I wrote on another post that the ration of men to women was about 48% to 52%, but that's backward; at birth the ratio is naturally between 100.5 and 106 boys to 100 girls, so there are slightly more males. Therefore, god designed things to be about 50/50, but there is still a slightly higher number of males, so polygamy CANNOT and never could be a universal concept (except among a small number of powerful men). In other words, it's a sexual/political concept, not natural.

Since we know that the FPR of "widows being taken to wife" because their husbands had either been killed by gentiles or died on the trail are basically bogus, Utah in the mid 1800's must have been a lonely place for a lot of men...

As Richard Packham points out in his website, polygamy actually creates a shortage of marriageable women.

Keeping the numbers simple, let's say there are 100 men and 150 women of marriageable age. If 50 of the men marry three wives each, then who are the other 50 men going to marry?

Even if there were a large number of widows who needed financial support, why was marriage considered the only solution? Why add to there burden with more children they didn't have a way to suppport?

Either do like Joseph Smith and marry 11 women already married to someone else,

or

do like Warren Jeffs and keep marrying younger and younger girls.

Suppose you are a GA in the 1870s and you see a young couple walking down the street in Salt Lake on your way home from the office to have dinner with your 3 wives + children before you go give a sermon at the Tabernacle & then come home for a night of sexual pleasure with one of your wives. You notice that the young woman is very beautiful. You then watch the couple come up and talk to a man you know by acquaintance (but not his address) as a member of a neighboring Ward. This Spirit directs you to stop at this Bishop's home that evening en route to going to the tabernacle. You ask the Bishop to arrange for this acquaintance to come in your office the next day. The acquaintance comes by and you interview him. You inquire about the young couple and learn its a 18 year old young man in the 11th Ward and a 15 year old young woman in the 12th ward. You call on the Bishop of the 11th Ward that afternoon to inquire about the young man and you send a message to the Bishop of the 12th ward to let them know you'll be at their Entrenchment Society meeting that evening to preach. While meeting the 11th Ward Bishop you feel inspired to let the Bishop know you'll be submitting the young man's name to the Lion House for a call to serve a mission as the Spirit has directed. Then that evening you speak to the young women about two important topics - (a) do not wait for missionaries as they are on the Lord's errand; (b) follow the Brethren in anything they say as they speak for God. A week later the young man is called on a mission and you go speak at the 12th ward sacrament meeting. Beforehand you feel inspired that you should go home teaching with the Bishop to families where the Lord's inspiration shall guide. You visit this young woman's home and feel inspired to propose courtship. Two weeks later you're married to wife #4. Her formerly beloved is now on his way to Madagascar for 3 years to preach the gospel.

I remember learning in school that slightly more boys are born than girls. Over time, the ratio evens out.

The (basically) 1:1 ratio between the sexes would seem to argue against polygamy. If polygamy as the FLDS practices it were more widespread, you'd have a huge number of unhappy males. I don't think that would make for a happy or healthy society.

Back in the 1970's my Mo convert friend gave me the "taking care of the widows" argument as to why the church instituted polygamy. I didn't know enough back then to contest her statement. Now I do.

When you learn that there are approximately the same number of boys to girls and that the speculation is that the slightly higher number is boys is due to the fact that boys tend to die a bit more often at birth and during childhood which leaves an approximately 1:1 ratio - yeah, polygamy makes NO sense.

And I was taught that claptrap that the men "married the widows to take care of them" - which when you are your young you just accept. Only later does it occur to you - if the men were so worried about these widows why couldn't they just give them some money or help them out in other ways? Why did these widows have to become someone's 3rd or 4th wife?

Then you read about some poor schmuk being castrated because he wanted to marry a girl that one of these "holy" men wanted - and then you just feel sick.

As far as I can tell the only beneficiaries were the men who were building harems. No benefit to the women, no benefit to the children, and no benefit to any of the other regular guys who weren't part of the patriarchal power structure.

the NPS Ranger was a marment and was explaining that on the trail (Oregon, Mormon, California, Santa Fe) the menfolk would just drink from the streams while the womenfolk generally drank tea (which boiled the water and killed the critters)

That's why by the time they got west, there were so many more wymyns than mens.

at the time, before I joined this list, it made sense. Now I think I want to report him for reporting his FPR mormon crap on the gubment dime.

There are more women in the celestial kingdom than men. It's because men like pornography.

Yep, most men aren't going to be good enough to go to the celestial kingdom, but those who do will be reaaaally happy.

No, even worse. There are only Sons of Perdition, no daughters. That's because women are sentenced to a fate worse than hell in mormon heaven. Eternal child bearing.

So all the women have to go to heaven. Heaven, yeah right.

BY had the nerve to scold the men in the church for not marrying. Telling them they would go to hell bla bla bla. JoD vol.19

Nice double bind!

In that the women had many male mates. That seems a more "natural" arrangment if there is any such thing, especially with the numbers of male-to-female being what they are.

intelligent boyfriend about polygamy and the bullsh*t about too many women. I can't remember why the subject came up. He has mormon ancestors--and to my SHOCK, his parents and sisters attended the mormon church for quite a while (I found out when we visited them in September--this was news to the boyfriend, too). He had bought what his dad had told him--and he actually didn't want to believe what I said, that I was too negative.

I'm like--ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even mormon women have tales about polygamy.

I have a friend whose great-grandmother arrived in slc with her fiance, but she was assigned by BY to marry a man whose wife could have no children and then had to give up her first 2 children to the first wife, then was left penniless when her elderly husband died. AND if you read books on polygamy, many of the women SUPPORTED themselves almost exclusively.