WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
mitigate the restrictions of monogamous marriage by sex intimacy with two or more women, one being the recognised and lawful wife. The irksomeness of monogamy drives a certain number of men to plural sexual associations. Westermarck admits that polygyny is often the result of legal monogamy. A number of writers have declared that prostitution is inseparable from the system of monogamous marriage. Do we not find that in the countries where polygamy is allowed by religion and law monogamy is the general rule, and that the bartering of sex-love by courtesans is uncommon? The courtesan of the polygamous nations finds her chief support from the foreigner of monogamous nations. It is, therefore, not the sanction that promotes invariably the frequency of the practice of polygyny.
Human nature is perverse. Men of the West invented single marriage, but they have in large numbers always rebelled secretly against its inhibitions and limitations. Theological morality declared that men and women must marry for life, or abstain entirely from any kind of sexual union. And the severity of the ordinance of wedlock has defeated its end.
Roman Catholic absolutism in matrimonial matters rendered divorce impossible. Once married, always married, and for good or ill. Protestantism recognised that such a decree was arbitrary, and legal
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