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Story of a Girl's Escape from polygamy

glamour.com — I started sewing my wedding dress when I was 14 years old. Most girls would never think of marriage at such a young age, but some of my peers were already wives and mothers. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was married off, just like my mother had been, to a man who would eventually have three or more wives.

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 1, 2007

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  • vroom101, on 10/10/2007, -9/+232Started reading, couldn't and didn't stop until I reached the end. It's an excellent article definitely worthy of -- The DIGG Front Page!
  • lordtyros, on 10/10/2007, -19/+165This was a really interesting and well written piece. Also, she has the Tig Ol' Bitties.
  • spoiled1, on 10/10/2007, -6/+101Yeah! .. She should go pose for Playboy and become one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriend ... wait ... whats polygamy?
  • iDragonFly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+92This was a well written article.

    What is not discussed much - yet - is the tragedy that follows many of the 'lost boys'.
    Boys are not of much value to the so-called 'Prophet' or some of the other polygamist husbands, and are often treated like unwanted drones kicked from the hive, and left to fend for themselves at an early age.

    Girls however, are a valuable commodity as they can be used for trade/favors with other men looking to add young females to their fold.

    The lack of choice for the women and children caught in this web of fundamental hypocrisy is what I find so horribly disturbing.
  • Yuo122986, on 10/10/2007, -1/+84I was suppose to leave work, damn you informational narrative!! Now I'll have to sit through traffic... but at least I'll be happy knowing she broke free of her oppressive religion and lived life her own way
  • Hananda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+72"The idea behind polygamy in the FLDS is that a man must have at least three wives in order to go to heaven."

    So, they condemn roughly two out of three men of their own faith to hell right from the get-go, eh. I can't believe this group has survived as long as it has.
  • Roguecop, on 10/10/2007, -4/+68Interesting to note that Islamic extremist terrorists get there stock of suicide bombers from young impressionable middle eastern males who are poor, uneducated and largely single. Largely single due to polygamy. Every attractive young lady in the neighborhood is swept up and taken to the local sheik/oil mogul/whatever palace. Simply add in the promise of 75 virgins in heaven and presto you have a lonely and horny fool without much to lose ready to die for his 'religion'. Most people think that polygamy favors men, they could not be more wrong.
  • GMorgan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+65I'd allow consenting adults to be in whatever relationship they want, the point with this sort of thing is there is rarely consent and these aren't adults.

    Personally I think polygamy (at least in the traditional sense as opposed to mere consenting open relationships) is disgusting but freedom is freedom. It is important to be able to dislike something and still recognise where consenting adults have the right to choose their own path. I don't like polygamy so would never become a polygamist.
  • CaptMonkey, on 10/10/2007, -6/+64A very good read. I'm all for letting people live however they want, but I'm kind of against polygamy, at least the one man to many women style. Sure, it sounds cool to have lots of wives, but in reality, when men are marrying three or more women, that's leaving a lot of the rest of us men with no one. If half of the men have just two wives, that leaves the other half of us alone. And most of us think it's hard enough to find a woman as it is...
  • soulmist, on 10/10/2007, -6/+58obviously you've never been in a long term relationship with a woman- i can't stand ONE wife, i couldn't imagine having three
  • raitchison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+48Which is why they excommunicate boys like there's no tomorrow, to reduce competition for wives.
  • NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+47“Learn how to keep a house, behead a chicken and cook it up for your husband!”

    Get back in the kitchen and behead me a chicken!
  • kinerry, on 10/10/2007, -6/+48Polygamy is ok, forcing it isn't
  • Dulcinea80, on 10/10/2007, -0/+41Ya... something tells me it wasn't her "long blond hair and warm eyes" the boys liked.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+33

    Why some men would marry more then one women is beyond me. The thought of one gives me the creeps.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -6/+38I dugged this, and I hope my 5 other wives will too
  • nirv117, on 10/10/2007, -1/+32Romney isn't a member of the FLDS church that the article talks about.
  • kurtwinter, on 10/10/2007, -0/+30How these societies continue is completely incomprehensible. This is no different than other misogynistic cultures that place blame for rape on the victim, cut out girls' clitorises or give up their daughters for sacrifice to Kali. Although this is more palatable than those, is it really different? Mothers sending their daughters out to be abused, because they believe themselves to be less than. Makes me sick. We should arrest the men as pedo's, parents as abusers and send the kids to grow up with normal people.
  • eatbeefjerky, on 10/10/2007, -2/+27Oh yes, nevermind the fact that the WOMEN are always forced into such marriages, and at the age of ***** FOURTEEN. Jesus Christ, nevermind THEIR plight, just think of yourself. Jolly good. I hate people.
  • iDragonFly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+25Sounds like a video game.
  • stukdog, on 10/10/2007, -3/+27Of course, this has nothing to do with the Mormons. I'd say that's a good thing for Romney.
  • colonelpanic, on 10/10/2007, -1/+24Well written, worth reading.
  • Mylonite, on 10/10/2007, -0/+23Seriously - this is a very powerful piece. I actually thought it was fiction - it seemed too well written. Towards the end she says that stories like these are usually brushed off as ramblings of the devil. She did an excellent job of hitting just the right notes - I hope the article gets through to some people.
  • spyraled, on 10/10/2007, -9/+31The FLDS religion is as Mormon as the Catholic, Protestant or Lutheran religions are.

    Maybe you should read more about the Mormon religion and break your ignorance.
  • Jshnlsn, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21It's similar in case to the Jehovah's Witnesses - who believe that only 144,000 members of their faith will actually get to the "real" heaven. It's like a ladder ranking system, the more people you bring to salvation, the higher your ranking. So, as you bring more people to salvation you condemn them to not heaven and knock your family and friends out of the running for heaven.
  • h4mx0r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19It had a great ending too. The prophet = owned.

    Good riddance.

    Well written indeed.
  • kmpr326, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19This is amazing. I wish I could digg this a more times for this woman's courage. I never really thought about how bad it was. I always felt horrible about how the children of those super religious families would learn to hate those not like them. Now, I see this and I see what it is to be a slave in America. My heart goes out to these people.
  • spyraled, on 10/10/2007, -2/+20Then you should be with the Mormons. They condemn modern-day polygomy just as anybody else does. It's the Fundamentalist LDS church you shouldn't like.
  • Dulcinea80, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17If a guy and 3 chicks want to get married, and they're all happy and excited about it, that's one thing. I honestly couldn't care less. But if women aren't given a choice and being forced into marriages with old men they've never met, now that's a completely different story. This isn't simply a matter of polygamy is wrong. The problem is girls are brainwashed and threatened with eternal damnation if they don't buy into this *****.
  • Speciou5, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17Maybe you should read the article. The way these people treat their women and boys is horrible and shouldn't be admired.
    Besides, I wouldn't want three "wives" if it means I have to be brainwashed and yelled at after wasting an entire day on a mountain waiting for god to lift the warren to heaven.
  • Antha, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16I've known a couple of the Lost Boys who wandered up to Salt Lake and subsequently got strung out on drugs. It's very sad to me that their families completely turn their backs on them.

    I'm glad she got out. I wish more would. She would have ended up nothing more than a breeding cow, cleaning houses for rich ladies for extra money to bring home to their huge families in overcrowded dumpy houses in West Valley. (My aunt had polygamist cleaning ladies.)
  • filth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16Lot's of good people, with interesting stories to tell, didn't lead perfect lives. Also, she was married twice and divorced once. If you had actually done more than skim the article you'd notice that her marriage at 18 to a boy who helped her escape an abusive and controlling community probably didn't have the necessary foundations to survive. Her tales of substance abuse are a common downfall of many in similar lost and isolated situations. During that period she had a child out of wedlock with a serious partner who fell further into alcoholism and later died sometime after they'd split. After all of that she was still able to eventually find a real relationship and a stable marriage.

    Yea, I'd say she actually is a winner.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18When it's called "swinging" or "polyamory" people just laugh and call it weird. Personally, if *CONSENTING ADULTS* choose to extend their version of commitment beyond the christian based 1 man 1 woman version of marriage, let them have at it.

    I'm not saying it's ok to force young girls into anything like this, nor am I saying adult girls should be forced. That's the part that should be dealt with judiciously.
  • bobcrotch, on 10/10/2007, -3/+18***** dude thats the only reason why I clicked, thanks!
  • Vicissidude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15Choosing to be single is fundamentally different than being forced to be single because of a lack of available women.

    Want to see violence in society? Take a group of men and tell them they'll never have sex in their lives because another group of men are hoarding the women. It's like you're asking for murder.
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14That was by far one of the better articles I've read in awhile. DUGG for spreading the word of choice.
  • thorlin, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16I knew once I saw a headline about polygamy it would be tied to the Mormons by all the digg comm enters. For all you out there who haven't learned yet, Mormons don't practice polygamy. Anyone practicing polygamy is excommunicated from the Church. These groups that practice polygamy are private groups, typically of the FLDS faith, which is not in any form associated with the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
  • philconow, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14Haven't read something of this quality on digg in a long time.
    80% of digg "stories" have a (pic) at the end of the title.
  • GMorgan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14Yes but 50% of those kids are male. You could pull it off by massively expanding the population by 300% each generation so perhaps it is just a clever tool.
  • thexaspect, on 10/10/2007, -18/+32seriously? wtf? the girl has had a seriously screwed up life, and has overcome enormous challenges and issues, and all you can focus on is the size of her breasts? grow up man.
  • ahawks, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15Way to take a fundamentalist branch of a minority religion, and generalize it to the beliefs of 99% of the planet.
  • Homunculiheaded, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14Did you not get your 'Welcome to teh Intarwebz' guide in the mail? It can also be sent through the tubes, although it's very big so it can clog them.
  • WorfoSAUR, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13No probably not....I've never seen a polyg that looks very good. I live in Utah and they are all over the place. Fridays and Saturdays are polyg days at Wal-Mart
  • LogicBomB, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13FTA: "in the FLDS, sex between a husband and wife is meant to be strictly procreative"

    What next? Putting children in a candy store to live and telling them it's forbidden to touch it? 3 wives and no action sounds a lot more like hell than heaven to me.
  • BillyB0b, on 10/10/2007, -4/+16The FLDS church is an off-chute of the LDS (Mormon) church and any ties between the two churches have been denounced several times by the LDS church. That would be like saying the USA is part of Brittan because the original members of the USA (the colonies) were British.
  • iDragonFly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Pardon me for disagreeing with you, because in way you are right.

    Polygamy most certainly does favor men.
    The favoring revolves around only a tiny percentage of the male polygamist population however.

    Women, children and the 'Lost boys' are the real victims in this picture.
  • fohf, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11good 'ole Colorado City. worth a trip just to see all the unfinished plywood houses.
  • tsotha, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Who cares? I mean, good for her and all, but it's not like I'm gonna date her. However, I can look at her picture and apreciate what I see.
  • Vicissidude, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13Polygamy creates an unstable society. For every extra woman that one man takes, it leaves another man without. At some point, there is a significant population of single men who will never marry and never settle down and possibly never have sex. These single men disrupt their societies. Polygamous societies either have to eliminate these single men or go to extraordinary lengths to control their sexual urges that will never be satisfied. Fundamentalist Mormons do this by banishing boys and labeling them as lost. Islamic countries that allow polygamy go the route of extreme control. If you want a stable society, polygamy must be outlawed.
  • LifeIsARhythm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10an excellent book that expands on Mormon fundamentalists is Under the Banner of Heaven. It reveals a lot on both sides of the religion and differences in a fundamentalist and a regular Mormon.
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