Elite Malay womens polygamy narratives are multiple and varied, and their sentiments regarding the practice are conflicted, as they are often torn between personal and religious convictions. This volume explores the ways in which this increasingly prominent practice impacts Malay gender relations. As Muslims, elite Malay women may be forced to accept polygamy, but they mostly condemn it as women and wives, as it forces them to manage their lives and loves under the threat of polygamy from a husband able to marry another woman without their knowledge or consent; a husband that is married but available.
Introduction: Polygamous Anxieties
Chapter
1. Stories
Chapter
2. Elites
Chapter
3. Islam
Chapter
4. Secrets
Chapter
5. Blame
Chapter
6. Husbands
Chapter
7. Wives
Chapter
8. Desires
Chapter
9. Co-wives
Chapter
10. Sharing
Chapter
11. Children
Chapter
12. Families
Chapter
13. Rivals
Chapter
14. Magic
Chapter
15. Divorce
Conclusion: To Be or Not to Be Polygamous
Bibliography
Index
Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen is Curator in Modern History and World Cultures at the National Museum of Denmark. She has done extensive research on polygyny in Muslim Southeast Asia and among Mormon fundamentalists in North America, and currently explores polyandry in the Himalayas. Her previous publications include Polygamy: A Cross-Cultural Analysis (Bloomsbury, 2008).