Polygamy in traditional African Marriage and reasons why polygamy is practiced
Answer Text: Polygamy in traditional African Marriage and reasons for polygamy:Polygamy is allowed for reasons accepted by the community.Polygamy is a state of marriage in which there is one husband and more than one wife. It is found in almost every traditional African society.Reasons for polygamy.(i) Polygamy ensures that every woman has an opportunity to get married. For this reason, prostitution is in fact unheard of in traditional African communities.(ii) Polygamy raises the social status of the family. Traditional Africans believe that a big family earns its head great respect in the eyes of the community. Generally it is the rich families that are made up of polygamous marriages.(iii) If the first wife is barren, the husband can get children from the other wives.(iv) To ensure that there is always someone around to help in times of need. For example, when one wife gives birth, there are other wives to nurse her and care for her other children. The same applies in a situation when one wife dies leaving children behind or in the case of sickness.(v) Polygamy contributes to effective family planning. It is a taboo for a nursing mother to have intercourse with her husband. This provides room for spacing between the birth of one child and the next.(vi) Polygamy helps to prevent or reduce unfaithfulness especially on the part of the man. For example, if one of the wives is sick or nursing a baby, the man has other wives to fulfill his sexual needs.
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