Polygamy in the third world has been practiced for centuries, in as far as the bible times. The practice then, had legitimate reasons and was a sign of wealthy. In some cultures, only the chiefs and indunas(the chief’s advisers), had the luxury of having more than one wife. Being given an additional wife was the greatest gift one could receive or give to another man. Some families rewarded a loyal and hardworking son-in-law a second wife from the wife’s family.

Then came a time when polygamy was practiced to increase wealth. They believed, the more wives one had, the more sons who could help with work in the field, and the more daughters he would marry out for money or cattle. But no-matter how legitimate or a great gift it was, strife was not short in such households. They are tales of witchcraft among the wives and competition on whose children are great achievers, be it, success, statue or beauty. The jealousy led women to do exceedingly dangerous taboos, to gain more favor from the husband.

Now, the time has come and polygamy is pure lust and of the male’s egotistic nature to indulging in the pleasures of have an extra woman. Most African cultures, which I am afraid, are male dominated cultures, practice polygamy to benefit man who they believe can not be monogamous. You will find a poor man who can not even manage to buy himself a pair of shoes, has three wives to serve him, not in the field but for sexual pleasure. Women have fallen victim of the man’s demands and have given in to the practice, fearing divorce, which is considered a weakness if a woman leaves the marriage on her own.

polygamy, has been thought of a way of undermining woman’s emotions and identity, and it is ranked among the discrimination of human rights under Gender discrimination by most women organizations. But, polygamy, surprisingly is practice by educated people, even high ranking officials in some of these third world countries. So uprooting such a cultural moral issue, will take time, and more civil human rights bills to be passed internationally.

With the raging wave of ever mutating contractible diseases, no wonder the Aids virus has found fertile grounds, rage, mercilessly like a bush fire, taking anything in its way. Not only will it affect the man and the wives, but the children of the lot. This could be a whole family of sickly, in despair, poor people, unable even to afford good nutrition food, and later on, the now life prolonging Medication on the market.

Children from such families can no longer earn good education; for there is little to go round among three-four households. They can not afford a balanced meal; being subsistence farmers, who relay on the bounty of the land, when drought heats, they will have to go without food if they don’t get from charitable people who are also short.

Women turn to have less self esteem, they see themselves through the male’s eyes. when a woman stands by the mirror instead of seeing herself through her own imagination, she thinks of how he will see her, so she is using his imagination, to define herself-worthy.

In my opinion, polygamy served its purpose in those times, but now, it has become the decadence of the family community, and society at large, destroying self-esteem in women, and bringing unmeasurable suffering on children born from such families. There are reports of happy families but these are few and they could be in denial of reality, one would suggest.