Sister Wives (TLC show)

[Benjorsam]

There is something creepy about this guy. I can't put my finger on what it is but I just don't like him. His wives seem really nice, and normal. I know he works but all the other wives work as well, with the exception of the one who is pg, and they are all bringing in pretty good money. I actually think they seem more normal than the Duggars. I can definitly see the benefit of having "sister wives" but I'm way to jealous to share my man with anyone else. But I think its a good show and I enjoy watching it.

[Annikki]

There is something creepy about this guy.

I thought the same thing....something just didn't add up for me about this dude.

[Annikki]

I think the part that really put to question his character is when his own daughter wasn't happy to see him after getting home from Mexico. All her affection and love were for her mother and he made a comment regarding this.

[edcuator]

Guess my moral values are showing - why would any woman think this is acceptable??? Why is it always sister wives and not brother husbands????

I have not watched the show because I think this legitimizes communities such as Bountiful where young girls are forced to marry older men and the young men in the community are disposable.

(Moderator, please remove if you think this is inflammatory.)

[R o x a n n e]

Another excellent example as to why I never plan on having cable again! IMO that's disgusting and there is something truly wrong with this world if people are getting paid to to this in the public eye and influence the next generation to be even worse than this one.

[YogiMommi]

Guess my moral values are showing - why would any woman think this is acceptable??? Why is it always sister wives and not brother husbands????

I think they think they ARE being moral. Its their religious belief that if they dont live the principle of polygamy they won't get to heaven. And FLDS arent the only polygamists out there either. There are polyandrous (one women and multiple men) in some places/communes, although its much more rare.

What is becoming more popular is polyamorous relationships (multiple men and women). In fact, they polyamorous and the polygamists are both working to challenge the polygamy laws in Canada. I find this very interesting.

I havent seen the show yet! I keep missing it. When is it one?! Zut.

[lady_arianna]

i do agree that something seems off about him... as for his job i believe he stated in one show he works in PR...

i don't like his new gf/ wife, she seems to cry everytime she has to say something

it is on every sunday, and the show airs twice (i think 7 &9pm) so if you miss the first one you just have to wait an hour

as for the submission part of it, i do think that the women hold back, and you can see when they say somethings that his head whips around to face them...

as for his kids, i think that he is ok with them, but i think that he has so much going on that he can never have a good bond with them... i mean he has to keep track in a dayplanner how much time he spends with each wife i get that its to make everything fair but i mean really?

the other thing i don't get is why they are public about it... in utah where they live its illegal and had been for many many years... most wives have their children at home, for fear of going to the hospital and the husband has to explain... which would put him in jail...

despite everything i see myself watching it when i remember its on

[tinkerbelle]

Is polygamy religion based and polyamorous a life style choice? Seems to me people will now just want "open relationship" to be legal. I dunno. Interesting though. I've caught snippets and will probably watch more.
It is nothing like Bountiful. Big Love was though in a way.

[midnightly]

there is soemthing off putting about him.. some of the wives i think are nice well adjusted women with quirks (one refuses to have a toaster because she read somewhere that there are more accidents caused by toasters then by planes online or osmething like that) they were mostly raised in the lifestyle and made the choice and wanted to be in the lifestyle..they part of modern society (some hold down jobs, they have internet/TV they are out and about in thier community and not locked up or hidden away) they have a choice and they choose it and they can speak up if they have issues

though with him.. he joined the lifestyle late in the game (was in his teens i think he said) and he did it pretty much to marry and have multi wives and he doesn't even really pratice the religion aspect.. i remember the first episode him saying that they don't pray and he has to call everyone together maybe once a week to pray. i think that if you are going to embrace this religous choice and then you should practice it as a whole.. not just pick the part you like (having multi wives and many children) then discard all the rest.. i'm almost thinking he's doing the show for the notority not for what's best for his family, that he puts himself first

but thats just my opinion

[Benjorsam]

the other thing i don't get is why they are public about it... in utah where they live its illegal and had been for many many years... most wives have their children at home, for fear of going to the hospital and the husband has to explain... which would put him in jail...

He actually is currently under investigation. The problem is that since you can only "legally" marry one person at a time, any other marriages you have are not valid. And since they are not valid, they aren't legal. Its such a low priority crime and since none of his wives are young girls or have been forced into this, its really not a crime they want to pursue too readily. But this is what I could find on his charges:

http://www.examiner.com/page-one-in-salt-lake-city/kody-brown-of-tlc-s-sister-wives-marries-fourth-bigamy-charges-unlikely

[Benjorsam]

though with him.. he joined the lifestyle late in the game (was in his teens i think he said) and he did it pretty much to marry and have multi wives and he doesn't even really pratice the religion aspect.. i remember the first episode him saying that they don't pray and he has to call everyone together maybe once a week to pray. i think that if you are going to embrace this religous choice and then you should practice it as a whole.. not just pick the part you like (having multi wives and many children) then discard all the rest..

I was kind of thinking the same thing. I've done a lot of reading on the FLDS and they say one of the reasons they have so many wives is because they are supposed to have as many kids as they can, and obviously the more wives you have, the more kids you can have. I was mentioning to dh that I was suprised that his youngest child is already 5. That there were no babies in the home, and then as I watched the episode I learned that the wives actually control how many kids they want to have. I know his first wife can't have anymore and one of his other wives is pg, but even she said she didn't want anymore until her youngest got older and she missed having babies. I would also presume that he'll have more with his new wife. But that is not how its supposed to work with FLDS members. The women basically have baby after baby until they can't have babies anymore. They aren't supposed to be able to choose how many they have and when they stop.

Maybe this is what bugs me about him. He doesn't seem sincere in his beliefs. He seems like he became FLDS simply to have many wives and kids and doesn't follow any of the other teachings of the religion.

And I don't find that his wives seem as accepting of the situation as they claim since they've all expressed feeling jealous and hurt at times, especially with the new wife coming in.

[Benjorsam]

Guess my moral values are showing - why would any woman think this is acceptable??? Why is it always sister wives and not brother husbands????

I have not watched the show because I think this legitimizes communities such as Bountiful where young girls are forced to marry older men and the young men in the community are disposable.

(Moderator, please remove if you think this is inflammable.)

But if you have watched the show you would see that this is a completely different sitaution. All of the women he married were adults, in their 20s, when he married them. There were no kids at the time. The women are educated and all work with the exception of the one who is currently pg. I believe they all support themselves as well. The kids are all pretty free thinking, including one of his teenage daughters who says that plural marriage is not for her. She wants to go to college, get an education and then marry one man and one man only. And on the show anyway, she is being encouraged to do this.

I'm not saying I agree with this lifestyle or that you should watch the show. But I think in order for people to have an opinion on something, you have to see both sides of the story whether you agree with it or not. Its hard to form an opinion when you only know, or think you know, one side.

The woman who live in Bountiful, in my opinion, are brainwashed from the time they are born to think that marrying young and having as many children as possible is your only guaranteed way to heaven. Teenage boys are kicked out of the community so that they are not competition for the old guys. Young girls are married off to men sometimes 4 times their age and often forcibly. There is also statutory rape going on and many of these girls are having babies when they are barely into their teens. The don't have a choice in the matter and can't speak their minds freely. If they don't agree with the lifestyle they either keep it to themselves or risk losing their children if they try to escape. None if these situations is true in the case of "Sister Wives".

[edcuator]

I have watched snippets of the program. Yes, they are all older but that does not change my perspective. There is no equal partnership when it is one man and three - soon to be four wives. Must be nice to be able to create your own kingdom.

I am a very old boring married woman. My life has been spent working with children. I can't even begin to express all of my concerns beyond the glorifying of the polygamist lifestyle that I feel about this show. -

I think it is really sad that we are so ready to accept every quirky lifestyle out there. I know and accept that 'family' is no longer the traditional two parents and kids however, sometimes as adults create what works for them, there is no thought to the long term outfall for their children.

We fought for equality for women - not certain what we have achieved is really equality. Women are able to work - many in nontraditional female roles - but we have more women raising children on their own, more woman and children living in poverty...not what I would call very equal.

Sister Wives legitimizes another situation where women are not equal. Sorry, although they are adults, it is no different than Bountiful - or to me more damaging than Bountiful because what I am reading here is that while you do not accept Bountiful - this is ok because they are all adults making a choice. How many 8+ year olds (who will be watching that show) are able to rationalize like that? How many of those young girls will think this is an acceptable choice? Is this the lifestyle you would chose for your daughter?

These women may like this choice (at least they say so in front of the camera where they are being paid to advertise their lifestyle). Does this make it right?

[Shannon H.]

I know and accept that 'family' is no longer the traditional two parents and kids however, sometimes as adults create what works for them, there is no thought to the long term outfall for their children.

I whole heartedly agree with this. If the children had time with someone, off camera, to talk honestly about their feelings, I wonder if they feel okay with this. Trying to spend time with your children when you are splitting time between 4 wives? That doesn’t seem feasible and very much like adults making choices without actually considering the impact on those kids. I wonder who decided to do the show, I feel it would be safe to bet that the children didn’t get a say, and may not be thrilled about another wife coming. The problem is that what we see on TV is often scripted and edited so we can’t truly know what it is like for them. And each person knows, whatever they say, everyone else will get to hear at some point.

[Benjorsam]

I have watched snippets of the program. Yes, they are all older but that does not change my perspective. There is no equal partnership when it is one man and three - soon to be four wives. Must be nice to be able to create your own kingdom.

I am a very old boring married woman. My life has been spent working with children. I can't even begin to express all of my concerns beyond the glorifying of the polygamist lifestyle that I feel about this show. -

I think it is really sad that we are so ready to accept every quirky lifestyle out there. I know and accept that 'family' is no longer the traditional two parents and kids however, sometimes as adults create what works for them, there is no thought to the long term outfall for their children.


We fought for equality for women - not certain what we have achieved is really equality. Women are able to work - many in nontraditional female roles - but we have more women raising children on their own, more woman and children living in poverty...not what I would call very equal.

Sister Wives legitimizes another situation where women are not equal. Sorry, although they are adults, it is no different than Bountiful - or to me more damaging than Bountiful because what I am reading here is that while you do not accept Bountiful - this is ok because they are all adults making a choice. How many 8+ year olds (who will be watching that show) are able to rationalize like that? How many of those young girls will think this is an acceptable choice? Is this the lifestyle you would chose for your daughter?

These women may like this choice (at least they say so in front of the camera where they are being paid to advertise their lifestyle). Does this make it right?

I pretty much agree with everything you said. I never said it was ok. I don't agree with it and it does worry me that we have generation after generation of girls growing up in this environment thinking its ok. My only point was that we have to accept that there are many different kinds of families out there and even if we don't agree with their lifestyle, we shouldn't condem anyone. Hate is based on ignorance and so many people in this world have been hurt, killed or shunned because of how they chose to live their life. Just a few years ago America was up in arms when Ellen DeGeneres came out on her sitcom. People talked about the moral downfall of society and how the show was going to open doors to make gay ok. And you know what, it did. We don't even bat an eye when we see gay characters on tv now. And are we any more morally corupt because of it? I don't think so.

I don't think a show like "Sister Wives" should open the door to every kind of different living situation in the world. Because it is technically illegal, the people on it should definitly not be gettting paid. But I for one, enjoy learning about things I'm not familiar with, good or bad so that I can form my own judgements about whether or not something is wrong. But I can say that I'd much rather see kids in a situation like on the show where they are surrounded by loving parents and are healthy and happy than living in a "traditional" family where they are being molested or beaten.