Group marriage

Group marriage

Group marriage (a form of polyamory) is a marriage-like arrangement between more than two people. Usually consisting of three to seven adults, all partners live together, share finances, children, and household responsibilities.

Classification

Depending on the sexual orientation and activity of the members, all adults in the family may be sexual partners. For instance, if all members are heterosexual, all the women may have sexual relationships with all the men. If the members are bisexual, they may have sexual relationships with the women as well as the men.

Group marriage implies a strong commitment to be faithful - by only having sex within the group and staying together long term. Family members may be open to taking on new partners, but only if all members of the family agree to accept the new person as a partner. The new person then moves into the household and becomes an equal member of the family.

Currently, the most common form of group marriage is a triad of two women and one man, or two men and one woman.[1] However, there have recently been a number of polyfidelitous families formed by two heterosexual couples who become a four-some and live together as a family.

Line marriage is a form of group marriage found in fiction in which the family unit continues to add new spouses of both sexes over time so that the marriage does not end.[2]

Legal aspects

"Group marriage" can more informally describe a polyamorous relationship ("… our little group marriage") when no claim to being married in formal legal terms is made.

In most countries, it is legal for three or more people to form and share a sexual relationship (subject sometimes to laws against homosexuality). However, no Western countries permit marriage among more than two people. Nor do they give strong and equal legal protection (e.g., of rights relating to children) to non-married partners – the legal regime is not comparable to that applied to married couples. Individuals involved in polyamorous relationships are considered by the law to be no different from people who live together, or "date", under other circumstances.

For a map with the legal status of group marriage in a particular country see Legal status of polygamy.

Non-European cultures

The following instances are cited in Thomas 1906.[8]

In modern U.S. cultures

Group marriage occasionally occurred in communal societies founded in the 19th and 20th centuries.

An exceptionally long-lived example was the Oneida Community founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848. Noyes taught that he and his followers, which reached 200 in number, had undergone sanctification; that is, it was impossible for them to sin, and that for the sanctified, marriage (along with private property) was abolished as an expression of jealousy and exclusiveness. The Oneida commune lived together as a single large group and shared parental responsibilities. Any given male-female combination in the group was free to have sex, usually upon the man's asking the woman, and this was the common practice for many years. In effect it functioned as a large group marriage until about 1879-1881. Nor did the Oneida Community self-destruct as happens with many communes. Noyes heard a New York warrant was out for his arrest, perhaps for adultery, though apparently not for anyone else in the group, and he fled to Canada, not many miles away. He lived there the rest of his life. After some period without his leadership and acting at Noyes' suggestion, the group disbanded. Several dozen pairs of them quickly married in traditional fashion after disbanding. They and others nearby then created the Oneida Silver company that for many decades was a famous US company name in flatware and related items.

The Kerista Commune practiced group marriage in San Francisco from 1971 to 1991.

It is difficult to estimate the number of people who actually practice group marriage in modern societies, as this form of marriage is not officially recognized or permitted in any jurisdiction in the U.S., and de jure illegal in many. It is also not always visible when people sharing a residence consider themselves privately as a group marriage.

Portrayal in science fiction and popular culture

Interest in, and practice of, nonmonogamy is well-known in modern science fiction fandom . Group marriage has been a theme in a number of works of science fiction — especially the later novels of Robert A. Heinlein, such as Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday, Time Enough for Love, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. Stranger in a Strange Land describes a communal group much like the Oneida Society. A domestic partnership consisting of four people who are all married to each other features in Vonda N. McIntyre's Starfarers series.

See also

References

Notes
  1. "Models of Open Relationships by Kathy Labriola". Cat-and-dragon.com. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  2. Heinlein, 1966, pp. 260–262.
  3. Westermarck 1922, Part III, p. 240
  4. Westermarck 1922, Part III, p. 241
  5. Ratzel, Friedrich (1896). The History of Mankind. London: MacMillan Press. p. 277. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  6. "Nair Polyandry". Kerala.cc. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  7. Polgreen, Lydia (16 July 2010). "One Bride for 2 Brothers: A Custom Fades in India". The New York Times (Malang, India).
  8. Northcote W. Thomas (1906). Kinship Organizations and Group Marriage in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bibliography
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