Sister Wives

1. Identify a subject position.

The Brown Family and Mormon Fundamentalism

Please take note of the difference between Mormons (monogamy) and Fundamentalist Mormons (polygamy)

TLC TV Show “Sister Wives”



2. Identify an issue with a specific claim in it.

Polygamist Marriage or Plural Marriage. (A man married to and having children with multiple women)

Fundamentalist Mormons believe that polygamy will bring you closer to God and is the best way to live your life.

3. Build a bridge.

This is a controversial issue because a man having multiple wives goes against many of the mainstream beliefs, religions and laws in the United States. The example of polygamy that gets the most media attention is the cults and sects that deny women choices and rights. What I think of when I hear “polygamy” is a young woman being forced into a marriage with a much older man that already has 4 other wives and will live an oppressed life. It is difficult for me to understand that a woman would willingly choose to or want to share her husband with 3 other women. My upbringing has led me to believe that marriage should only be between two people.

In the YouTube video embedded above, the wives speak so comfortably and confidently about their choice of lifestyle. While watching it, I was in the unsettling position that what they were saying wasn’t “normal” but the manner in which they were saying things made it seem nothing out of the ordinary. One line in particular that caught me off guard was when one of the wives said “I was never interested in single guys”. Which is such a bizarre comment in my mind, but to her it is completely normal. She knew that she wanted to be in a plural marriage, so she was interested in finding a man that already had a wife. While searching additional video clips about this unique family, I came across another comment that I found confusing. In “The Kiss” clip, the 3rd wife explains that she did not kiss her husband until they were married because she did not feel comfortable “kissing a married man”. Because of how I was raised and my view of marriage, this statement does not make any sense. He was already and still is a ‘married man’. To me, the husband is cheating on his first wife. But I can start understand her point, coming from the polygamist perspective, that until they were husband and wife, if he kissed her he would be cheating on his current wives.

In today’s society, it is not uncommon for a man to have children from different women or for women to have children from different men. Many families are unique with children from previous marriages, children out of wedlock, adopted children or foster children. So it is interesting to compare those situations to that of the Browns. At least in the Brown’s case, all of the children’s parents are consistently in their lives. Their father doesn’t live miles away and only sees them every other weekend. Another position to take is that Kody Brown and his wives are able to provide a stable home environment and support their family financially. The Brown children have a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food at the table, which is unfortunately true for every child in the United States. Another way to bridge the gap between the Brown family’s lifestyle and the conventional lifestyle is that the other wives are comparable to having a live-in or full-time nanny. There are many children that are not solely raised by their birth mother and father. In the clip “Multiple Mommies” the Browns explain how they believe that having more than one mother is good for their children.

I know that I personally do not believe in polygamy, but after watching clips of and learning about the Brown family I can at least respect that the wives have chosen this lifestyle for themselves. Though difficult to understand, the wives have clearly given a lot of thought to their choice and have their own justifications for it. It seems to be a way of life that they are comfortable with and believe in.