Someone said that the pushing down of the age of women at marriage would not happen if women were allowed multiple marriages as well. True, but would the men agree to it. To suggest that China may go that way and that this would increase the status of women does not tally with some research I have seen - sorry, I can't remember where. In societies where women are few, their value to the men rises, but not as persons, as chattels, and the women find themselves changing partners, involuntarily, more frequently, and sometimes with violence. We can't win.

Since I posted last, I've remembered something else which would damage the polygamist society with young brides. Babies born to teenage mothers are more vulnerable than those born to mature women. Most vulnerable would be the boys. The society might well increase the inbalance between the sexes.

I understood that the polygamy practiced in Mormon society at the beginning was in response to the effect of the opposition to them and the loss of husbands, leaving unprotected widows. In those circumstances, there might be an argument for the arrangement. The alternative would be a convent of some sort, but Mormon beliefs about marriage would make that difficult. Do all the marriages count as eternal, or only one, by the way?

Penny