Why is gay marriage so antithetical to African Culture?

THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF POLYGAMY IN AFRICA

Abstract: In contemporary African societies several African institutions which were of great significance have been subjected to Western categories and as such relegated to the background. One of such indigenous institutions that have been considered “sin” or anti-social is the polygamous family system. Using an ethnographic survey, this study, “The Socio-Cultural Significance of Polygamy in Africa” attempts to explore the significance of the polygamous family system in the social and cultural milieu of Africa. The study discovered that polygamy serves as an agent of moral control in that society. It therefore, recommends that Christian denominations should divorce themselves of Eurocentric categories and accept polygamist in their midst since the Bible did not out rightly condemn polygamy.

In Africa, tradition and religion are synonymous; and the cultural values of the people are tied to their belief system.  In this vein therefore, polygamy as an African institution, becomes an acceptable institution. The practice of polygamy in Nigeria is associated with economic and social values. 

In most indigenous African societies, a man believes that having male children enhances his position and prominence in the community, and his name in addition remains immortalized. Thus, if the first wife bears only female children, the tendency will be to contract another marriage for the expressed purpose of raising male children.

However, the rules guiding polygamy are strict and as such it was not regarded as a form of licentiousness or evil. A number of things make people become polygamous. Many people have their reasons for it; some may be circumstantial, others are willful and premeditated. It was not only in the pre-modern days that the issue of male child pushed one to polygamy, 

Mrs. Calista Ofoma (interview 20/12/2017), who got married at 15 and gave birth to nine female children by ‘the time he was 29, married a second wife for her husband, She did this because her husband wanted a male child, There are two things that led to this polygamous marriage: first the woman was tired of bearing children; second, the pressure from her husband’s family was too much. Even today, pressures from outside the family usually lead people to contract a second wife.

Trobisch (1978) report on one Omodo’s motive for taking a second wife as being

different from his reason for taking the third one; for the first one, his wife led him to that. Omodo’s wife was so overburdened, with both domestics and farm work that she wanted a helper. Omodo’s wife was not the only wife that had had such problem. This is common in Africa. The African woman is overburdened with much responsibility, usually, the man clears the bush and pays for hoeing, but the wife has to do the rest of the work: planting, weeding, and conveying the yam tubers to the ban. After these things, it is also her duty to plan for ‘the daily meals; get wood and water, care for the children and prepare food, while the man most of the time, would sit outside his hut enjoying the air or meet with his age group in the village hall, for social life. Therefore, some African men take to polygamy in order to alleviate the first wife’s problem of overworking. In some cases, the idea is suggested by the first wife.

Omodo married the third wife because her husband, Omodo’s brother, had died. This is an entirely different situation. This shows how important it is to find out one’s motive for being polygamous. It is obvious in Africa how a widow is exposed to untold problems and difficulties. A widow is the most pitiful woman in Africa. A widower will find it easier to marry another wife but not so with the widow. The situation seems worse in the church. Many churches do not have provisions for’ the widows ...even those who are widows indeed as the Bible directs (1 Tim.5:3) are overlooked by the church. The church would only be on the lookout to see when she (the widow) will misbehave — either by sexual immorality or by marrying a non-believer of the Christian faith, they will then suspend or excommunicate her.

To Africans, marriage and procreation are regarded as an aid towards the partial recapture or attainment to the lost immortality. In this sense, it follows logically that, the more wives a man has, the more children he is likely to have and the more children he has the stronger his power over mortality, Therefore, marriage in Africa involves more than two individuals.

an African feels that he has been “born again” among his descendants. Consequently, he is remembered after he had died physically and therefore enters his personal immortality, for the Africans, “children are the glory of marriage”, and so the more they are, the more the glory. A marriage in Africa is regarded “incomplete, valueless and unconsummated if it there is no child, especially a male child (Onunwa 1990:21). It is through this institution of marriage that the society seeks to face the challenge of death and preserve its fading image. The children born in the family are an assurance of the continuity of the generation. This, then, is one of the reasons for polygamy in Africa.

For kings and rulers, as in the case of Solomon and Ahab of the Judeo-Christian Bible and most of the African Chiefs, the opportunity of marrying several wives has an important political function. It helps them to form alliances with powerful kinship groups which might try to seize power from those who hold it. Marrying women from different lineages helps the chief to manipulate allies and “practice a large scale policies which the princely families of Europe could not carry out only within the narrow limits of monogamy (Maquet 1975:74). In those days (and even today) kings and chiefs solidify agreements, contracts, and treaties by marrying, sometimes the princess of the other community or the tribe concerned. This alliance stands indissoluble. Politically, a polygamist stands a better chance to influence people in the community because it will be easier to get his in-laws form allegiance with him. Most of the chiefs, village heads and community heads in Africa today are polygamists.

In many parts of Africa a man is not permitted to have sexual intercourse with the wife within the advanced stage of pregnancy and lactating period. The husband abstains from sexual relationship at least from latter pregnancy until the baby begins to walk and is weaned. Under this situation, the man is left either to remain single within this period or revert to concubineage or prostitution. Therefore, polygamy tends to solve the problem of sexual starvation in view of the fact that he can go into his other wives if one is not  disposed.

In case of sickness in the family, a polygamous family stands a better chance, to render help to the one who is sick and other mutual service among themselves. Conversely, co-wives’ rivalry and feud do not allow such assistance. For example, if any member of the household is sick, that is, one of the wives, other members of the family will assist her in cooking and fetching water, especially if her children are still small. Another benefit of this comes when one wife gives birth there are other wives to help and even care for other children of hers until she regains her vitality. If one wife dies, others are available to take care of her children, and in case of barrenness as already mentioned, “Others bear children for the family, so that the torch of life is not extinguished.

My Summary

 

1. African culture has strong differences in sexual roles, and places great value on having children, especially male children. One can see why the religion of the O.T., where polygamy and divorce were tolerated would have a strong appeal to many Africans. The O.T. was formed in a very similar agrarian economy. The writer of this article is essentially arguing that Christianity should go with this and approve of polygamy.  

2. One can see why African cultural values would have great abhorrence for gay males. They are not contributing to having children, especially male children. They are also not supporting women who are having children.  What is their worth to society?  The whole notion of gay marriage is antithetical to their cultural values. Obviously, something from the West.

3. Role of Christianity is more complicated. It's notion of monogamy challenges African culture. However, Christianity does forbid sex outside of marriage including homosexuality. 

The article below argues that Christianity introduced legislation against homosexuality into Africa, especially in the British school systems.  (All male environments like monasteries and male educational systems have great problems with homosexuality).

African Sexuality and the Legacy of Imported Homophobia

Christianity in the West has become increasing tolerant of divorce and remarriage along with premarital sex. Essentially, we have come to accept serial polygamy.  Therefore it is not a  great step to accept concurrent polygamy in the African context, especially if one can continue to condemn sex outside of marriages that are aimed at producing children. 

Across Africa Major Churches Strongly Opposed LGBTG rights