man's odds of getting into heaven. Again, the men control the finances and the women are commodities, carrying out the sexual goals of the men. There can be no gender equality in this scenario, which is incapable of being squared with any viable theory of women's rights." First wives in polygynous marriages are often in a difficult situation, when the law or religious code does not require their consent or input for new wives to be admitted in the marriage, so the first wife is forced to accept any new women brought into the family by the husband and to get along with them. Polygyny is criticized because of its asymmetrical, unequal marital arrangement, where the husband has sexual/romantic relations with several women, but the wives can only have such a relation with one man, their husband, which often leads to rigid gender roles in the marriage.


title: Polygyny

text: A criticism against polygyny is that in almost all cultures and religious communities that practice it, polygyny is the only form of polygamy that is allowed; and, as such, this violates modern principles of equality between men and women, especially as in many such places females having multiple partners is violently punished through honor killings and stoning, or discouraged through female genital mutilation. In the United States, there has been controversy surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that practices polygyny, after the community has been marred by accusations of child sexual abuse, welfare fraud, and child labor trafficking, that culminated in the life imprisonment of polygynous leader Warren Jeffs.


title: Polygyny

text: In Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia in the Premodern Era, circa 600 BCE – 1600 CE, both monogamy and polygyny occurred. Polygyny occurred even in areas of where monogamy was prevalent. Wealth played a key role in the development of family life during these times. Wealth meant the more powerful men had a principal wife and several secondary wives, known as "resource polygyny". Local rulers of villages usually had the most wives as a sign of power and status. Conquerors of villages would often marry the daughters of the former leaders as a symbol of conquest. The practice of resource polygyny continued with the spread and expansion of Islam in Africa and Southeast Asia. Children born into these households were considered free. Children born to free or slave concubines were free, but had lesser status than those born to wives. Living arrangements varied between areas. In Africa, each wife usually had their own house, as well as property and animals. In many other parts of the world, wives lived together in seclusion, under one household. A "harem" (also known as a "forbidden area") was a special part of the house for the wives.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygynous marriage was preferred among the Logoli and other Abalulya sub ethnic groups. Taking additional wives was regarded as one of the fundamental indicators of a successfully established man. Large families enhanced the prestige of Logoli men. Logoli men with large families were also capable of obtaining justice, as they would be feared by people, who would not dare to use force to take their livestock or other goods from them. Interviews with some of the contemporary Logoli men and women who recently made polygynous marriages yielded data which suggest that marrying another wife is usually approached with considerable thought and deliberation by the man. It may or may not involve or require the consent of the other wives and prospective wife's parents. A type of "surrogate pregnancy" arrangement was reported to have been observed, in which some wives who are unable to bear children, find fulfillment in the children and family provided by a husband taking additional wives. Some of the men indicated that they were pressured by their parents to marry another wife, who could contribute additional income to the family. Some of the young polygynous men indicated that they were trapped in polygyny because of the large number of single women who needed and were willing to take them as husbands although they were already married. Most of those second and third wives were older women who had not yet married.


title: Polygyny

text: Customary law, one of the three legal systems in operation in Nigeria (the other two being Nigerian common law and Sharia law) allows for one man to legally marry more than one woman.


title: Polygyny

text: Unlike those marriages recognized by Sharia, there is no limit to the number of legal wives allowed under customary law. Currently polygyny is most common within royal and noble families within the country, and is largely practiced by the tribes native to its north and west. Although far less popular there, it is nonetheless also legal in Nigeria's east and south.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny varies according to a woman's age, religion and educational experience. Research conducted in the city of Ibadan, the second largest city in Nigeria, shows that non-educated women are significantly more likely (58%) to be in a polygynous union compared to college educated women (4%). Followers of traditional African religions are expected to have as many wives as they can afford. Muslim men are allowed up to 4 wives and only if they can be provided for and treated equally. Christians are typically (and expected to be) monogamous.


title: Polygyny

text: Among the Ngwa group in Eastern Nigeria, studies show that 70% of polygynous marriages consist of illiterate men and women, compared to 53% in monogamous marriages.


title: Polygyny

text: While polygynous marriages are not legally recognized under the civil marriage laws of Malawi, customary law affords a generous amount of benefits to polygynous unions, ranging from inheritance rights to child custody. It has been estimated that nearly one in five women in Malawi live in polygynous relationships.


title: Polygyny

text: Efforts to abolish the practice and de facto recognition of polygyny have been widely apparent throughout the recent years in Malawi; led mainly by anti-AIDS organizations and feminist groups. An effort led in 2008 to outlaw polygyny in the country was fiercely opposed by Islamic religious leaders, citing the practice as a cultural, religious and pragmatic reality of the nation.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygynous marriages are legal under certain circumstances in South Africa. All polygynous marriages entered into in accordance with the provisions of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act are legal. Polygyny in South Africa is practiced among the indigenous Bantu ethnic groups of South Africa, and also within the Muslim community. Although it was widespread in ancient times, it is now only common amongst richer men and men of status, such as chiefs and kings, including the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. Polygynous marriages of individuals over the age of 15 accounts for approximately 30,000 (0.1%) people in 2001. Both Islamic law and cultural family laws create a system in which Muslim men are encouraged to take up to four wives. Several factors for this include infertility or long-term illness of the first wife, excessive wealth on the part of the husband enabling him to support widowed or divorced mothers, and the economic benefits of large families.


title: Polygyny

text: Despite the historical and cultural history of polygyny among Muslim South Africans, polygynous unions are officially illegal on the national level in South Africa. After 1994, various laws such as the freedom of religion in the South African Constitution, the ratification of the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and a proposed Draft Bill on Muslim Marriages have tackled the issue of Islamic polygynous unions in South Africa.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is legal in Somalia and most commonly seen throughout Muslim communities. According to the Muslim tradition, men can have up to four wives. For a man to gain additional wives in Somalia, it must be granted by the court and it has to be proven that the first wife is either imprisoned or infertile.


title: Polygyny

text: Mozambique prohibits legal recognition of polygamous unions, yet there are no legal restrictions against the practice itself, which has been reported to be quite widespread in the coastal country. As of 2019, it was estimated that about nearly 20% of married women aged 15–49 are in polygynous unions.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is not legal in Australia. The Marriage Act of 1961 under section 94 states that any person who knowingly marries another whose marriage is legally ongoing carries out the act of bigamy. The penalty of bigamy is up to five years of imprisonment. The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia ruled on March 6, 2016 that it is illegal to have polygamous marriages. However, foreign marriages that have potential to be polygamous when it was started will be legally recognized in Australia. The court defined a potentially polygamous marriage as if the marriage is not yet polygamous, but if the country where the marriage marginally taken place permits polygamous marriages of either partner to the original marriage at a later date. Indigenous populations of Australia have been noted to engage in polygamous relationships.


title: Polygyny

text: Many majority-Muslim countries retain the traditional sharia, which interprets teachings of the Quran to permit polygamy with up to four wives. Exceptions to this include Albania, Tunisia, Turkey, and former USSR republics. Though about 70% of the population of Albania is historically Muslim, the majority is non-practicing. Turkey and Tunisia are countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations that enforce secularist practices by law. In the former USSR republics, a prohibition against polygamy has been inherited from Soviet Law. In the 21st century, a revival of the practice of polygamy in the Muslim World has contributed to efforts to re-establish its legality and legitimacy in some countries and communities where it is illegal.


title: Polygyny

text: Proposals have been made to re-legalize polygamy in other ex-Soviet Muslim republics, such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.


title: Polygyny

text: The original wife (or legal wife) was referred to as the 正室 zhèngshì /정실 (main room) both in China, Japan and Korea. 大婆 dàpó ("big woman/big wife") is the slang term. Both terms indicate the orthodox nature and hierarchy. The official wife was called "big mother" (大媽 dàmā), mother or aunt. The child of the concubine addressed the big mother as "aunt".


title: Polygyny

text: The written word for the second woman was "側室 cèshì /측실" and literally means "she who occupied the side room". This word was also used in both Korea and Japan. They were also called 妾 qiè/첩 in China and Korea. The common terms referring to the second woman, and the act of having the second woman respectively, are 二奶 ("èrnǎi"), literally "the second wife".


title: Polygyny

text: Polygamy in India is, in general, prohibited and the vast majority of marriages are legally monogamous. Polygyny among Christians was banned in the late 19th century, while The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 banned polygyny for Hindus. Currently, polygyny is only allowed among Muslims; but it is strongly discouraged by public policy. Muslims are subject to the terms of "The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937", interpreted by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Prevalence of polygyny in India is very low: among married women, only 1.68% of Hindus, 2.45% of Muslims, 2.16% of Christians, and 1.16% of other religions live in polygynous marriages.


title: Polygyny

text: In mainland China, polygamy is illegal under Civil code passed in 2020. This replaced a similar 1950 and 1980 prohibition.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny where wives are of equal status had always been illegal in China, and had been considered a crime in some dynasties. In family laws from Tang to Qing Dynasties, the status of a wife, concubines and maid-mistresses couldn't be altered. However, concubinage was supported by law until the end of the Qing/Ching dynasty of the imperial China (1911). In the past, Emperors could and often did have hundreds to thousands of concubines. Rich officials and merchants of the elite also took concubines in addition to legal wives. The first wife was the head or mother wife; other wives were under her headship if the husband was away. Concubines had a lower status than full wives, generally not being seen in public with their husband and not having rights to decisions in the house. Children from concubines were considered inferior to those of the wife and did not receive equal wealth/legacy from their father. However they were considered legitimate, therefore had many more rights to inheritance of status and wealth than illegitimate children conceived outside a marriage.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygamy was "de facto" widely practiced in the Republic of China from 1911 to 1949, before Kuomintang was defeated in the Civil War and retreated to Taiwan. Zhang Zongchang, a well-known warlord, notably declared he had three 'unknowns' – unknown number of rifles, unknown amount of money, and unknown number of concubines.


title: Polygyny

text: Chinese men in Hong Kong could practice concubinage by virtue of the Qing Code. This ended with the passing of the Marriage Act of 1971. Kevin Murphy of the "International Herald Tribune" reported on the cross-border polygamy phenomenon in Hong Kong in 1995. In a research paper of Humboldt University of Berlin on sexology, Doctor Man-Lun Ng estimated about 300,000 men in China have mistresses. In 1995, 40% of extramarital affairs in Hong Kong involved a stable partner.


title: Polygyny

text: Period drama and historical novels frequently refer to the former culture of polygamy (usually polygyny). An example is the "Wuxia" novel "The Deer and the Cauldron" by Hong Kong writer Louis Cha, in which the protagonist Wei Xiaobao has seven wives (In new edition of the novel, Princess Jianning was assigned as the wife, while others are concubines).


title: Polygyny

text: A proposal to decriminalize polygamy was heard by the Kyrgyz parliament. It was supported by the Justice Minister, the country's ombudsman, and the Muslim Women's organization "Mutakalim," which had gathered 40,000 signatures in favour of polygamy. But, on March 26, 2007, parliament rejected the bill. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is known to oppose legalizing polygyny.


title: Polygyny

text: Due to an increase in the number of polygamous marriages, proposals were made in Tajikistan to re-legalize polygamy. Tajik women who want to be second wives particularly support decriminalizing polygyny. Mukhiddin Kabiri, the Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, says that legislation is unlikely to stop the growth in polygyny. He criticizes the ruling élite for speaking out against the practice while taking more than one wife themselves.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is legal in Yemen, a majority Muslim nation, which follows Islamic tradition where polygyny is acceptable up to four wives only if the husband treats all wives justly. 7% of married women in Yemen are a part of polygamous relationship. Reports conducted in the country have shown that rural regions are more likely to have polygamous relationships than those in cities or coastal areas.


title: Polygyny

text: The Muslim communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina traditionally practiced polygamy but the practice was last observed in Cazinska Krajina in the early 1950s. Although illegal in the country, polygamy is encouraged by certain religious circles, and the number of practitioners has increased. This trend appears linked with the advent of fundamentalist Wahhabism in the Balkans.


title: Polygyny

text: The Bosniak population in neighbouring Raška, Serbia, has also been influenced by this trend in Bosnia. They have suggested creating an entire Islamic jurisdiction including polygamy, but these proposals have been rejected by Serbia. The top cleric, the Mufti of Novi Pazar, Muamer Zukorlić, has taken a second wife.


title: Polygyny

text: Factual polygamy and sexual relationships with several adult partners are not punishable in accordance with current revisions of Criminal Code of Russia and Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses. But multiple marriage can't be registered and officially recognised by Russian authorities because Family Code of Russia (section 14 and others) prohibits registration of marriage if one of person is in another registered marriage in Russia or another country. Polygamy is tolerated in predominantly Muslim republics such as Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan.


title: Polygyny

text: Chechen politician Ramzan Kadyrov actively advocated for polygynous marriage to gain legal recognition. Muslim leaders such as Talgat Tadzhuddin also pushed for the legal recognition of polygynous marriage.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny was legalized and documented in unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria but Russian authorities had annulled these polygynous marriages after they regained control over territory of Ichkeria. Later Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic, has been quoted on radio as saying that the depopulation of Chechnya by war justifies legalizing polygamy. Kadyrov has been supported by Nafigallah Ashirov, the Chairman of the Council of Grand Muftis of Russia, who has said that polygamy is already widespread among Muslim communities of the country.


title: Polygyny

text: In Ingushetia in July, 1999 polygyny was officially recognised and allowed by edict of president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev and registration of polygyny marriages had been started allowing men to marry up to four wives as it relates to Muslim tradition. But this edict had been formally suspended soon by edict of President of Russia Boris Yeltsin. One year later this edict of Aushev had been cancelled by the Supreme Court of Ingushetia because of contradiction with Family Code of Russia.


title: Polygyny

text: Although non-Muslim Russian populations have historically practiced monogamy, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky offered to legalize polygyny to encourage population growth and correct the demographic crisis of Russians. Zhirinovsky first proposed to legalize polygyny in 1993, after Kadyrov's declaration that he would introduce an amendment to legalize polygyny for all Russian citizens.


title: Polygyny

text: Serbian Law, which in turn is based on the French Civil Code, permits individuals to only be married monogamously. However, the juridistiction of the civil law exclusively oversees the marriages conducted in civilian ceremonies, and not those conducted in the religious ones. Given that the law doesn't require couples to register a religious marriage in the registry of civil marriages (whilst in the neighbouring Bosnia, failing to do so can result in a fine), individuals seeking to practice polygamy are not restricted to do so. One of the best known examples was the chief Mufti of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Dr. Muamer Zukorlic, who was simultaniously married to three women.


title: Polygyny

text: In the UK, there are believed to be up to 20,000 polygamous marriages in Britain's Muslim community, even though bigamy is an offence. All marriages that happen within the United Kingdom must be monogamous and meet the requirements of the relevant legislation to be perceived as legitimately substantial. For polygamous unions in the UK to be viewed as valid, the people must live in a country where a person is allowed to have more than one spouse and get married in a nation that permits it. There is evidence of unregistered polygamous marriages in the UK, performed through religious ceremonies, that are not recognized under UK law. In May 2016, a cross-bench member of the British House of Lords Baroness Cox introduced the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill. This Bill would ensure that individuals in polygamous marriages and religiously recognized marriages not considered legal in the UK are informed that they could be without legal protection if they were caught by authorities.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny has a long history among the Mapuche people of southern South America. Wives that share the same husband are often relatives, such as sisters, who live in the same community. Having the same husband does not imply women belong to the same household. Mapuche polygamy has no legal recognition in Chile. This puts women who are not legally married to their husband at disadvantage to any legal wife in terms of securing inheritance. It is thought that present-day polygamy is much less common than it once was, in particularly compared with the time before the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883) when Araucanía lost its autonomy. Albeit chiefly rural, Mapuche polygamy has also been reported in the low-income peripheral communes of Santiago.


title: Polygyny

text: Mormon fundamentalism believes in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century. Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints' teachings include plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.


title: Polygyny

text: In the 21st century, several sources have claimed as many as 60,000 fundamentalist Latter-day Saints in the United States, with fewer than half of them living in polygamous households. Others have suggested that there may be as few as 20,000 Mormon fundamentalists with only 8,000 to 15,000 practicing polygamy. The largest Mormon fundamentalist groups are the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) and the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). The FLDS Church is estimated to have 10,000 members residing in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; Pringle, South Dakota and Montana.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is also practiced by some Muslim immigrants to the US, especially those from Africa and Asia. NPR's All Things Considered estimated in 2008 that 50,000 to 100,000 American Muslims live in polygamous families.


title: Polygyny

text: In July 2022, a Mexican judge in the state of Puebla's Eighth District Civil Court authorized the country's first threesome group marriage.


title: Polygyny

text: Buddhism does not regard marriage as a sacrament – it is a secular affair, and normally Buddhist monks do not participate in it (though in some sects priests do marry). Hence marriage receives no religious sanction. Forms of marriage, in consequence, vary from country to country.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygamy in Thailand was legally recognized until 1935. Myanmar outlawed polygyny from 2015. In Sri Lanka, polyandry was legal in the Kingdom of Kandy, but outlawed by British after conquering the kingdom in 1815. When the Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese, the concubines of others were added to the list of inappropriate partners. Polyandry in Tibet was common traditionally, as was polygyny, and having several wives or husbands was never regarded as having sex with inappropriate partners.


title: Polygyny

text: The Parabhava Sutta states that "a man who is not satisfied with one woman and seeks out other women is on the path to decline". Other fragments in the Buddhist scripture seem to treat polygamy unfavorably, leading some authors to conclude that Buddhism generally does not approve of it or alternatively regards it as a tolerated, but subordinate, marital model.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygamy is not forbidden in the Old Testament. The New Testament is largely silent on polygamy, however, some point to Jesus's repetition of the earlier scriptures, noting that a man and a wife "shall become one flesh". However, some look to Paul's writings to the Corinthians: "Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, 'The two will become one flesh. Supporters of polygamy claim this indicates that the term refers to a physical, rather than spiritual, union.


title: Polygyny

text: Most Christian theologians argue that in Matthew 19:3–9 and referring to Genesis 2:24, Jesus explicitly states a man should have only one wife:


title: Polygyny

text: Jesus also tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins going to meet the bridegroom, without making any explicit criticism or other comment on the practice of polygamy.


title: Polygyny

text: The Bible states in the New Testament that polygamy should not be practiced by certain church leaders. 1 Timothy states that certain Church leaders should have but one wife: "A "bishop" then must be blameless, the husband of one wife ("mias gunaikos andra", lit. one-woman man), vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach" (chapter 3, verse 2; see also verse 12 regarding deacons having only one wife). Similar counsel is repeated in the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus.


title: Polygyny

text: Periodically, Christian reform movements that have aimed at rebuilding Christian doctrine based on the Bible alone ("sola scriptura") have at least temporarily accepted polygyny as a Biblical practice. For example, during the Protestant Reformation, in a document referred to simply as ""Der Beichtrat"" (or ""The Confessional Advice"" ), Martin Luther, whose reformation caused a schism in the Western Christian Church leading to the formation of the Lutheran Church, granted the Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who, for many years, had been living "constantly in a state of adultery and fornication", a dispensation to take a second wife. The double marriage was to be done in secret, however, to avoid public scandal. Some fifteen years earlier, in a letter to the Saxon Chancellor Gregor Brück, Luther stated that he could not "forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture." (""Ego sane fateor, me non posse prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris literis."")


title: Polygyny

text: The Lutheran World Federation hosted a regional conference in Africa, in which the acceptance of polygynists and their wives into full membership by the Lutheran Church in Liberia was defended as being permissible. The Lutheran Church in Liberia, while permitting men to retain their wives from marriages prior to being received into the Church, does not permit polygynists who have become Christians to marry more wives after they have received the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Evangelical Lutheran missionaries in Maasai also tolerate the practice of polygyny and in Southern Sudan, some polygynists are becoming Lutheran Christians.


title: Polygyny

text: On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church criticizes polygyny in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Under paragraph 2387 of "Other offenses against the dignity of marriage" of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it states "is not in accord with the moral law." Additionally, paragraph 1645 of "The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love" states "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to husband and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive." There are small numbers of Roman Catholic theologians that claim polygyny can be an authentic form of marriage in certain regions such as Africa.


title: Polygyny

text: In Sub-Saharan Africa, there has often been a tension between the Western Christian insistence on monogamy and the traditional practice of polygamy. In some instances in recent times there have been moves for accommodation; in other instances, churches have resisted such moves strongly. African Independent Churches have sometimes referred to those parts of the Old Testament that describe polygamy in defending the practice.


title: Polygyny

text: The Hindu scriptures acknowledge numerous occasions of polygyny; it was the norm among kings, the nobility and the extremely wealthy. Pandu, the father of the Pandavas in Mahabharata, had two wives Kunti and Madri. Many other personalities including Rama had only one wife, and while this was regarded as morally exemplary, polygyny remained customary and acceptable among Hindus. It was legally abolished for Hindus in India by the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955.


title: Polygyny

text: Under Islamic marital jurisprudence, Muslim men are allowed to practice polygyny, that is, they can have more than one wife at the same time, up to a total of four. Polyandry, the practice of a woman having more than one husband, is not permitted.


title: Polygyny

text: Based on verse 30:21 of Quran the ideal relationship is the comfort that a couple find in each other's embrace:


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is allowed in the Quran but if a man fears he can't deal justly with them he should only marry one. This is based on verse 4:3 of Quran which says:


title: Polygyny

text: There are strict requirements to marrying more than one woman, as the man must treat them equally financially and in terms of support given to each wife, according to Islamic law.


title: Polygyny

text: Muslim women aren't allowed to marry more than one husband at once. However, in the case of a divorce or their husbands' death they can remarry after the completion of Iddah, as divorce is legal in Islamic law. A non-Muslim woman who flees from her non-Muslim husband and accepts Islam can remarry without divorce from her previous husband, as her marriage with non-Muslim husband is Islamically dissolved on her fleeing. A non-Muslim woman captured during war by Muslims, can also remarry, as her marriage with her non-Muslim husband is Islamically dissolved at capture by Muslim soldiers. This permission is given to such women in verse 4:24 of Quran. The verse also emphasizes on transparency, mutual agreement and financial compensation as prerequisites for matrimonial relationship as opposed to prostitution; it says:


title: Polygyny

text: Muhammad was monogamously married to Khadija, his first wife, for 25 years, until she died. After her death, he married multiple women, mostly widows, for social and political reasons. He had a total of nine wives, but not all at the same time, depending on the sources in his lifetime. The Qur'an does not give preference in marrying more than one wife. One reason cited for polygyny is that it allows a man to give financial protection to multiple women, who might otherwise not have any support (e.g. widows). However, the wife can set a condition, in the marriage contract, that the husband cannot marry another woman during their marriage. In such a case, the husband cannot marry another woman as long as he is married to his wife. According to traditional Islamic law, each of those wives keeps their property and assets separate; and are paid mahar and maintenance separately by their husband. Usually the wives have little to no contact with each other and lead separate, individual lives in their own houses, and sometimes in different cities, though they all share the same husband.


title: Polygyny

text: In most Muslim-majority countries, polygyny is legal with Kuwait being the only one where no restrictions are imposed on it. The practice is illegal in Muslim-majority Turkey, Tunisia, Albania, Kosovo and Central Asian countries.


title: Polygyny

text: Countries that allow polygyny typically also require a man to obtain permission from his previous wives before marrying another, and require the man to prove that he can financially support multiple wives. In Malaysia and Morocco, a man must justify taking an additional wife at a court hearing before he is allowed to do so. In Sudan, the government encouraged polygyny in 2001 to increase the population.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny is not forbidden in the Tanakh and over 40 important figures had more than one wife, such as Esau, Elkanah, and Solomon. Moses had three wives; Zipporah, the daughter of Hobab and the "Cushite" woman. However, Deuteronomy 17:17 does state that the king shall not have too many wives.


title: Polygyny

text: According to Michael Coogan, "[p]olygyny continued to be practiced well into the biblical period, and it is attested among Jews as late as the second century CE." The incidence was limited, however, and it was likely largely restricted to the wealthy. By the first century, both the expense and the practical problems associated with maintaining multiple wives were barriers to the practice, especially for the less wealthy. Since the 11th century, Ashkenazi Jews have followed Rabbenu Gershom's ban on polygyny (except in rare circumstances).


title: Polygyny

text: Some Mizrahi (Mideast) Jewish communities (particularly Yemenite Jews and Persian Jews) discontinued polygyny more recently, after they immigrated to countries where it was forbidden or illegal. Israel prohibits polygamy by law. In practice, however, the law is loosely enforced, primarily to avoid interference with Bedouin culture, where polygyny is practiced. Pre-existing polygynous unions among Jews from Arab countries (or other countries where the practice was not prohibited by their tradition and was not illegal) are not subject to this Israeli law. But Mizrahi Jews are not permitted to enter into new polygamous marriages in Israel. However polygamy may still occur in non-European Jewish communities that exist in countries where it is not forbidden, such as Jewish communities in Yemen and the Arab world.


title: Polygyny

text: Karaite Jews, who do not adhere to Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah, do not practice polygyny. Karaites interpret Leviticus 18:18 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives her consent and Exodus 21:10 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if he is capable of maintaining the same level of marital duties due to his first wife: namely, food, clothing, and sexual gratification.


title: Polygyny

text: In zoology the term "polygyny" is used for a pattern of mating in which a male animal has more than one female mate in a breeding season. Males get their mates by defending the females directly or holding resources that the females want and need. This is known as resource defense polygyny and males of the bee species "Anthidium manicatum" (also known as the European wool carder bee) exhibit this behavior. Males claim patches of floral plants, ward off conspecific males and other resource competitors, and mate with the multiple females who forage in their territories. Males of many species attract females to their territory by either gathering in a lek or going out in search of dispersed females. In polygyny relationships in animals, the female is the one who provides most of the parental care for the offspring.


title: Polygyny

text: Polygyny in eusocial insects means that some insects living in colonies have not only one queen, but several queens. Solitary species of insects take part in this practice in order to maximize their reproductive success of the widely dispersed females, such as the bee species "Anthidium maculosum". Insects such as red flour beetles use polygyny to reduce inbreeding depression and thus maximize reproductive success.


title: Polygyny

text: There is primary polygyny (several queens join to found a new colony, but after the hatching of the first workers the queens fight each other until only one queen survives and the colony becomes monogynous) and secondary polygyny (a well-established colony continues to have several queens).


title: Tankie

text: Tankie is a pejorative label for leftists, particularly Stalinists, who support the authoritarian tendencies of Marxism–Leninism, or more generally authoritarian states historically associated with Marxism–Leninism. The term was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out defending the Soviet use of tanks to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and later the 1968 Prague Spring uprising, or more broadly, those who adhered to pro-Soviet positions in general.


title: Tankie

text: The term is also used to describe people who endorse, defend, or deny mistakes and crimes committed by Communist state leaders such as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and Kim il-Sung. Members of the anti-Stalinist left use the word to describe those who are perceived to be biased in favor of authoritarian states, such as the People's Republic of China and Democratic People's Republic of Korea, that are ruled by Communist parties.


title: Tankie

text: After the Prague Spring, the term was used to describe Communist party members who had supported the crushing of it by force of arms. According to Christina Petterson, "Politically speaking, tankies regard past and current socialist systems as legitimate attempts at creating communism, and thus have not distanced themselves from Stalin, China, etc." It was also used in the 1980s to describe the uncritical support the "Morning Star" gave to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. By 2017, "tankie" had re-emerged as internet slang for Stalinists, used by other Marxists, and it became particularly popular among young democratic socialists. Modern tankies generally do not get along with non-Marxist–Leninist segments of the left and many of those who oppose tankies also consider themselves leftists.


title: Tankie

text: Especially in context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the term has also been used, such as by Sarah Jones of "New York", for "elements within the self-identified [American] left that have soft-pedaled Russia's aggressive foreign policy and history of human rights abuses", with "The Intercept" journalist Roane Carey identifying the "key element in the tankie mindset [as] the simple-minded assumption that only the U.S. can be imperialist, and thus any country that opposes the U.S. must be supported."


title: Tankie

text: "Tankie" has its origins in British political rhetoric. It has since become a popular pejorative in English-language social media. In 2017, left-wing writer Carl Beijer argued that there are two distinct uses of the term "tankie". The original, which was "exemplified in the sending of tanks into Hungary to crush resistance to Soviet communism. More generally, a tankie is someone who tends to support militant opposition to capitalism", and a more modern online variation, which means "something like 'a self-proclaimed communist who indulges in conspiracy theories and whose rhetoric is largely performative. He was critical of both uses. An example of the modern usage is the description of those "who instinctively defend China based on the idea that it is an example of actually existing socialism resisting Western imperialism", in discussions around the Uyghur genocide, where in this defence they will use neoconservative analysis to justify the anti-terrorism operations of the Chinese government.


title: Tankie

text: "Tankie" originated as a term for British hardline members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). The tankie wing of the CPGB was also sometimes called "Stalinist" and was associated with the views of the strong CPGB presence in trade unions in the United Kingdom. Journalist Peter Paterson asked the Amalgamated Engineering Union official Reg Birch about his election to the CPGB Executive after the Hungarian invasion in 1956. He recalled:


title: Tankie

text: The support of the invasion of Hungary was disastrous for the party's reputation in Britain. The CPGB made mild criticisms of Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, which they called an intervention, although a hardline faction supported it, including the Appeal Group who left the party in response.


title: Tankie

text: The term continued to be used into the 1980s, especially in relation to the split between the reform-minded Eurocommunist wing of the CPGB and the traditionalist, pro-Soviet group, the latter continuing to be labelled tankies. In the 2006 play "Rock 'n' Roll" by the Anglo-Czech author Tom Stoppard, the character Max, based on Eric Hobsbawm, discusses with Stephen what to read to hear what is happening in the Communist party, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Their options are "Marxism Today" and the daily newspaper, the "Morning Star".


title: Tankie

text: The term is sometimes used within the Labour Party as slang for a politically old-fashioned leftist. Alastair Campbell reported a conversation about modernising education, in which Tony Blair said: "I'm with George Walden on selection." Campbell recalled: "DM <nowiki>[</nowiki>David Miliband<nowiki>]</nowiki> looked aghast... [Blair] said when it came to education, DM and I were just a couple of old tankies." In 2015, Boris Johnson referred to Jeremy Corbyn and the left wing of the Labour Party as "tankies and trots", the latter referring to Trotskyism.


title: Tankie

text: The term "tankie" has been used in English-language social media to describe communists, particularly those from the Western world who uphold the legacies of Communist state leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. While generally used pejoratively, some Marxist–Leninists have reappropriated it and used the term as a badge of honor.


title: Tankie

text: The Taiwanese left-wing magazine "New Bloom" alleges that many modern tankies are members of the Asian diasporas of English-speaking countries. In particular, members of the Chinese diaspora searching for radical responses to social ills such as xenophobia against Asians are drawn to tankie discourse. This modern conception of tankie has also been described as "diasporic Chinese nationalism".


title: Tankie

text: In 2022, "New York" observed that in the US "[s]o-called tankies don't make up the majority of DSA membership or wield much power within the broader left, but they do exist", and that "[l]eftists from other countries have been contending with the American tankie for years", quoting activists from Hong Kong and Poland.


title: Ethan Sandler

text: Ethan Sandler (born December 3, 1972) is an American actor, film producer and writer known for his role of ADA Jeffrey Brandau on the television series "Crossing Jordan".


title: Ethan Sandler

text: Sandler's screen credits include "The Chocolate War", "Flushed", and "The Enigma with a Stigma". He can be heard in Disney's 2007 computer-animated film "Meet the Robinsons" as DOR-15 (Doris), Uncle Fritz, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Dimitri, Uncle Spike, Cousin Laszlo, CEO of InventCo. From 2002 to 2007 he was in "Crossing Jordan" as ADA Jeffrey Brandau.


title: Ethan Sandler

text: Sandler is Jewish and graduated from Northwestern University where he met his future wife, actress Kathryn Hahn. They have been married since 2002 and have two children together, Leonard and Mae. The family lives in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the "Alliance Premier League" from 1979 until 1986. Between 1986 and 2015, the league was known as the "Football Conference".


title: National League (English football)

text: Most National League clubs are fully professional (only three are not in the 2022/23 lineup), while a growing number of National League North and National League South clubs are also professional. Some professional clubs were previously in the English Football League (EFL), as opposed to clubs that have always been non-League. The National League is the lowest of the five nationwide professional football divisions in England, below the Premier League and the three divisions of the EFL, and is the top tier of the National League System of non-League football. The National League North and National League South form the sixth tier of professional English football. The National League consisted of only one division until 2004, but expanded as part of an extensive restructuring of the National League System beginning with the 2004–05 season.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League stands at the top of the National League System (NLS), a comprehensive structure linking together over 50 different leagues under the auspices of The Football Association (FA). The National League is at "Step 1" of the NLS, and National League North and National League South make up "Step 2". Above the National League are the 92 clubs that together make up the highest levels of English football, the Premier League and the EFL; below the National League are the "Step 3" and lower leagues of the NLS.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League has 24 clubs and the North and South divisions have 22 clubs each. Each club plays the others in its division twice during a season, once at home and once away. Clubs earn three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat.


title: National League (English football)

text: At the end of each season two clubs are promoted from the National League to EFL League Two and two teams from League Two are relegated to the National League to take their place. The two promotion places are awarded to the National League champions and to the winners of the National League Promotion Final, which is played between the two teams who were successful in playoff games, contested by those clubs finishing second to seventh in the final divisional standings.


title: National League (English football)

text: At the other end of the table, the bottom four clubs in National League are relegated to either National League North or National League South. The decision as to which division the relegated club joins is made by the FA's NLS Committee, but is largely determined by geography. The four relegated teams are replaced by four promoted teams, two from National League North and two from National League South. For each of these two leagues, this is the champions and the winners of their respective Promotion Finals between their second to seventh place clubs in those divisions.


title: National League (English football)

text: At the bottom of National League North and National League South, three clubs from each division are relegated and these six clubs are divided among the "Step 3" leagues of the NLS, the Northern Premier League, the Southern League, and the Isthmian League. Each of these "Step 3" leagues promotes their respective champions and second- to fifth-place playoff winners. The NLS Committee determines which "Step 3" leagues the relegated clubs join, and whether the promoted clubs join National League North or National League South.


title: National League (English football)

text: Clubs relegated from the national division are not always geographically balanced. Thus, should it be deemed necessary, the NLS Committee may order one or more clubs from northern counties bordering the south and vice versa or from South Wales in the sixth tier to switch divisions (to move "horizontally" between the leagues, so to speak) so as to maintain numerical balance between North and South.


title: National League (English football)

text: Due to financial constraints at this level of football, some clubs have escaped relegation despite finishing in a relegation position, due to the misfortune of others. For promotion to proceed, whether from the National League to the EFL, within the National League, or between the various leagues of the NLS, certain conditions concerning finances and facilities must be met. Failure to meet the requirements of the league concerned prevents the eligible club from being promoted.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League North and South expanded to 24 teams each in the 2022–23 season. Expansion was scheduled at first for 2020–21 until its implementation was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It was fulfilled at the end of 2021–22.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League was formed in 1979 from leading teams in the Northern Premier League and Southern League and was originally known as the "Alliance Premier Football League" and subsequently the "Football Conference". Support for such a league came from Alan Hardaker, the long serving Secretary of the Football League. He suggested that an amalgamation of the two strongest lower leagues in England, the Northern Premier League and the Southern League would reduce the number of candidates applying to join the Football League under the re-election system then in use. It was also thought it would enable the strongest non-league candidate to emerge. In 1977 the Northern Premier and Southern Leagues agreed to only put forward one candidate each for election to the League and this proved successful with Wimbledon and Wigan Athletic gaining election to the League in 1977 and 1978. It was then agreed that a new league would be set up comprising 13 Southern League teams and 7 sides from the Northern Premier.


title: National League (English football)

text: Several Northern Premier sides who might have taken part in the new competition did not do so. Goole Town, Lancaster City, and Mossley all did not apply to enter the Alliance. Matlock Town and Runcorn were not admitted as their grounds did not meet the criteria required for the new league. Southport, who had been voted out of the Football League in 1978, were accepted as members of the new league, but eventually chose not to join it due to concerns over travelling costs.


title: National League (English football)

text: Barrow and Northwich had previously been members of the EFL. Barrow failed re-election in 1972, while Northwich resigned from the league in 1894. Barnet, Boston, Maidstone, Scarborough and Yeovil have also tasted EFL football since the formation of the National League, but are now back in the National League or its feeder leagues (Scarborough and Maidstone now in new incarnations).


title: National League (English football)

text: Of the 20 founder members, the last to leave the fifth level were Northwich. They were relegated in 2005, a year after the demise of Telford. Barnet are the only founder member who have remained in the top five levels continuously since 1979.


title: National League (English football)

text: Bangor City have since moved to the Welsh football league system, while AP Leamington, Maidstone, Nuneaton, Scarborough, and Telford later collapsed and were reconstituted in lower English leagues. Gravesend & Northfleet changed its name to Ebbsfleet United in 2007.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League had a single division for the first 25 years of its existence, but since the 2004–05 season has consisted of three divisions. The original division was renamed "Conference National" (currently "National League") and two new regional divisions one level down were introduced, "Conference North" and "Conference South" (currently National League North and South). The new clubs to form this larger competition were drawn from the Northern Premier League, Southern League, and Isthmian League according to guidelines developed by the NLS Committee.


title: National League (English football)

text: Two teams have won the National League three times: Barnet (1991, 2005, 2015) and Macclesfield Town (1995, 1997, 2018). Prior to Barnet's and Macclesfield's third title wins, five other clubs had also become champions twice: Altrincham (1980, 1981), Enfield (1983, 1986), Kidderminster Harriers (1994, 2000), Maidstone United, (1984, 1989), and Stevenage Borough (1996, 2010). Kidderminster also finished second in 1997 and 2013. Lincoln City became the seventh club to win the National League twice (1988, 2017), but subsequent to Barnet's third title. Only Barnet were promoted to the EFL on all three occasions; Maidstone's first title came before the era of automatic promotion, while Kidderminster Harriers, Macclesfield Town and Stevenage Borough were denied promotion because their grounds were not up to the required standard at the time of their first win. However, all three were promoted when they took their second title. Altrincham are the only team in history to retain the title, as at the time there was no automatic promotion to the EFL.


title: National League (English football)

text: No former National League club has yet reached the Premier League, although six such clubs did compete in the top tier of football prior to the Premier League, in the Football League First Division: Carlisle United, Leyton Orient, Oxford United, Luton Town, Grimsby Town, and Notts County. The first five of them have since returned to the League, Luton and Orient by winning the title, and the other three by winning the playoff finals. Additionally Luton Town and Oxford United and also Grimsby Town and Notts County are the only clubs to have played league matches against each other in all top five tiers of English football. Bradford (Park Avenue) also played in the First Division in its previous incarnation, however their current incarnation has only reached as high as the National North division.


title: National League (English football)

text: The highest league tier a club promoted from the National League has reached is the second-tier EFL Championship, which (as of August 2021) has been reached by six clubs: Colchester United, Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil Town, Luton Town, Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers. Colchester, Doncaster and Luton were EFL members before competing in the National League, while Yeovil, Burton and Wycombe were entirely new to EFL football.


title: National League (English football)

text: Oldham Athletic became the first former Premier League side to compete in the National League and by extension, any non-League competition, following a home defeat by Salford City, in 2022.


title: National League (English football)

text: Prior to 1987, for National League clubs to enter the EFL, they had to be elected by League members. As a consequence, there was no guarantee that winning the National League would result in promotion, and none of the league's first eight champions were promoted. This changed in 1987, when automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League Fourth Division and the National League was agreed. The first clubs affected by the new system were Lincoln City, who were relegated and replaced by Scarborough. However, although the champions of the National League are entitled to a place in the EFL, this was dependent on their stadium meeting the set criteria for membership. This meant that Northampton Town, Exeter City, and Torquay United all avoided relegation from the EFL, although Exeter and Torquay were both relegated to the National League at a later date.


title: National League (English football)

text: For three successive years in the 1990s, the National League champions were denied promotion to the EFL on these grounds. Since 1997, when Macclesfield Town won the title for the second time in three years, every champion has been promoted.


title: National League (English football)

text: Since 2003, the National League has been awarded a second promotion place. Through 2017, this was decided by a play-off system similar to that of the EFL. The four teams below the National League champions played against each other in semi-finals over two legs, with second playing fifth and third playing fourth. The winners of these ties then played a single final game known as the Promotion Final, with the winners gaining the second promotion place. Doncaster Rovers were the first team to win the Promotion Final.


title: National League (English football)

text: Prior to 2004, relegation from the National League meant dropping to one of the three feeder leagues below. After Chester City failed to avoid expulsion in 2010, three teams were relegated instead of four, to either the Northern Premier League, Southern League or Isthmian League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of these three leagues would be promoted to the National League. The closure of Chester City during the later stages of the 2009–10 season was the first mid-season closure of a club in the division since Newport County in the second half of the 1988–89 season; on both occasions, the records of both clubs were expunged.


title: National League (English football)

text: In 2004, a restructuring of the National League System saw the creation of a new level immediately below the National League; two regional divisions now named National League North and National League South were created, with the feeder leagues dropping below them. There are two promotion places to the National League's top division from each regional division – the champions are promoted automatically, while the remaining place is again decided by semi final play-offs and a Promotion Final. The four teams relegated from the National League (i.e. the highest division) are then allocated to one or other of the regional divisions dependent on their geographical location.


title: National League (English football)

text: In May 2017, the National League proposed a revamp in the play-offs for all three divisions. Under the new system, the number of teams playing for promotion was increased to six. The clubs finishing second and third automatically proceed to a semi-final at their home ground, while the clubs in fourth and fifth stage compete in qualifying round ties against the teams finishing seventh and sixth. The winners of those matches then complete the semi-finals. These proposals were approved at the National League's annual general meeting on 10 June.


title: National League (English football)

text: In 2019, plans were discussed for the gradual restructuring of the NLS so that the North and South divisions were expected to expand to 24 teams each in 2021–22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2020–21 National League North and South seasons were curtailed and voided after written resolutions were put to a vote. No teams were relegated. Expansion was therefore delayed and it was implemented before the 2022–23 season with eight-team relegations from tier six at the end of that season. To expand, two clubs in Step 2 were relegated and eight promoted from all four Step 3 divisions: the division champions and play-off winners. Four teams in both North and South are to be relegated starting in 2023.


title: National League (English football)

text: Phoenix or reformed clubs are not included unless they competed in the League in their own right, and are counted separately from the original club. Highest English Football League tier is the tier's standing within the EFL and may not correspond to its overall standing on today's system.


title: National League (English football)

text: Several clubs formed as phoenix clubs after the dissolution of former EFL teams currently compete in the National League. These include:


title: National League (English football)

text: The Alliance Premier/Conference organised a cup competition from 1979 until 2009, with occasional breaks when sponsors were not available. Known initially as the Bob Lord Trophy and then the Spalding Cup from 1995–96 until 2000–01, the cup competition was reinstated in 2007–08 as the Conference League Cup, sponsored by Setanta Sports. Very much like the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy at the higher levels, it has not always proved popular with fans and was generally viewed as of secondary importance to the FA Trophy. The cup was put in abeyance when Setanta Sports' British service ceased.


title: National League (English football)

text: Since 1984, the National League has been publicly known by the names of a succession of official title sponsors. The name was officially changed from Alliance Premier to the Football Conference in 1986, and to the National League in 2015. Below is a list of sponsors and what they chose to call the league.


title: National League (English football)

text: The National League's first major TV coverage was available on Setanta Sports. The channel showed 79 matches each season. It also showed the Conference League Cup. The FA Trophy Final was also shown on Setanta Sports (after being shown on Sky Sports until 2008). The channel's British operations went under in June 2009.


title: National League (English football)

text: On 19 August 2010, Premier Sports announced that it had bought the live and exclusive UK television rights to thirty matches per season from the Conference Premier for a total of three seasons. The thirty matches selected for broadcast included all five Conference Premier matches culminating in the Promotion Final itself. The deal with the then-Football Conference was a revenue sharing arrangement whereby clubs received 50% of revenue from subscriptions, on top of the normal rights fee paid by the broadcaster, once the costs of production were met. The Conference also earned 50% from all internet revenue associated with the deal and allowed them to retain advertising rights allied to those adverts shown with their matches. During the 2010–11 season, Premier Sports failed to attract enough viewers to its Conference football broadcasts to share any revenue with the clubs beyond the £5,000 broadcast fee paid to home clubs and £1,000 to away clubs.


title: National League (English football)

text: BT Sport are now one of the television broadcast partners and commenced a contract in 2013–14 to cover again up to 30 National league matches including the end of season semi finals and the Promotion Final. The deal worth £300,000, sees the fee to each home clubs as £7,000 and the away club £1,000. The National League also launched its own channel called NLTV, which focuses on all 68 member clubs across the three divisions.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Richard Wilson (born Iain Carmichael Wilson; 9 July 1936) is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster. He is most famous for playing Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom "One Foot in the Grave". Another notable role was as Gaius, the court physician of Camelot, in the BBC drama "Merlin".


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson was born in Greenock, Scotland. He went to the Lady Alice Primary school in Greenock. He studied science subjects at Greenock Academy, then completed his National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in Singapore.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson worked in a laboratory at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow as a research assistant before switching to acting at age 27. He trained at RADA and then appeared in repertory theatres in Edinburgh (Traverse Theatre), Glasgow and Manchester (Stables Theatre).


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson initially turned down the role of Victor Meldrew and it was almost offered to Les Dawson before Wilson changed his mind.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson was awarded the OBE in the 1994 Birthday Honours for services to Drama. In April 1996, he was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow for a term of three years.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: The narration of "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus", from Strawbs' eponymous first album, was performed by Wilson.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson's biography, "One Foot on the Stage: The Biography of Richard Wilson", was written by James Roose-Evans.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: In March 2011, Wilson presented an edition of the Channel 4 current affairs programme "Dispatches" entitled "Train Journeys From Hell", with transport journalist Christian Wolmar highlighting the failings of the British railway network.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson has been a campaigner for gay rights for many years. He appeared at charity events organised by gay rights campaign group Stonewall, but had not discussed his own sexuality in interviews with the media. He was named in a list of influential gay people in 2013 by "Time Out" magazine, which he considered to have outed him.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson is a supporter of his local football club, Greenock Morton, but he has come to lend greater support to English club Manchester United. He is a patron of the Manchester United Supporters Trust. Wilson is a good friend of his "One Foot in the Grave" co-star Angus Deayton, and is godfather to Deayton's son.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson is one of the patrons of Scottish Youth Theatre. Wilson is also a long-time supporter of the charity Sense and in 2007 hosted their annual award ceremony. He is also one of the honorary patrons of the London children's charity, Scene & Heard. He has been Honorary President of the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) since 1998.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: Wilson is a supporter of the Labour Party and recorded the party's manifesto on audio for the 2010 general election.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: It was reported on 12 August 2016 that Wilson had suffered a heart attack. He had been due to reprise the role of Victor Meldrew in a one-man show at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.


title: Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

text: "Hammond Song" by The Roches, "Symphony No. 6 in D minor" by Sibelius and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack. His book choice was the poetry of Robert Burns and his luxury item was a subscription to "The Guardian".


title: Monogamy

text: Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polygamy or polyamory).


title: Monogamy

text: The term is also applied to the social behavior of some animals, referring to the state of having only one mate at any one time. A monogamous relationship can be sexual or emotional, but it's usually both. Many modern relationships are monogamous.


title: Monogamy

text: The word "monogamy" derives from the Greek μονός, "monos" ("alone"), and γάμος, "gamos" ("marriage").


title: Monogamy

text: The term "monogamy" may be referring to one of various relational types, depending upon context. Generally, there are four overlapping definitions.


title: Monogamy

text: For instance, biologists, biological anthropologists, and behavioral ecologists often use "monogamy" in the sense of sexual, if not genetic (reproductive), exclusivity. When cultural or social anthropologists and other social scientists use the term monogamy, the meaning is social or marital monogamy.


title: Monogamy

text: According to the "Ethnographic Atlas" by George P. Murdock, of 1,231 societies from around the world noted, 186 were monogamous; 453 had occasional polygyny; 588 had more frequent polygyny; and 4 had polyandry. (This does not take into account the relative population of each of the societies studied; the actual practice of polygamy in a tolerant society may actually be low, with the majority of aspirant polygamists practicing monogamous marriage.)


title: Monogamy

text: Divorce and remarriage can thus result in "serial monogamy", i.e. multiple marriages but only one legal spouse at a time. This can be interpreted as a form of plural mating, as are those societies dominated by female-headed families in the Caribbean, Mauritius and Brazil where there is frequent rotation of unmarried partners. In all, these account for 16 to 24% of the "monogamous" category.


title: Monogamy

text: The prevalence of sexual monogamy can be roughly estimated as the percentage of married people who do not engage in extramarital sex. The Standard Cross-Cultural Sample describes the amount of extramarital sex by men and women in over 50 pre-industrial cultures. The amount of extramarital sex by men is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 29 cultures, "occasional" in 6 cultures, and "uncommon" in 10 cultures. The amount of extramarital sex by women is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 23 cultures, "occasional" in 9 cultures, and "uncommon" in 15 cultures.


title: Monogamy

text: Surveys conducted in non-Western nations (2001) also found cultural and gender differences in extramarital sex. A study of sexual behavior in Thailand, Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire suggests about 16–34% of men engage in extramarital sex while a much smaller (unreported) percentage of women engage in extramarital sex. Studies in Nigeria have found around 47–53% of men and to 18–36% of women engage in extramarital sex. A 1999 survey of married and cohabiting couples in Zimbabwe reports that 38% of men and 13% of women engaged in extra-couple sexual relationships within the last 12 months.


title: Monogamy

text: Many surveys asking about extramarital sex in the United States have relied on convenience samples: surveys given to whoever happens to be easily available (e.g., volunteer college students or volunteer magazine readers). Convenience samples may not accurately reflect the population of the United States as a whole, which can cause serious biases in survey results. Sampling bias may, therefore, be why early surveys of extramarital sex in the United States have produced widely differing results: such early studies using convenience samples (1974, 1983, 1993) reported the wide ranges of 12–26% of married women and 15–43% of married men engaged in extramarital sex. Three studies have used nationally representative samples. These studies in 1994 and 1997 found that about 10–15% of women and 20–25% of men engage in extramarital sex.


title: Monogamy

text: Research by Colleen Hoffon of 566 homosexual male couples from the San Francisco Bay Area (2010) found that 45% had monogamous relationships. However, the Human Rights Campaign has stated, based on a Rockway Institute report, that "LGBT" young people... want to spend their adult life in a long-term relationship raising children." Specifically, over 80% of the homosexuals surveyed expected to be in a monogamous relationship after age 30.


title: Monogamy

text: The incidence of genetic monogamy may be estimated from rates of extrapair paternity. Extrapair paternity is when offspring raised by a monogamous pair come from the female mating with another male. Rates of extrapair paternity have not been extensively studied in people. Many reports of extrapair paternity are little more than quotes based on hearsay, anecdotes, and unpublished findings. Simmons, Firman, Rhodes, and Peters reviewed 11 published studies of extra-pair paternity from various locations in the United States, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and among the native Yanomami Indians of Amazon forest in South America. The rates of extrapair paternity ranged from 0.03% to 11.8% although most of the locations had low percentages of extrapair paternity. The median rate of extrapair paternity was 1.8%. A separate review of 17 studies by Bellis, Hughes, Hughes, and Ashton found slightly higher rates of extrapair paternity. The rates varied from 0.8% to 30% in these studies, with a median rate of 3.7% extrapair paternity. A range of 1.8% to 3.7% extrapair paternity implies a range of 96% to 98% genetic monogamy. Although the incidence of genetic monogamy may vary from 70% to 99% in different cultures or social environments, a large percentage of couples remain genetically monogamous during their relationships. A review paper, surveying 67 other studies, reported rates of extrapair paternity, in different societies, ranging from 0.4% to over 50%.


title: Monogamy

text: Covert illegitimacy is a situation which arises when someone who is presumed to be a child's father (or mother) is in fact not the biological father (or mother). Frequencies as high as 30% are sometimes assumed in the media, but research by sociologist Michael Gilding traced these overestimates back to an informal remark at a 1972 conference.


title: Monogamy

text: The detection of unsuspected illegitimacy can occur in the context of medical genetic screening, in genetic family name research, and in immigration testing. Such studies show that covert illegitimacy is in fact less than 10% among the sampled African populations, less than 5% among the sampled Native American and Polynesian populations, less than 2% of the sampled Middle Eastern population, and generally 1–2% among European samples.


title: Monogamy

text: Pedigree errors are a well-known source of error in medical studies. When attempts are made to try to study medical afflictions and their genetic components, it becomes very important to understand non-paternity rates and pedigree errors. There are numerous software packages and procedures that exist for correcting research data for pedigree errors.


title: Monogamy

text: Monogamy exists in many societies around the world, resulting in extensive scientific research which tries to understand how these marriage systems might have evolved. In any species, there are three main aspects that combine to promote a monogamous mating system: paternal care, resource access, and mate choice; however, in humans, the main theoretical sources of monogamy are paternal care and extreme ecological stresses. Paternal care should be particularly important in humans due to the extra nutritional requirement of having larger brains and the lengthier developmental period. Therefore, the evolution of monogamy could be a reflection of this increased need for bi-parental care. Similarly, monogamy should evolve in areas of ecological stress because male reproductive success should be higher if their resources are focused on ensuring offspring survival rather than searching for other mates. Due to the extreme sociality and increased intelligence of humans, "H. sapiens" have solved many problems that generally lead to monogamy, such as those mentioned above. For example, monogamy is certainly correlated with paternal care, as shown by Marlowe, but not caused by it because humans diminish the need for bi-parental care through the aid of siblings and other family members in rearing the offspring. Furthermore, human intelligence and material culture allows for better adaptation to different and rougher ecological areas, thus reducing the causation and even correlation of monogamous marriage and extreme climates. However, some scientists argue that monogamy evolved by reducing within-group conflict, thus giving certain groups a competitive advantage against less monogamous groups.


title: Monogamy

text: Paleoanthropology and genetic studies offer two perspectives on when monogamy evolved in the human species: paleoanthropologists offer tentative evidence that monogamy may have evolved very early in human history whereas genetic studies suggest that monogamy might have evolved much more recently, less than 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.