Polygamy vs.Bigamy- Explanation Please!?

I would say that bigamy is when you marry more than one woman legally and it is on file in your jurisdiction or others. One spouse normally does not know about the other, and they often live in separate houses.

Polygamy is when you have one legal wife, but one or more mistresses who all live in the same home and you have an open marriage.

Most polygamists don't bother to marry more than one of their wives. All but the first are just mistresses.

Bigamy is usually thought of as some guy just picking up an extra wife on the side and keeping his families hidden from each other. It is just greed, fraud, and crime.

Most polygamists these days can't afford their lifestyle and depend on the government for welfare. There are religious groups of Mormons and Christians, Muslims, and a few secular kinds.

It is almost all patriarchal, man dominiated. The women have to share the wife role.

It used to work in rural society where women were valued for their work in the fields. A rich guy could buy some extra wives, get some extra kids, and make a profit by creating more crops. Now that most societies are cash based, most men can't afford it. In poor countries that still allow it, public school usually involves high fees, so men with big families can't educate them or keep them in style. They get poor fast.

Polygamy is slowly dying in countries that allow civil rights for women. As soon as a woman can get an education, vote, hold a job and own property, she no longer wants to be some old goat's 4th wife.

People think that polygamy causes lots of kids, but it is just the opposite. Given a society with 100 men and 100 women, if they marry monogamously the women have more kids. If the 100 women marry only 20 of the guys polygamously, there are 80 potential fathers with no access to women. The 20 lucky men can't get around enough with the women at the right time and they have smaller families per woman.

What causes more kids is actually the philosophy of the community regardless of the marriage style.

Which brings us to excess men. What happens to the 80 men above with no families, no commitment to the society that robbed them of their destiny? They join gangs, start rebellions, work as little as possible.

Between the excess men and the uneducated women, polygamous society can't keep up with free democratic countries, none of which allow polygamy.

May I suggest something?

Well, if you want to have a more deeper understanding on Polygamy and the life of polygamists, then I would thoroughly advise you to watch the show "Big Love", its about a polygamist with three partners.

You should definitely check it out!

I hope I've helped!