Polygyny

Polygyny (from neo-Greek πολυγυνία from πολύ poly "many", and γυνή gyne "woman or wife") is a mating system involving one male and two or more females, where the man takes many wives. Where polygamy is permitted and yet practiced, this is the only form in which it is permitted.

Only Muslim and African countries (with the sole exception of Myanmar) permit polygamy (and in all of these only in the form of polygyny is it permitted). Many of these countries are under-developed, and their populations mostly illiterate, as well as having cultures oppressive of women. The only form in which polygamy is permitted in all places where it is permitted is that of a man taking multiple wives.

The vast majority of the world's countries, on the other hand, and virtually all of the world's developed nations, do not permit polygamy (and specifically, polygyny), and there have been growing calls for its abolition in many developing countries. In the many countries which do not permit polygamy, a person who marries in one of those countries a person while still being lawfully married to another commits the crime of bigamy. In all cases, the second marriage is considered legally null and void. Besides the second and subsequent marriages being void, the bigamist is also liable to other penalties, which also vary between jurisdictions.

Some international human rights organisations as well as Women's rights groups consider polygyny as a form of human rights abuse and have called for its abolition.

Women

Education

Polygyny is less prevalent in societies where more women are literate. In Kenya the proportion of women in polygynous unions decreased from 33% for women with no education to 11% for women with at least some secondary education. Interviews conducted with some of the Logoli Tribe in Kenya suggested they were scared of polygynous marriages because of what they have witnessed in the lives of other women who are currently in such relationships. The observed experiences of some of the women in polygynous unions tend to be characterized by frequent jealousy, conflicts competition, tensions and psychological stresses. Some of the husbands fail to share love and other resources equally, envy and hatred, and even violent physical confrontations become the order of the day among co-wives and their children. This discourages women from entering a polygynous marriage.

AIDS/HIV

Among the Logoli of Kenya, the fear of AIDS or becoming infected with the HIV virus has informed women's decisions in entering polygynous marriages. Women who are against polygynous marriages argued that polygyny places individuals at risk for contracting various sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS.

Nature

See also: Animal sexual behaviour § Polygyny

Several species such as the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus possess a polygamous social order in which males mate with multiple females. Such circumstances result in competition between males during reproductive periods.

A variety of methods for practicing polygamy can be observed in the animal kingdom. For example, female defense polygyny is seen in marine amphipods, where the male herds the females into a cluster. This allows them to be protected by the male, while the male has continuous access to the females. Resource defense polygyny is a strategy seen in African cichlid fish, where the male collects empty snail shells which the females use to lay eggs. A third type is scramble competition polygamy, where females are widely spaced or fertility is time-limited, as in orangutans.

Harem

Main article: Harem (zoology)

In zoology, the term Harem is used for the social organization of certain species, such as those in the Hominidae and Equidae families, in groups of females surrounding a single dominant male. Non-dominant males will organize themselves in bachelor groups.

Pride

Further information: Lion § Group organization

Lions chase off males and kill all the young so that they will father all of the offspring of the lionesses they group with, in a pride, often with another male.

Bachelor band

See also: Clique

Among members of certain species, such as apes (Superfamily Hominoidea), horses (more broadly, Family Equidae), dogs and whales, young non-dominant males can spontaneously form "bachelor groups" or "bachelor bands."

Economics

Throughout the "polygyny belt" stretching from Senegal in the west to Tanzania in the east, as many as a third to a half of married women are in polygynous unions.

A report by the secretariat of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) affirms this point: one of the strongest appeals of polygyny to men in Africa is precisely its economic aspect, for a man with several wives commands more land, can produce more food for his household and can achieve a high status due to the wealth which he can command. According to Boserup, Over much of the continent of Africa, tribal rules of land tenure are still in force. This implies that members of a tribe, which commands a certain territory, have a native right to take land under cultivation for food production and in many cases also for the cultivation of cash crops under this tenure system, an additional wife is an additional economic asset, which helps the family to expand its production.

Shifting cultivation

Anthropologists using highly aggregated ethnographic data, have found that the incidence of polygyny across societies is positively associated with the extent of female involvement in agriculture. Boserup (1970) was the first to propose that the high incidence of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa is rooted in the sexual division of labor in hoe-farming and the large economic contribution of women. In the bush fallow system , men generally perform the task of clearing forests and women perform tasks of cultivating and selling food crops.

In regions of shifting cultivation, where women do all or most of the work of growing food crops, the task of felling the trees in preparation of new plots is usually done by older boys and very young men. An elderly cultivator with several wives is likely to have a number of such boys who can be used for this purpose. By the combined efforts of young sons and young wives he may gradually expand his cultivation and become more and more prosperous, while a man with a single wife has less help in cultivation and is likely to have little or no help for felling.

Sierra Leone

A 1930s study of the Mende in the west African state of Sierra Leone concluded that a plurality of wives is an agriculture asset, since a large number of women makes it unnecessary to employ wage laborers. Polygyny is considered an economic advantage in many rural areas. In some cases, the economic role of the additional wife enables the husband to enjoy more leisure.

Desire for progeny

Most research into the determinants of polygyny has focused on macro level factors. Widespread polygyny is linked to the kinship groups that share descent from a common ancestor. Polygyny also served as "a dynamic principle of family survival, growth, security, continuity, and prestige" especially as a socially approved mechanism, which increases the number of adult workers immediately and the eventual workforce of resident children

Wives view in farming system

Based on historical data collected by Boserup in 1970, in a family system where wives are supposed to both provide food for the family or a large part of it and to perform the usual domestic duties for the husband, a wife will naturally welcome one or more co-wives to share with them the burden of daily work. The second wife will usually do the most tiresome work because the first wife does not want to do it. The second wife will almost be a servant to the first wife; she is inferior in status to the first wife.

Economic burden

It has been argued that in farming systems where men do most of the agriculture work a second wife can be an economic burden rather than an asset. In order to feed an additional wife the husband must either work harder himself of he must hire laborers to do part of the work. In such regions, polygyny is either non-existent or is a luxury in which only a small minority of rich farmers can indulge.

Religion

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible indicates that polygyny was practiced in ancient Israelite societies. Though the institution was not extremely common, it was not particularly unusual, and was certainly not prohibited. On occasion polygamy was even obligatory. It was on occasion also discouraged by the Bible [namely the Mosaic Law commands that kings should not have many wives (Deut. 17:17). When Solomon took 1000 wives and concubines, the Bible cites his polygamy as the reason of the fall of his faith, and for his kingdom being torn in two after his death (1 Kings 11:1-12)]. The Bible mentions approximately forty polygynists, including Abraham, Jacob, Esau, David and King Solomon, with little or no further remark on the institution.

The Torah, the Five Books of Moses; Genesis-Deuteronomy, includes specific regulations on the practice of polygyny. Exodus 21:10 states that multiple marriages are not to diminish the status of the first wife, while Deuteronomy 21:15–17 states that a man must award the inheritance due to a first-born son to the son who was actually born first, even if he hates that son's mother and likes another wife more (implying that he had divorced the first-born son's mother); and Deuteronomy 17:17 states that the king shall not have too many wives.

The biblical institution of a levirate marriage was a form of polygyny. Deuteronomy 25:5–10 required a man to marry and support his deceased brother's widow, if he died without her having given birth to a son. The practice has been justified in that it was important for the deceased brother to have an heir to inherit his lands, and to say the prayers for the dead for him. The practice was also a means to ensure that the widow was provided for. If the eldest brother refused to marry the widow then it was the responsibility of the next brother and so on down the family line. However, also prescribed in these same verses, was a method of absolving the man from such marriage if he did not want to marry the woman. This method including him being publicly shamed to the degree of his face being spit upon.

Rabbi Chaim Gruber speculates that the underlying reason why the Torah allows a man more than one wife at a time, while a woman is permitted only one husband at a time, is biological.: No one could argue that a man has the ability to simultaneously father children with more than one woman. However, a woman does not become simultaneously pregnant from more than one man (except under a very rare circumstance called heteropaternal superfecundation. This is when a woman ovulated two eggs so to be able to conceive fraternal twins, and then had sex with two different men in a short period of time, and then happened to have each egg fertilized by a different one of these men.). Therefore, as "marriage," in strict or broad sense, means a joining together, as the genes of a man can simultaneously be joined together with the genes of multiple women via different conceptions, a man, Rabbi Gruber states, can be married to more than one woman at once. A woman, however, is not naturally so joined to more than one man at a time. This considered, the rabbi speculates that the intent of the allowance of polygyny is "not to say that monogamous marriage isn't ideal," but rather to create a social structure inclusive of this natural phenomenon; "…as a man may be linked to several women at once, it is better to consider these multiple relationships legit, than to criminalize them and put them outside the bounds of normality. Doing so would wrongly shame many as 'living in sin,' and also unjustly condemn countless kids as 'bastards'."

Judaism

According to Michael Coogan, "[p]olygyny continued to be practiced well into the biblical period, and it is attested among Jews as late as the second century CE." The incidence was limited, however, and it was likely largely restricted to the wealthy. By the first century, both the expense and the practical problems associated with maintaining multiple wives were barriers to the practice, especially for the less wealthy. Since the 11th century, Ashkenazi Jews have followed Rabbenu Gershom's ban on polygyny (except in rare circumstances).

Some Mizrahi Jewish communities (particularly Yemenite Jews and Persian Jews) discontinued polygyny much more recently, as they immigrated to countries where it was forbidden or illegal. Such is the case in the State of Israel, which has made polygamy illegal. In practice, however, the law is only loosely enforced, primarily so as not to interfere with Bedouin culture, where polygyny is practiced. Pre-existing polygynous unions among Jews from Arab countries (or other countries where the practice was not prohibited by their tradition and was not illegal in the local law) are also not subject to this Israeli law, although a similar cultural concession to the Bedouin is not extended to Mizrahi Jews, and they are not permitted to enter into new polygamous marriages in Israel.

Among Karaite Jews, who do not adhere to Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah, polygyny is non-existent today. Karaites interpret Leviticus 18:18 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives her consent and Karaites interpret Exodus 21:10 to mean that a man can only take a second wife if he is capable of maintaining the same level of marital duties due to his first wife: namely, food, clothing, and sexual gratification.

Christianity

Main article: Christian Plural Marriage

Monogamy is assumed as a "general rule" by the New Testament. Plural marriage is currently rejected by most Christian denominations.

The current predominant belief among Christians in the United States is that polygyny is wrong and claim there is New Testament Biblical evidence to support that stance, citing for example Matthew 19:4–6 (KJV):

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians of Paul the Apostle concisely addresses each of the two gender forms of polygamy (in the sequence first polyandry and next polygyny) as follows: "But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:2, NRSV) Additional contrasts between 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians on other specific topics are compiled within broader-scale discussions on authorship of the Pauline epistles.

Tertullian, who lived at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, wrote that marriage is lawful, but polygamy is not:

"We do not indeed forbid the union of man and woman, blest by God as the seminary of the human race, and devised for the replenishment of the earth and the furnishing of the world and therefore permitted, yet singly. For Adam was the one husband of Eve, and Eve his one wife, one woman, one rib."

Martin Luther believed that Christianity did not prohibit polygyny and predicted that future Christians would have multiple wives. Writing to Gregor Brück, Luther stated that marrying several wives did not contradict Scripture. ("Ego sane fateor, me non posse prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris literis.")

Interviewed by Time magazine about his book, Michael Coogan said that according to Sola Scriptura, the Fundamentalist Mormons were right about polygamy. He was chief editor for the Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th Edition (as well as the prececessor 3rd Edition). As to why fundamentalist Mormons are "right in a sense" regarding polygyny, the reasoning he offers does include both "There is no unequivocal statement in the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible, that says that monogamy should be the norm", and also "If you're going to be a strict literalist, there's nothing wrong with polygamy." The Oxford Annotated Bible, 4th Edition in turn does, in comparison, annotate 1 Corinthians 7:2 as "...Paul counsels monogamy..."

Hinduism

According to the Hindu scriptures, Pandu, the father of the Pandavas in Mahabharata had two wives Kunti and Madri. Although Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu had 16108 consorts at his kingdom of Dwarka he was only helping the destitute wives of a demon. More so Sri Ram only had one wife and this rule has been advocated ever since. According to Hindu Marriage Act in India, it is not currently practiced.

History

Polygyny was partially accepted in ancient Hebrew society, in classical China, and in sporadic traditional Native American, African and Polynesian cultures. In India it was known to have been practiced during ancient times. It was accepted in ancient Greece, until the Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church when having one wife, but multiple lovers became the norm. It was accepted in Sub-Saharan Africa for most of the past two millennia.

In the Hebrew Bible, polygyny was a permitted practice (and required in the case of a levirate marriage) whilst polyandry (a woman having more than one husband) was seen as adultery.

In the United States, polygyny or "plural marriage" was allowed in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It ended in 1890 under the president of the LDS Church at the time, Wilford Woodruff. Officially since 1899, members of the LDS Church faced excommunication for being polygynous. There are several sects who separated themselves from LDS Church, and who have no ties nor relationship to the LDS Church that continue to practice polygyny despite polygynous marriage being illegal in the United States.

In historical China, a child might have up to four "mothers", the first wife being the "official mother" (嫡母 dímǔ) – in spoken language called "big mother" (大媽 dàmā) – the others being regarded as unofficial mothers (庶母 shùmǔ), in spoken language called "little mother" (小媽 xiǎomā) or "aunt" (阿姨 āyí, 姨娘 yíniáng). However, this custom was primarily a result of the concubinage system, where only the first wife by marriage was considered the wife and the mistress of the household. A concubine did not marry her owner. Her main duty was to provide a son to her owner, and any children from the liaison were not regarded as officially hers. But she was also brought into the household to provide sexual pleasure to the man and servitude to his wife.

In polygynous marriages generally, usually one wife is the "queen wife" who is accorded a higher status than the other wives and has some authority over the other wives.

Motivations

There is also some research that show that males living in polygynous marriages may live 12 percent longer.

The required inheritance of widows requires men in some societies to marry the widow of a deceased brother. This levirate marriage helps provide support for her and increases his number of wives.

A higher prevalence of infectious disease is associated with polygyny which may be due to a higher prevalence of infectious diseases making selecting males with a high genetic resistance increasingly important. Another explanation is that polygny may be due to a lower male:female ratio in these areas but this may ultimately be due to male infants having increased mortality from infectious diseases.

East Asia

Polygyny had been legal and was written in the law as recently as the end of the Qing/Ching dynasty of the imperial China (1911).

In the past, Emperors could have hundreds to thousands of concubines and subsequently rich officials and merchants could also have a number of concubines besides wives. The first wife is head or mother wife, other wives are under her headship if the husband is away, and others are concubines and have lower status than the full wives. Offspring from concubines did receive equal wealth/legacy from their father.

The original wife (or legal wife) is referred to as the 正室 zhèngshì /정실 (main room) both in China, Japan and Korea. 大婆 dàpó (big woman/big wife) is the slang term. Both terms indicate the orthodox nature and hierarchy. The official wife is either called "big mother" (大媽 dàmā), mother or aunt. The child of the concubine simply addresses the big mother as aunt.

The written word for the second woman is 側室 cèshì /측실 and literally means "she who occupied the side room". This word is also used in both China and Japan. They are also called 妾 qiè/첩 in China and Korea.

The common terms referring to the second woman and the act of having the second woman respectively are 二奶 (èrnǎi / yi nai), literally "the second wife".

People's Republic of China

In modern mainland China, polygamy is illegal under Marriage Law passed in 1980 which replaced a similar prohibition passed in 1950.

Polygamy was widely practiced in the Republic of China from 1911 to 1949, before Kuomintang was defeated in the Civil War and forced to retreat to Taiwan. Zhang Zongcang, who was a well-known warlord, famously declared he had three 'unknowns' - unknown number of rifles, unknown number of money, and unknown number of concubines. 不知道自己有多少枪，不知道自己有多少钱，不知道自己有多少姨太太

It was only after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 was Polygamy strictly prohibited.

Taiwan

Polygyny is illegal in the 1930 ROC civil law.

Hong Kong and Macau

Chinese men in Hong Kong could still practice polygamy by virtue of the Qing Code, which ended only with the passing of the Marriage Act of 1971; an example is Dr Stanley Ho who owns the Casino Lisboa in Macau. He has four wives. His uncle has 12 wives.

Kevin Murphy of the International Herald Tribune reported on the cross-border polygamy phenomenon in Hong Kong in 1995.

In a research paper of Berlin Humboldt University on sexology, Doctor Man-Lun Ng estimated about 300,000 men to have mistresses in China. In 1995, 40% of extramarital affairs involved a stable partner

Period drama is performed to this day depicting the former culture of polygamy (usually polygyny). An example is the Wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron by Hong Kong writer Louis Cha, in which the protagonist Wei Xiaobao has seven wives.

Islamic countries

Main article: Polygamy in Islam

Many majority Muslim countries retain the traditional Sharia which interprets teachings of the Quran to permit polygamy with up to four wives, as long as it is practiced under the specified conditions. Exceptions to this include Albania, Tunisia, Turkey, and former USSR republics. Though about 70% of the population of Albania is historically Muslim, the majority is non-practicing. Turkey and Tunisia are countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations that enforce secularist practices by law. In the former USSR republics, a prohibition against polygamy has been inherited from Soviet Law. A current revival of polygamy in the Muslim World has fueled attempts to re-legalize and re-legitimize it in some countries and communities where it is illegal.

Russia

Polygamy is illegal throughout the Russian Federation but is tolerated in predominantly Muslim republics such as Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan. Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic, has been quoted on radio as saying that the depopulation of Chechnya by war justifies legalizing polygamy. Kadyrov has been supported by Nafigallah Ashirov, the Chairman of the Council of Grand Muftis of Russia, with the statement that polygamy is already widespread among Muslim communities of the country.

Although non-Muslim Russian populations are historically monogamous, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky offered to legalize polygyny in order to tackle the demographic crisis of Russians. Zhirinovsky made his first proposal to legalize polygamy as early as 1993, after Kadyrov's declaration that he would introduce an amendment to legalize polygyny for all Russian citizens.

Kyrgyzstan

A proposal to decriminalize polygamy came before the Kyrgyz parliament and on March 26, 2007, despite strong backing of the Justice Minister, the country's ombudsman and the Muslim Women's organization Mutakalim that gathered 40,000 signatures in favour of polygamy, the parliament rejected the bill. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is known as a prominent opponent of legalizing polygyny.

Tajikistan

Due to a recent increase in the number of polygamous marriages, proposals were made in Tajikistan to re-legalize polygamy. Tajik women who want to be second wives are particularly supportive of decriminalizing polygyny. Mukhiddin Kabiri, the Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan states that legislation is unlikely to stop the growth in polygyny and criticizes the ruling élite for speaking out against the practice while taking more than one wife themselves.

Other former USSR republics

There have also been recent arguments in favour of re-legalizing polygamy in other ex-Soviet Muslim republics like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Muslim communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been traditionally known to practice polygamy but the custom last existed in Cazinska Krajina in the early 1950s. Although illegal in the country, polygamy is encouraged by certain religious circles and there is a current increase in the number of practitioners. This trend appears linked with the advent of Wahhabism in the Balkans.

The Bosniak population in neighbouring Raška, Serbia, has also been affected by this trend in Bosnia. There have been attempts to adopt an entire Islamic jurisdiction including polygamy but these moves have been rejected. However, this has not barred the top cleric, the Mufti of Novi Pazar, Muamer Zukorlić from taking a second wife.

Turkey

Turkey is the only Muslim country located in the Middle East (and one of two along with Israel) that has abolished polygamy, which was officially criminalized with the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, a milestone in Atatürk's secularist reforms. Penalties for illegal polygamy are up to 5 years imprisonment. Turkey has long been known for its promotion of secularism, and has continued to introduce measures that have placed even stricter bars on polygamy, also by the ruling moderate Islamist AK Parti as well. The most recent prohibition act, passed in March 2009, by the AK Parti, effectively banned polygamists from entering or living in the country.

In the Kurdish populated South East the practice still exists.

An advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the ruling moderate Islamist AK Parti, Ali Yüksel, is reportedly polygamous and has made public his intention to take a fourth wife which caused outrage from the Turkish media and also from the AK Parti.

United States and Canada

Polygyny is illegal in the United States and Canada.

Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century. The principle most often associated with fundamental latter-day saint teachings is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

At times, sources have claimed there are as many as 60,000 Fundamentalist latter-day saints in the United States, with fewer than half of them living in polygamous households. However, others have suggested that there may be as few as 20,000 Mormon fundamentalists with only 8,000 to 15,000 practicing polygamy. The largest Mormon fundamentalist groups are the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) and the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). The FLDS Church is estimated to have 10,000 members residing in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; and Pringle, South Dakota.

Africa

Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Generally in rural areas with growing populations, the higher the incidence of polygyny, the greater the delay of first marriage for young men, and this creates a surplus of marriageable girls. The higher the average polygyny rate, the greater the element of gerontocracy. Quite apart from the actual rate of polygyny, the distribution of wives may be uneven.

Kenya

Polygynous marriage was preferred among the Logoli and other Abalulya sub ethnic groups. Taking additional wives was regarded as one of the fundamental indicators of a successfully established man. Large families enhanced the prestige of Logoli men. Logoli men with large families were also capable of obtaining justice, as they would be feared people, who would not forcefully dare take their livestock or other things away from them. Interviews with some of the contemporary Logoli men and women who recently ventured into polygynous marriages yielded data which suggest that marrying another wife is usually approached with considerable thought and deliberation, which may or may not involve or require the consent of the other wives and prospective wife's parents. Some of the men also indicated that they were pressured by their parents to marry another wife who could contribute additional income to the family. Some of the young polygynous men indicated that they found themselves trapped in polygyny as a result of the large number of single women who needed and were actually willing to have them as their husband regardless of the fact that they were already married. Most of the women were insecure older women who had not married yet.

See also

• Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
• Mating system
• Monogamy
• Mormonism and polygamy
• Plaçage
• Polyamory
• Polyandry
• Polygamy
• Polygamy in Christianity
• Polygynandry
• Polygyny threshold model

Further reading

• Low, Bobbi S. (1990). Marriage systems and pathogen stress in human societies . American Zoologist 30: 325‑339. Full text - (Paper reports positive correlation between pathogen stress & polygyny.)
• Korotayev A., Bondarenko D. Polygyny and Democracy: a Cross-Cultural Comparison // Cross-Cultural Research. The Journal of Comparative Social Science. 34/2 (May2000). P. 190–208 (Paper reports negative correlation between polygyny & democracy.)
• Fortunato, Laura (2011). Reconstructing the History of Marriage Strategies in Indo-European–Speaking Societies: Monogamy and Polygyny. Human Biology: Vol. 83: Iss. 1, Article 6.

External links

• Patriarch Publishing House
• The Chinese University Of Hong Kong: Anthropology Department: Research Topics
• Hong Kong Anthropological Society: speeches summary
• BiblicalPolygamy.com
• Righteouswarriors.com
• “Galton’s Asset” and “Flower’s Problem”: Cultural Networks and Cultural Units in Cross-Cultural Research (or, the Male Genital Mutilations and Polygyny in Cross-Cultural Perspective)