A Not So Normal Lifestyle

Do you ever feel like some things you and your family do are out of the ordinary?  Like if any of your friends ever knew what your little brother just said from across the dinner table, you would be mortified?  Imagine living a lifestyle that is completely right for you and follows all your morals and beliefs, but is looked down on by society.  This short video above shows a young Polygamist family.  One wife being 28 years old, and other being only 20, both having the same husband who is 28.  I found this short clip very interesting and unique because it went in depth about the family's beliefs about the lifestyle they live.  Many Catholics would most likely infer that polygamy is a sin because in the Catholic Church, Holy Matrimony is meant to be between a man and a woman.  Therefore, you would not expect these families to be religious and worship God in any way.  In this case we see the exact opposite.  One of the wives states that she believes that this is the way that God lives.  We also saw the whole family saying grace together, so, regardless of this family's situation, God is still standing by their side.

This video also shows the emotional aspect of this relationship, and how building a family impacts it greatly.  In the beginning of the video the husband states that the three of them have been married for a year and a half.  He emphasizes in his tone of voice that their relationship is a team effort, and something that is shared between the three of them.  The women admit that their is obviously jealousy at times, that it is a human emotion, and can not be avoided, but the two women love each other and value their family greatly.  The women explain how they are each other's best friends and that they would never say "this is my kid."  They have kids together, and they explain that if one of them were unable to have kids they would still have kids.  With one of the wives having 25 siblings, she explains how she does not want to put a number on her family.  This way of living is definitely unique and takes a lot of patience and understanding to be apart of, but this video showed me that the value of family is the same regardless of whether it is polygomist or not.

1, 2, 3 Cheese!

When we look at this family portrait the first thing that comes to mind is naturally something along the lines of, "oh my goodness, how can someone possibly have such a big family?"  In this picture, there are twenty-five kids, five wives, and one husband.  Regardless of your views on Polygamy, as a viewer, you can not help but think, "what does each member think of this situation?"  Obviously for the kids it is something normal to them because it is what they are use to, and all they know.  Think about how it feels to have one sibling who shares the same mom and dad as you, and another who shares the same dad, but has a different mom, and you are just as close to both; to you they are both equally your siblings.  Think how it may feel to be a child in this family and to have three ladies living in the house who are not your mother, but may be your brother's mother, what is your relationship with them like?  On the other hand what about a mother who's child is not hers, but lives in her house amongst her children who the child calls their brothers and sisters?  What is her relationship with them like?  And finally, the father, how does he feel about having all these children who are his by blood, having different mothers?

A lot of this is hard for us to wrap our heads around, and there are so many questions we can ask about these types of situations.  It is not something that is very common for people in the Unites States, so for us, it is considered to be something that is weird, radical, and out of place.  Although, people who take part in the practice of polygamy may look at us and think the same thing; "how can a man only love one woman?  How can the woman take care of her children all by herself without the help of any other women?  Societal norms differ depending on where you live, your surroundings, how you were brought up, etc.  I thought this picture was interesting, and it caught my attention right away because earlier today I was looking at a family picture that my family and I had taken on the beach over the summer.  Viewing my family portrait I thought about how much fun we had that day, and how hectic my house is with only four people.  As soon as I saw this family portrait of thirty-one people my first reaction was to sympathize with them because of how hectic and chaotic their household must be.  All families are different, and this picture was a perfect visual example of something that is socially unacceptable to us, but completely normal and correct to others.

A Look into "Sister Wives"

Although Polygamy is illegal and not practiced in all 50 states, it is something that is brought to our attention through the popular show, Sister Wives.  This video demonstrates a sneak peak into the show, and what it is really about.  I thought it was an informative video, and introduction to the show because it touches upon a lot of factors of this practice.  The first and the most obvious being, the numerous amount of wives within a family.  One of the newer woman coming into the family describes how she knew that it was going to be difficult situation and something she would have get used to, but she never knew that it would break her heart.  This shows the emotional aspect, and shows that you have to have certain views in order to make this way of living work.  For example, another wife describes how someone asked her how she is okay with her husband going away with another wife, and knowing that they are having sexual intercourse, and she says "they better."  Therefore, the audience has to assume that you have to view marriage and accept the differences that come along with this way of marriage in a more opened way.  Jealousy is something that is a natural reaction in any person regardless if they are in a marriage or simply a new relationship, but in a family like this, it is something you have to look past.  Another factor that is shown briefly in this video is the quantity of these families.  In this particular family there are thirteen children, and some of them have different mothers, and others do not, but they all have the same father.  As you can see, the practice of Polygamy causes awfully sticky situations, and has to be something you are completely open to if you are partaking in this way of living.