Sunny Solanki Anthropology 2H Professor Wegnerd October 31, 2013 he !

a"ifications of Polygyny on #a"ily Alliances and $hildren %any reno&ned conte"porary anthropologists ha'e confronted the effects of polygyny on fa"ily alliances and on the social care of children( )n the book, Writing Women's Worlds, *ila Abu+*ughod &rote a detailed ethnography detailing the dile""as and tensions e,perienced &ithin the -edouin co""unity due to the husbands "arrying "ore than one &ife( People.s sense of perception of the relationships and ideals of polygyny practiced in "iddle eastern cultures are so"eti"es fallacious and "isleading( Although people think that those fa"ilies &ho practice polygyny do it to ha'e "ore children, "any do not think of the unintended conse/uences aroused &hen a "an has "ultiple &i'es he has to attend to( #or e,a"ple, &hen one &o"en gets a benefit or gift fro" a husband, the other &ife "ight feel secluded and resentful because her husband did not gi'er her the sa"e gift( his is turn can cause a "a0or dile""a in the fa"ily because each &o"an feels they should be treated e/ually( )n the second chapter of the book, 1Polygyny,1 Abu+ *ughod discusses ho& the e,periences a"ong Sagr, 2ateefa, Safiyya, and A33a depend "ainly on the their personalities and circu"stances( Her "ain intention for &riting this chapter is to sho& that Polygyny, kno&n as the highest le'el of social function, does not al&ays see" to forge secure alliances, relationships, and increase the nu"ber of children( As she e,plicitly sho&s, relationships can ulti"ately backfire and bring about "any tensions( )n chapter 3, 1!eproduction,1 Abu+*ughod discusses the discrete array of notions "en and &o"en ha'e about children and parenting( Abu+*ughod presents so"e co"pelling e'idence of the i"plications in'ol'ed in practicing polygyny and the inclination for &anting "ore children( )n $hapter 2 of the book( Abu+*ughod e,e"plifies ho& "en &ho forge relationships &ith "ultiple &i'es, often face dile""as because no relationships are ne'er static and are constantly changing o'er ti"e( he li'es of the &o"en and the &ay "en treat their &i'es pro'ide a precise i"age of the "any polyga"y relationships occurring &ithin the co""unity( Within the co""unity, it &as often ideal for affluent "en to ha'e "ore than one &ife because they &anted to ha'e as "any children as possible( his is &hat Sagr did( Sagr &as %igdi".s second son &ho ulti"ately "arried three &i'es in hopes of ha'ing "ale

children( 2etting an in+depth look at the story, one can see ho& the tension and suspense builds up bet&een 2ateefa and Sagr because Sagr decided to treat his third co+&ife, A33a, differently fro" her( Abu+*ughod e,plicitly stated at the beginning of the chapter that %igdi" and 2areefa ob0ected and ad"onished Sagr fro" "arrying A33a because he 0ust &anted to "arry another &ife to ha'e sons( #ro" the 'ery "o"ent Sagr "arried A33a, she started acting in &ays that &ere not custo"ary in the -edouin co""unity( 2ateefa said, 1A33a &as loud, often s&ore, and ne'er prayed( She &as not unkind, but she &as also not al&ays easy to get along &ith( Stubborn and o'er&orked, she so"eti"es lost her te"per and &ithdre& to her roo"(((1 4Abu+*ughod, 20056789( his pri"arily sho&s that A33a &as seen as a &o"an &ho &as ada"ant, i"pious, and sho&ed no "odesty &hen talking to "en in the co""unity( his aroused the tension bet&een 2areefa and Sagr because A33a &as al&ays acted disrespectful in front of public, and &as allo&ed to stay at her parent.s house &hene'er she &anted to( A33a used to get opulent stuff fro" her husband like rugs, cushions, pads, and clothes that the his other co+&i'es &ere not allo&ed to ha'e( Sagr ad"itted that he found it cu"berso"e to li'e &ith A33a because their relationship &as ne'er strong and she kept on going to her parent.s house e'ery fe& "onths( 2ateefa ob0ected to his "arriage &ith A33a because she &as not decent and respectful( 2ateefa agreed that "en do "arry "ultiple &i'es, but not ones that are egocentric( his e,e"plifies that A33a &as ne'er seen as a &ife &ho &as truly passionate and cared for hi"( )n the book Sagr 1(((found his grand co+&ife A33a attracti'e and, blind to her faults, "arried her secretly, against the &ishes of her "other1 4Abu+*ughod, 200561059( Sagr intentionally "arried A33a 0ust for her good looks and 'ogue, but he ne'er scrutini3ed her de"eanor before "arrying her( )n other &ords, he &as blinded by her good looks( She &as al&ays seen as obno,ious in front of 2areefa, but she had to deal &ith it according the custo"s( Another source of changing relationships &as the indignation that aroused &hen A33a told 2areefa that she had no kin( According to the book, 12ateefa presents herself as stoically putting up &ith &hat her husband has i"posed on her1 4Abu+*ughod, 200561059( Sagr kne& that 2ateefa had absol'ed hi" for his bad 0udg"ents about "arrying "ultiple &i'es, but she still did not sy"pathi3e &ith hi"( 2ateefa had to accept that the circu"stances she had to deal &ith ha'e re"ained intact and she had to "o'e on &ith life( his e,a"ple ser'es to sho& the "ain tension &as pro'oked bet&een 2ateefa and A33a &hen A33a told her she had not kin or ties &ith fa"ily "e"bers( hey altercation started &hen A33a.s child started

fighting &ith 2ateefa.s younger daughter(( A33a.s son ca"e into the kitchen and ate a bo&l of 'egetable ste&, until 2ateefa.s younger daughter ca"e into the kitchen( 2ateefa.s daughter nagged in the kitchen because A33a.s son &ould not share his 'egetable ste& &ith her( A33a.s son got angry and hit 2ateefa.s daughter &ith a sandal( his caused 2ateefa to 1(((yell at hi" either to put the food back until it &as cooked or to share it &ith the"( He refused( She thre& a plastic sandal at hi"1 4Abu+*ughod, 20056 1129( At this instant, A33a got angry &hen 2ateefa hit her son &ith a sandal( 2ateefa e,plicitly stated that A33a did not care &hen her son hit her daughter &ith a sandal( A33a stated that she &ould go to her fa"ily.s house because she had brothers &ho &ould defend her, since 2ateefa insulted her( he cli"a, of the altercation happened &hen A33a bluntly told 2ateefa that she had no kin( Abu+*ughod said, 1What had incensed 2ateefa &as the charge that she had no kin( o ha'e no kin is to be 'ulnerable and isolated, since the fa"ily is such a crucial source of identity and of support1 4Abu+*ughod, 200561139( #or a &o"an, ha'ing a kin is such an i"portant facet for li'ing together, for sociali3ation, and for ha'ing so"eone to defend her &hene'er she faces a "a0or dile""a( hrough kinship there is a trans"ission of beha'ior, ideas, and goods( What A33a said to 2ateefa &as clai"ed to be the truth( :'en though 2ateefa &as a "e"ber of a kin group, she re"ained isolated in the co""unity( 2ateefa &as an integral part of the fa"ily.s functions, and e'eryone en0oyed spending ti"e &ith her, but it &as the &o"en residing &ithin her co""unity that isolated her( :'er since 2ateefa "o'ed into Sagr.s ne& house, she beca"e alienated fro" the e'ents surrounding the &o"en and &as al&ays busy doing her o&n household chores( Abu+*ughod said, 1So alienated &as she that she refused to gi'e her eldest daughter, Sabra, in "arriage to one of the boys in the ca"p to let their children "arry each other1 4Abu+*ughod, 2005611;9( his sho&s that &o"en &ho had

inter"arriages bet&een close households, often for"ed close kinship ties( After each "arriage occurred in the co""unity, 2ateefa and her daughters re"ained "ore isolated than e'er before( 2ateefa a'enged A33a for saying she had no kin because ha'ing a kin is the "ost i"portant aspect of a &o"an.s life( 2ateefa clai"ed that she has kin ties &ith her husband, daughters, and other "e"bers of the co""unity, e'en though it is a partial lie( )n chapter 3 of the book, Abu+*ughod.s "ain intention for &riting this chapter &as to discuss the 'ie&points of "ale and fe"ale children born in the co""unity( Within the conte,t of the chapter, there see"s to be a strong preference for "ale children o'er fe"ale children( -edouin people do not ha'e strong

resent"ent against ha'ing a girl, but they feel that boys play a "ore do"inant role in controlling relationships and are belie'ed to e,pand the fa"ily o'er future generations( )n the book, %igdi".s youngest daughter, *a&3, clai"ed that 1Arabs prefer to ha'e boys,1 but 2ateefa ob0ected that state"ent by saying, 1 hey are all e/ual &ith 2od( And He e'en prefers girls( )t is only the ignorant &ho prefer boys( So"e daughters are &orth a hundred sons1 4Abu+*ughod, 200561279( What this i"plies is that 2ateefa, seen as the "ost sagacious, doubts the clai" that "en are the "ost i"portant aspect of the fa"ily( She is trying to say that &o"en should be ha'e e/ual status as "en because 2od 'ie&s both se,es &ith e/ual rights and so"e &o"en can e'en play a "ore i"portant role in go'erning ho& the fa"ily should function( he couple, 2ateefa and Sagr, see" to ha'e reasonable and thoughtful opinions about ha'ing sons and daughters( Sagr said, 1-ut a girl is not like a boy+ he &ill beco"e a "an< the girl doesn.t ha'e as "uch strength of &ill( As long as her father is ali'e, a girl doesn.t feel any pain1 4Abu+*ughod, 20056 1809( Sagr 'ie&ed daughters as precious luggage or 'aluable ite"s that break &hen they are ta"pered &ith( What this "eans is that daughters ha'e a sense of li'ing &hen their father is ali'e, but &hen he dies, they tend to lose the "eaning of life( Ho&e'er, Sagr said that his sons "ust ha'e a stable 0ob and inco"e to pro'ide for his future fa"ily( :'en though he "ight yell at his sons, he lo'es the" dearly( Sons can support the"sel'es and their fa"ily, and are not nearly as hurt &hen their father passes a&ay( Sagr clai"ed that he has e,perienced "ore responsibility raising sons( =ust as a &o"an has ulti"ate control in raising her daughters and "orphing the" into young &o"en, "en ha'e to take responsibility in raising his sons( Sagr also contended that a &o"an also has a strong tendency for ha'ing sons because as she gets older, she can use her sons 1(((to do"inate their>&o"an.s? husband1 4Abu+*ughod6 2005,1829( !aising a son &ould allo& a &o"an to get things in her fa'or that her husband usually opposes or curtails( On the other hand, 2ateefa insisted that ha'ing too "any sons &as not the best idea because their culture has been di'ided into s"aller pieces( She substantiated her clai" by telling a story of her grandfather &ho &as the only affluent son in the fa"ily( Her grandfather literally controlled the &hole co""unity and things could not happen &ithout his consent( She said, 1 heir grandfather &as &ealthy, and his sons &ere only fe&1 4Abu+*ughod6 2005, 1829( he "oral of this story &as the land that her grandfather.s children &ere li'ing on &as inherited fro" hi", but not gi'en by 2od as a bounty( )f the sons keep on ha'ing "any children, then their land gets used

and gets s"aller each generation( :"bedded in the conte,t, one can decipher the different 'ie&s "en and &o"en ha'e on raising sons and daughters(