August 1, 2022 SubTopic: WHY DID AFRICANS EMBRACE POLYGAMY?  This is “No Bullshitting,” by Harry Agina, and it is the 6th edition of Udoakpuenyi’s “AfroCultural TitBits” Category on “No Bullshitting” Blog (NBB). Greetings, folks! We are on edition 2 of our series on “Polygamy In Africa.” In the last edition, our traditionalist, Udoakpuenyi, introduced us to polygamy, with a global overview. The intro aimed to dispel the common Western fallacy on polygamy, which portrays polygamy as an African ‘thing.’ Importantly also, Udoakpuenyi pointed at the fact that “polygamous ARRENGEMENTS” are more rampant than “polygamous HOMES.” Not to forget that Udoakpuenyi took polygamy all the way back to the biblical days of Abram, and the rest in that ancient era. And when we talk about “polygamous arrangements” and “polygamous homes,” the biblical King Solomon quickly jumps to mind; doesn’t he? The dude was a champion in both, with 300 wives and 700 concubines. Damn! That son of Adam and Eve truly loved sex, meeeeeeeeeen!!! Hahahahaaa! Anyway, I have given you a recapped of some key points in Udoakpuenyi’s previous edition, on the origin and spread of polygamy. And we do have the link to that edition at the end of this piece. Meanwhile, let’s find out what Udoakpuenyi has in store for us today. I do know that it has to do with zeroing-in from the previous global overview, to polygamy in Africa, specifically. And, what better place is there to start, than, “Why did Africans embrace polygamy?” Boy, do I love it when a discourse is started with a thematic question, or what! Here we go: AfroCultural TitBits on Polygamy In Africa: Edition 2: Why Did Africans Embrace Polygamy?  In the African tradition, Africans embraced polygamy for several reasons. Top on the list includes that men needed many wives to have enough children to support their farms and domestic activities. Not to forget that making many children meant having enough males to fight tribal wars, too. There was an interactive chat among lecturers and students of Lexington Community College in Lexington on this subject, back in 1995. There was a huge debate about the reasons for the practice of polygamy in Africa. The following was the submission of Emmanuel K. Twesigye, a Professor of Black World Studies at the Ohio Wesleyan University: Polygamy was important because it was a measure of man’s wealth back in the day. A man’s wealth was measured by the number of wives, children and livestock he had. It was prestigious to have more than one wife, mostly with the kings and the wealthy. More wives and children provided political power and leverage in the community. Polygamy provides food security as it provides more farm hands. It provides more security for the household against external invasion. It is/was considered a taboo in some cultures for men to have intercourse with women during mensuration. Polygamy helped/helps to prevent that, because the man had/has other wives when one had her mensuration. It helps in child spacing and better health for mothers. It is/was also forbidden in some cultures to sleep with a breastfeeding mother. Polygamy makes it possible for girls of marriageable age to get married. Otherwise, too many girls would not be married, because, generally, even now men marry at older age than women. This results in scarcity of marriageable men. Also, according to Twesigye, men tended to die quicker those days due to the nature of their engagements, such as war and lifestyle. This left, and perhaps still leaves more women than men on the planet at any point in time. As such, polygamy provided/provides the opportunity to accommodate more women and children under men as family. This is also why women’s inheritance is practiced in some places on the African continent. Note the combined use of past and present tenses above. The reason is that some of the traditions are no longer prevalent in some places. We have to say that we are in tune with Professor Twesigye’s findings. They are basically in tandem with our own body of knowledge as African traditionalists. However, there are always variations between communities in Africa. The Great Debate On Polygamy: Besides Professor Twesigye’s findings, a lot of interesting issues came up, as expected, during the research on this subject. Some schools of thought argue that polygamy is a man’s strategy to suppress women and satisfy their sexual aggrandizement. Some argue that polygamy was, and still is exploitation of women by men. They posit that the system is screwed against women, and more for the satisfaction of male sexual needs, than that of women. They insist that women are largely forced into it by their parents.           Our regulars may recall our drama series on this subject. We imply that one of Waduku’s four wives, Tonye, might have cheated on Waduku with another man outside. We imply that this is due to this feeling that women are being cheated in a polygamy when it comes to sex. The implied reason for Tonye’s implied cheating is that she was probably ‘horny,’ and her polygamous husband, Waduku, couldn’t satisfy her. She probably could not continue to wait for her turn in bed with Waduku, who was busy satisfying his own sexual urges every night with his three other wives. And, yes, our intention is to point out in drama, how polygamy may be seen as subjugation of women. If you missed the drama, not to worry. There is a link to the series waiting for you at the end of this piece. Other debate participants argue that polygamy had/has nothing to do with sex. This school of thought includes women, too. “Afropolitan” online paper posits that even if it was for sex, there is a limit to the number of women that a man can satisfy sexually at a time. The paper maintains that it was more of status and wealth than sex, that drove men to polygamy. “The more wives a man had, the more his wealth grew,” it maintains. … Continue reading NBB “AFROCULTURAL TITBITS” ON POLYGAMY, EDITION 2