The film that was shown in class today focused on a group of people known as the Mende, whose views of marriage and families differs greatly from an Americans views on those topics. The Mende practice polygyny, which means that one husband can have multiple wives. One of the families introduced in the film, there was one husband, multiple wives, and several children. According to the only husband and father, he keeps his children under control simply because he feeds them. In fact, according to the Mende, food lies at the heart of each family, so because the husband is the one to gets food for the family, everyone to eats his food has to listen to him. While the father is working to get food for the family, the wives and children work around
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Typically, the main reason why Mende men get married is to have children and because having multiple wives makes him be considered prosperous. This seems very odd to me. In America, marriage is not a sign of prosperity, and because polygyny is illegal, if a man want another wife he would have to divorce his current wife. I've also noticed some similarities between Mende households and American households, such as the husband usually being the main source of food or income, while wives usually responsible for chores and taking care of the children. I find it interesting that Mende children listen to their fathers just because he brings them food. In American societies, children are taught to be obedient to their parents through rewards or punishments, such as getting ice cream for doing something good or getting a time out for doing something bad. I think that the Mende's point of view on marriage and families is rather peculiar. If a man had many wives and even more children in the United States, I would imagine that the wives could easily become jealous of each other, while keeping the children under control would me nearly impossible. The Mende families are not only able to prevent jealousy and pandemonium, but they are able to benefit from it. Mende wives are able to share their husband and chores equally, the children are easily kept under control, and the husband is regard and prosperous for it. I find it rather odd but also somewhat
Typically, the main reason why Mende men get married is to have children and because having multiple wives makes him be considered prosperous. This seems very odd to me. In America, marriage is not a sign of prosperity, and because polygyny is illegal, if a man want another wife he would have to divorce his current wife. I've also noticed some similarities between Mende households and American households, such as the husband usually being the main source of food or income, while wives usually responsible for chores and taking care of the children. I find it interesting that Mende children listen to their fathers just because he brings them food. In American societies, children are taught to be obedient to their parents through rewards or punishments, such as getting ice cream for doing something good or getting a time out for doing something bad. I think that the Mende's point of view on marriage and families is rather peculiar. If a man had many wives and even more children in the United States, I would imagine that the wives could easily become jealous of each other, while keeping the children under control would me nearly impossible. The Mende families are not only able to prevent jealousy and pandemonium, but they are able to benefit from it. Mende wives are able to share their husband and chores equally, the children are easily kept under control, and the husband is regard and prosperous for it. I find it rather odd but also somewhat