The Polygamist Woman's Single Story

More commonly in Utah than most other states, you might walk into a supermarket or a Wal-Mart and see a polygamist family. They’re the women in the long-sleeved, floor length, 18th century dresses with their hair in the famous “polygamist french braid”. There is automatically a sense of  pity felt for them and their lifestyle because any “normal” American would recognize that they are trapped and brainwashed into a cult and they don’t know any better than what their families spoon-fed to them their whole lives. No matter what polygamist women are or how they live, the reality is they are isolated because of their single story. Their single story, painted by media for decades, has been accepted by society.

For some apparent reason, a big part of the polygamist woman’s single story is her relationship to the Mormon Church. By just typing in “Polygamist Meme” into Google Images, several photos of Joseph Smith and the word “mormon” were in the first couple rows of results. However, I don’t believe these results necessarily mean that people think all polygamists are mormon. I do think that there is a misconception though because it seems like people believe that ALL polygamists are FLDS. It can be an easily blurred line, especially when polygamists are continually referred to as “mormon” in media. Polygamist women are also found in other religions or non-religions, but there are virtually no memes, videos, or articles about them. This leads society to continually be misinformed that only one culture, which resides in Utah and partially Arizona, accepts the practice.

Apart for some people who perhaps watch TV shows like “My Five Wives” or “Sister Wives”, polygamist women are notoriously seen as oppressed or trapped. Movie titles like “Escape” that are about polygamist women make its audience believe that the community is keeping them hostage. It suggests that these women want to get out but can’t. They’re in a prison sentence because they’re afraid to leave; they’re afraid of what their husbands will do to them. In the media, there seems to always be a cry for help when polygamist wives are mentioned. The artifacts continually portray women who are unhappy and unloved because the only happiness they care about is the husband’s. Even for the more “modern polygamist” shows like “Sister Wives”, which follows the lives of four “normal” looking women who practice polygamy, it is emphasized that the man always comes first to the family. Husband Kody is always sitting in the center of the couch during interviews with his four wives surrounding, which still suggests that the women come second or are not as important as their husband in the polygamist culture.

The single story that everyone accepts about these women lacks understanding, and that lack of an understanding causes society to fear them and to avoid receiving further knowledge about who these women really are. Instead of understanding them, people see them as a problem to be fixed or lives to be saved. It’s perplexing to live in a society that picks and chooses who to accept, yet claims to be a tolerable “free” nation that welcomes differences with open arms.