It is common for a man who has acquired or been born with a certain status in society to have more than one "wife", even if polygamy is illegal (as it is done unofficially). There are several examples both in Brazil, and I suspect there are in the United States as well. For example:

  • The current wife of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was already his girlfriend when he was married to his previous wife (who is now deceased);

  • Mr catra. Brazilian funk singer, before he died he had 15 women and 32 children. However, only one of them was his legitimate wife, because Brazilian law prohibits polygamy, consequently the others will not have the same inheritance rights as the official one;

  • There are many country singers who maintain contact with women in different parts of Brazil, and meet them when they are passing through to perform their shows.

  • I'm sure that in other countries it is possible to find several examples of this type as well.

Now the question comes to me:

  • These men have 2 or more wives, but when they die and leave an inheritance, only one of them inherits what he left, as the others are not officially their wife;

  • These non-official women also do not have the right to divorce pension, male disability pension and many other rights that are granted to official wives;

  • The children of these non-official women inevitably end up with a smaller inheritance than the children of official women, since the children of official women inherit from their father and mother;

  • The law that prohibits polygamy does not prevent women from still wanting to share the same man of high social status, it only prevents them from all having the same rights.

  • I'm not here defending the legalization of polygamy in any country, I'm just questioning whether illegality is good or bad for women. And I'm wanting to read arguments from both sides, if any