Douthat on "polygamy"

hyperskeptic

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This is curious: Ross Douthat, one of the conservative columnists for The New York Times, makes a few predictions about "polygamy" as the next step in the unfolding of "expressive individualism."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/ross-douthat-the-prospects-for-polygamy.html

He expands the discussion with use of the terms "plural marriage," "polyamory," and "ethical nonmonogamy," but without clearly distinguishing those from conventional, patriarchal polygamy. He characterizes polygamy as follows:

It’s associated with patriarchy and sexual abuse, rather than liberation and equality. It flourishes in self-segregated communities, Mormon-fundamentalist and Muslim-immigrant, rather than being widely distributed across society. Its practitioners (so far as we know) are considerably fewer in number than the roughly 3.5 percent of Americans who identify as gay or bisexual.

So, his understanding of the varieties of nonmonogamy is, to say the least, muddled.

Still, his conclusion is notable:

As I said, it’s an interesting question. I feel safe predicting that polygamy will not be legally recognized, with fanfare and trumpets, in 2025.

But it might be recognized in 2040, with a shrug.
 
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I suppose there's a chance the United States will follow Canada's example and officially allow polyamory while maintaining that polygamy is illegal. Hard to predict. Between 2025 and 2040 sounds like a reasonable estimate, but this thing could easily happen sooner or later than that.

The thing about legalized polygamy is that it would technically be similar (if not identical!) to polyamorous marriage (such as group marriage). If you want to legalize poly marriage, I think you have to legalize (Mormon/Muslim) polygamy. The question then becomes, how will the government regulate things so as to ensure authentic consent? I presume that child brides will still be illegal (for example).

Thanks for posting about that article. Interesting subject.
 
. . . I presume that child brides will still be illegal (for example).
Depends on how you define "child bride." Right now, there are a number of states that allow minors to marry quite young. I think we had a thread about it here a while back, with a list of each state's legal age to marry.
 
Hmmm, I did not know that. Isn't the legal age of consent at least 17 (in most States 18) in the United States? Does marriage constitute a special exception to that rule?

Just curious.
 
Hmmm, I did not know that. Isn't the legal age of consent at least 17 (in most States 18) in the United States? Does marriage constitute a special exception to that rule?

Just curious.

The quick answer is "it's complicated".

For most states, the legal age to marry without parental consent is 18. BUT, if you have parental consent, the age is typically 16 to marry, but New Hampshire allow males to marry at 14 and females to marry at 13.

A quick breakdown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_marriage_in_the_United_States
 
Judging by the list, California is potentially more permissive, with no minimum if there is both parental consent and judicial approval (both also being conditions for 13/14-18 year olds to marry in New Hampshire).

I think the judicial part is important. While parents could force their kids to get married, as soon as the court has to approve of it, it's a little bit different. I personally see no reason to change the laws about underage marriage specifically due to allowing polygamy. I don't see why it would me more acceptable in monogamous relationship than in polygamous ones.

I've also only hear the term "plural marriage" in the context of religious polygamy before (kind of like I've also only heard "sister wives" in that context) so I find it a bit weird that you're using that term to differentiate.
 
Hmmm, I did not know that. Isn't the legal age of consent at least 17 (in most States 18) in the United States? Does marriage constitute a special exception to that rule?
I think it's more an issue about states' rights to set certain laws within their own jurisdiction than it is about marriage (or drinking alcohol, etc.).
 
Interesting.

I'm wondering what the minimum ages are for premarital sex?

According to Wiktionary, plural marriage is "a form of polygamy formerly practiced by Mormons."
 
Again, it is complicated.

Here's an article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America

Here are (some) specifics:

"State laws

Each U.S. state (and the District of Columbia) has its own age of consent. Currently state laws set the age of consent at 16, 17, or 18. The most common age is 16.

age of consent 16 (31): Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia

age of consent 17 (8): Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Wyoming

age of consent 18 (12): Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin"
 
Oh, I thought 18 was the most common age of consent. My bad!

It's indeed complicated.
 
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