To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

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kiwiincambodia
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To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Post by kiwiincambodia »

To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Fri, 10 February 2017
Phak Seangly and Erin Handley

Despite being illegal, the practice of taking multiple wives is common but seldom discussed. While often powerless themselves to get out of relationships, women sometimes must share their husbands – a situation fraught with social stigma. Post Weekend explores what motivates men to marry twice and how women cope with the shared arrangement.

Amid the flurry of colour in village wedding ceremonies, May Ty and Tieng Chhuon always make a point of sitting together and sharing a meal.

Ty, at 65, wears her hair shorn close to her head and a small smile plays on her lips; she is partly paralysed on her right side. Chhuon, a little older at 69, is wiry with grey-streaked hair framing her face.

Apart from this little wedding ritual, they don’t have much else in common – except for one major thing: their husband.

The women, who live in houses barely 100 metres apart in Kandal’s Kien Svay district, are both wives to Uon Yoeun.

Chhuon is just one of Cambodia’s countless “second wives”.

Multiple marriages are common in the Kingdom, though they are rarely talked about openly due to a mixture of secrecy and stigma. Instead, the understanding that certain men have many wives simmers just below the surface of Cambodia’s cultural consciousness.

There are exceptions; living in the public eye, the late King Norodom Sihanouk had six wives and several concubines, and was married to two or three wives simultaneously.

While it is commonplace for Cambodian men to keep mistresses, there is a trend of the “other woman” being elevated to wifely status.

This can take place with official marriage certificates, but second “marriages” are also practised informally, especially in rural areas, with many couples not obtaining official wedding documents.

This is where the thin line between a committed mistress and a second wife blurs.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weeke ... my-kingdom
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Re: To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

from what i hear, having 1 wife is usually enough lol
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kiwiincambodia
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Re: To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Post by kiwiincambodia »

Jamie_Lambo wrote:from what i hear, having 1 wife is usually enough lol

Having -1 wife is even better....

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Re: To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Post by SinnSisamouth »

propun tee pee!
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Re: To have and to hold: polygamy in the Kingdom

Post by rozzieoz »

We know a few people with this type of arrangement


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