It's been discussed how throughout human history polygamous relationships were not only pushed by men, but women too. How come? Of course men like the idea of having "a harem", but why would women like this concept?

Easy. It gives them access to a "high value male". Only a small fraction of the total male population are attractive men, so it's impossible for all women, or even just the majority of women, to have an attractive partner. Unless... they shared that man with other girls.

It's the "Would you rather be Chris Hemsworth's third wife or Paul Giamatti's only wife?" question. The choice between sexual exclusivity and sexual attractiveness. And many, many women choose the latter before the former.

Why polygamy is more viable now than it's ever been.

For all of human history up until the 19th Century physical labor was the main driving force of society. In all civilizations men did the large majority of the bread-winning work for two reasons:

  • They prevented women from accessing jobs, as it "was not their place" (pretty common attitude through time)

  • They were the only ones capable of doing that work in the first place. Almost all of the population was dedicated to farming, mining and similar jobs up until the 1800s. Women just couldn't do it.

In this scenario, polygamy would mean one breadwinner (man) with two, three, or many more women and the children they had together. The numbers just did not add up. Too many people for just one wage-earning man. Monogamy solved this problem (but created others).

But this is no longer the case. In a society based on intellectual labor and where women can hold the same work positions as men, women are breadwinners. A structure of one man and, let's say, four women would mean five working adults earning five wages. Easy to raise kids.

Why polygamy is just as defensable as gay marriage

Consenting adults should never be prevented from engaging in whatever activity they want. It's their right. And this was the basis for the legalization of homosexual sex: what I do in my private life does not affect you. And it's true.

The legalization of gay marriage followed a similar process. If two men or two women love each other to the same degree as a women and a man can, why not let them form a similar union to heterosexual marriage?

Polygamous marriages don't violate anyone's rights. And they can be justified following similar arguments to those for gay marriage.

Side effects of polygamy

There is a downside, however. A really large amount of men would be left alone, with no chance of ever having relationships, getting married or having children.

In most cases, a man without a family is a man without purpose. Knowing your wealth will never go to any descendants because you have none means raising money, saving it or doing a good job today are pretty much worthless for you. You might as well just spend it all while you're alive. And there's little to no incentive to do a good job at work. Who cares if I spend ALL the money I have and die broke? It's not going to go to any children of mine anyways.

It seems hard, if possible at all, to maintain an economy with the majority of the male population doing terribly poor work. But maybe we'll find a solution for that problem in times to come, like a higher degree of industrial automatization. The fewer people needed at the workplace, the higher the possibilities to make polygamous societies happen.

So, would you support the legalization of polygamous marriages?

EDIT: I included both polygyny (1 man, several women) and polyandry (1 woman, several men) under the umbrella of polygamy. I focused on polygyny for the reasons I just explained in [this comment] (https://www.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/85usnc/would_you_support_legalizing_polygamous_marriage/dw08tvw/?st=jezziv9y&sh=8073452a).