We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Ourselves African American Women Who Practice Polygyny by Consent

by Dixon, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9781580730402
• ISBN10: 158073040X
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-30
• Publisher: Black Classic Press, Inprint Editions

Summary

In We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Ourselves, Dr. Patricia Dixon debunks myths about monogamy and polygyny and challenges us to rethink our approach to marriage and family. This book reveals that before European domination, polygyny was an accepted marriage and family practice in over eighty percent of the world's cultures. Even in Western societies, polygyny has always been practiced. However, because it is done so under a myth of monogamy, this creates a "peculiar" form of the practice that is demoralizing to women. This peculiar form of polygyny was practiced in early European history in Greece and Rome. It was also practiced during slavery in the U.S. to the detriment of African American women and their families. Even in contemporary America, because closed polygyny is practiced in various forms, under the guise of monogamy, it continues to disempower African American women and undermine their marriages and families.

Author Biography

Dr. Patricia Dixon is an Associate Professor in African American Studies at Georgia State University, where she teaches courses on African American male-female relationships and family. She is the founding president of the National African American Relationships Institute (NAARI).

Table of Contents

Note to the Revised Second Edition	p. xi
Foreword	p. xv
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Introduction	p. xxv
Monogamy Only: The Trappings of Eurocentrism?	p. 1
Polygyny	p. 19
A Shortage of African American Men: Myth or Reality?	p. 57
One Who Starts A Revolt When He Learns In A Place Where God Teaches Man: A Conversation With Trenyaae Bondojia	p. 81
Divine Marriage: African Hebrew Israelite Women In Polygyny	p. 115
Ausar Auset Society: Women In Polygyny	p. 139
African American Muslim Women In Polygyny	p. 171
Stepping Up: Men With Multiple Wives	p. 233
Comparative Summary of The Three Communities	p. 263
Polygyny: A Viable Alternative For African American Women?	p. 277
Removing The Veil	p. 295
References	p. 301
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