Growing up as a child she was always told that she would marry someone who already has multiple wives and children. When she questioned why, she was told it was her only way to enter Heaven. Of course everyone wants to go to Heaven, so she abided by her parents’ beliefs and married the “right guy.” Twenty years later she realized her life was horrible. She has to share her husband with six other women and twenty-four other kids that are not hers. All she wants to do is get away from this life. The opinion above is how some women who are a part of a polygamist family feel. The practice of polygamy mostly takes place in the Islamic countries. A man name Joseph Smith was the founder of polygamy, which is the practice of having several spouses. When men have multiple families negative affects plague everyone involved in that man’s life.Being the wife of a
polygamist causes negative effects on self-esteem and confidence. A wife will
build feelings of inadequacy due to the fact that she feels that she cannot satisfy
him alone. There is usually a culture of competition within a polygamist’s
household. This competition disrupts the lives of each of the polygamist’s wives,
who go to great lengths to get the attention of the same man. Along with the
wives being negatively affected by the polygamist lifestyle, the kids also feel the
negative effects. Children often form rivalries between themselves and their
siblings who have different mothers. Adrienne Davis states that a polygamist
house hold "is a toxic environment in which men are kings and women are
courtiers." (2012)