Much of the large body of research on polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa focuses on the sociocultural and demographic correlates of polygyny (Boserup 1970; Goody 1976; Lesthaeghe et al. 1989, 1994) and on the demographic and economic implications of polygyny (e.g., Borgerhoff Mulder 1989; Garenne and van de Walle 1989; Moller and Welch 1990; Pebley and Mbugua 1989; Grossbard-Shectman 1986; Sichona 1992; Ukaegbu 1977). In addition, there has been considerable emphasis on the future prospects of polygyny (Clignet 1970, 1987; Goode 1970; Karanja 1987, 1994; Topouzis 1985; van de Walle and Kekovole 1984). Despite this widespread interest in African polygyny, relatively little research has been done to specifically address women's attitudes toward polygyny (for exceptions, see Ware 1979; Wittrup 1990).

Many studies on polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa suggest that women's attitudes toward polygyny may vary both within and between societies (Adams and Mburugu 1994; Dorjahn 1988; Kilbride 1994; Potash 1989; White and Burton 1988). Polygyny can be advantageous for women. In some societies, they benefit from polygyny because polygynous husbands tend to be wealthy, the pool of laborers supplied by a larger domestic unit reduces the need for wage laborers, or because co-wives co-operate in trade and economic affairs (Adams and Mburugu 1994; Amadiume 1987; Borgerhoff Mulder 1992; MacCormack 1983). In such societies, women sometimes favor polygyny because it provides them with labor assistance (Dorjahn 1988). But the benefits of polygyny are not necessarily restricted to economic advantages. In a study of women's attitudes toward polygyny among the Yoruba, Ware (1979) found that a majority of the women surveyed (60 per cent) indicated they would be pleased to be in a polygynous relationship because they could then share the burdens of work and also have another woman with whom they could gossip and play. In some African societies it is not uncommon for a woman to participate in the choice of her husband's next wife, or even to refuse to let her husband make that choice himself (e.g., Bowen 1964; Reynolds Whyte 1979/80; Wittrup 1990:129). In doing so, senior wives have the opportunity to maximize their economic benefits by selecting hard-working co-wives, and to limit intrafamily conflicts by choosing those junior co-wives they like, sometimes a sister.

However, in many instances women disapprove of polygynous unions. Yoruba respondents who would not be pleased to have a co-wife frequently indicated an 315 aversion to having to share resources, both sexual and material (Ware 1979). Such a situation may result in jealousy and this in turn reduces the potential for cooperation among co-wives. In several societies, the potential for jealousy or rivalry is reflected in the terminology used to refer to co-wives. For example, among the Luo (Kenya) a co-wife is called nyieka (my partner in jealousy), the Hausa (Nigeria) use the term kishiya (jealousy) (Potash 1989:199), and the Yoruba (Nigeria) word for co-wife is orogun (rival or competitor) (Ware 1979:190). Likewise, among the Bakgalagadi of Botswana the term for co-wives, bagadikano, means rivals, and the term for polygyny, lefufa, implies jealousy (Solway 1990:48).

Polygyny is often associated with problems in the household, not only between co-wives, but also between a wife and her husband. Often jealousy among co-wives stems from their concern that the husband does not share his love and resources equally among them (Adams and Mburugu 1994; Kilbride and Kilbride 1990; Wittrup 1990). In polygynous unions, household relationships are complicated by the presence of children, the husband's perceived favoritism of the children of one wife, and the efforts of each wife to secure more resources for her own children. Both men and women may manipulate marital strategies to their own advantage, and the interpersonal relations within polygynous families and households are highly variable (Dorjahn 1988).

The issue is complex. Many studies have found that better-educated and urban women are less likely than more traditional women to favor polygyny (D'Hondt and Vandewiele 1980; Ferraro 1991; Kilbride and Kilbride 1990; Okonjo 1992; Pool 1972; Ware 1979; Wittrup 1990). Solway (1990) points out that polygyny may evoke contradictory feelings in women. They find that their lives and the lives of their children are enhanced because of polygyny, because sharing the care of the husband across wives decreases their workload and increases leisure time. Yet at the same time they may also feel that polygyny creates a structural reality in which the increased number of domestic groups detracts from the others to command the household's economic resources.

In Solway's (1990) study of the Bakgalagadi of Botswana, many young wives stated that they would leave their husbands if they took second wives. Solway attributes this reaction to recent changes in the expectations of the conjugal bond and changing material investment in children and the household. Furthermore, it may not be polygyny itself that offends women, but marriage per se. That is, widowed and divorced women who wish to maintain their independence outside of a marital union prefer not to remarry. This desire may be confused with a disdain for polygyny. In other words, some of the negative sentiments expressed by women toward polygyny are connected to a growing negative attitude or indifference toward marriage itself. In contrast, Ware (1979) also relates women's attitudes to the value of marriage, but she contends that women may be more willing to share their husbands, rather than divorce them, when husbands are not valued very highly.

The Kaguru have three distinct groups in opposition to polygyny: women (the wives), the Christian Church, and the State. Support for polygyny is voiced by some men and is reflected in the traditional views in favor of polygyny as perpetuated by the elders. Just as there are conflicting views of polygyny in cultures throughout Africa, we find them in Tanzania among the Kaguru.

This article analyzes interviews conducted among a sample of Kaguru women of the Morogoro region of Tanzania to illustrate women's attitudes toward polygyny and the options available to them when their husbands want to marry an additional wife. Precisely because our information is supplied by women only, we cannot comment upon others' views of polygyny. However, we do address women's perceptions of men's regard for polygyny, the elders' staunch support for polygyny, and the Church's opposition to it. Thus our analysis covers women's own views about polygyny as well as their perceptions of how others in their society view polygyny.

The Kaguru, who live in a hilly area near the Itumba Mountains in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, have matrilineal descent (Beidelman 1983 [1971], 1986; Mlama 1990; Winter and Beidelman 1972). The large majority of Kaguru live in the plateau surrounding the mountains, where the rivers form arable valleys that are cultivated year after year. In the higher and dryer regions, people practice slash-and-burn cultivation. The Kaguru cultivate millet, sorghum, and maize, and supplement their grain-based diet with a variety of vegetables. In addition to cultivating grains and vegetables, most Kaguru keep chickens, goats, and sheep. During the rainy season most of Ukaguru appears to consist of relatively fertile land, but recurrent droughts and related problems (such as floodings and rodent infestations) often destroy the harvest, resulting in food shortages (Beidelman 1986).

While the Kaguru continue to have matrilineal descent, some patrilineal traits are apparent, particularly regarding marriage. Kaguru marriage is characterized by the transfer of bridewealth that gives the husband certain rights to the children born from the union (Meekers, Franklin, and Meeker 1994). As in many societies, contracting polygynous unions can be beneficial. Although Kaguru women are responsible for household work, household food production, and for child rearing, it is not uncommon for women to assist their husbands in cash crop production (Meeker and Meekers 1994), thereby making polygyny economically advantageous, particularly for males. Because cash crop production is controlled by males, and because males and females generally have separate budgets, women do not necessarily benefit equally from such co-operation.

For Kaguru men polygyny is also advantageous because it allows them to bypass the rules regarding postpartum sexual abstinence. The Kaguru believe that a woman should not have sexual intercourse during the period when she is nursing a child because a new pregnancy would dry up the breast milk (Beidelman 1973:262). Polygyny provides men with normal sexual activity during the lengthy period (generally more than a year, and sometimes as long as two or three years) when one wife is nursing a child. Polygyny also enables a Kaguru man to have children even if his first wife is barren. While polygyny may provide a solution for a barren woman's husband and may prevent him from divorcing his wife, the barren woman herself will not regain her lost status through polygyny because her co-wife's children belong to a different lineage (Beidelman 1986:23).

More important, the nature of social relations accords polygynously married Kaguru men with additional benefits. In Kaguru society, the main strategy for social advancement is to secure followers or dependents, rather than gaining access to land, ritual knowledge, or livestock. The latter are employed chiefly as a means to increase the number of dependents and do not constitute ends in themselves. Kaguru males employ polygyny as a strategy to increase the number of their dependents by adding a new wife, her children, and eventually perhaps daughters-in-law. Kaguru women, however, do not gain higher status from having co-wives because the latter belong to different matrilineages. Instead, in a polygynous union, each woman and her children will compete with co-wives over resources (Beidelman 1980:151, 1986:15-16).

As in many societies, Kaguru family resources are controlled by the husband (Meekers, Franklin, and Meeker 1994). Although polygyny may in some cases improve a family's economic situation (for example, because polygynous families are allocated more land), these benefits may have little effect on the situation of women and children. Indeed, a Kaguru man has a dual obligation to care not only for his own children, but also for his sisters' children, who belong to his own matrilineage. Consequently, it is not uncommon for a Kaguru woman to complain that her husband does not sufficiently support her and her children, particularly if support decreased after he married a subsequent wife.

While polygyny is socially approved in many African societies, some African countries have adopted legislation banning polygyny. Despite such legislation, the practice has persisted in most of these countries, albeit under a different form. While formal polygyny has decreased as a result of these measures, many men now have one legally married wife (i.e., a civil monogamous union), and one or more informal unions with other women.

The Tanzania Marriage Act of 1971 prohibits polygyny for Christian marriages, but still allows it for civil, Islamic, and traditional unions (Meena 1992:16). Despite the Kaguru having adopted Christian values (Beidelman 1986; Winter and Beidelman 1972), Kaguru men are reluctant to marry Christian girls because Christianity condemns polygyny and divorce. This means that if a man's wife by a Christian marriage is barren he cannot divorce her nor marry a second wife to bear children for him (Beidelman 1963:87). While men who contract a Christian marriage cannot legally become polygynous, they are able to initiate additional informal unions. According to data from the 1993 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (Ngallaba et al. 1993), 28 per cent of all married women in Tanzania are currently in polygynous unions (including informal unions); for the Morogoro region, where the Kaguru live, the corresponding figure is 22.5 per cent.

Our information on Kaguru women's perception of polygyny is drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews conducted under the supervision of Dr. Penina Mlama during the summer of 1992 as part of a demographic study on women's strategies and fertility (van de Walle et al. 1993). In these interviews, a small group of rural Kaguru women (43 cases) were asked to discuss their views of polygyny. Thirteen respondents indicated that they were or had previously been in a polygynous union. Of all respondents, five were under age 30, 22 were aged 30-49, and sixteen were aged 50 or older. While most respondents had attended primary school, only twelve had reached standard seven. All questions were open-ended; the standard interview questions served merely as a guideline for the interview, and respondents were allowed to raise additional topics for discussion.

Women who were or had been in polygynous unions were asked if they were happy when their husbands married another wife, and women who had never been in a polygynous union were asked how they would feel if their husbands were to marry another wife. Thus, the reports on women's views about polygyny presented here are based on actual experience as well as on women's perceptions of the effects of polygyny. Interestingly, women who had been in polygynous unions and those who had never been in a polygynous union have similar opinions regarding polygyny. Additional information about women's reactions to polygyny was not solicited specifically, but was volunteered by the respondents while discussing issues such as their marriage procedures, their role in spousal selection, the content of the teachings during their initiation ceremonies, and the position of women and the reasons for divorce in Kaguru society. While unsolicited information about polygyny may not be representative because it may reflect the opinion of respondents who hold strong views about polygyny, such information is retained here for illustrative purposes.

All interviews were conducted in Kikaguru by a female interviewer, trained and supervised by Dr. Penina Mlama. These interviews were subsequently translated and transcribed, and analyzed with the Ethnograph, a computer program for analysis of text-based data.

If the advantages of polygyny outweigh the disadvantages, then we would expect the institution of polygyny to be supported through social mechanisms, and its acceptance as a way of life reflected in the socialization process of Kaguru adolescents. For Kaguru women, this socialization is institutionalized in the form of initiation ceremonies (digubi) (Mlama 1990). During the digubi ceremonies, young girls are instructed by old women about the norms and values of Kaguru society, including proper behavior for married women.[2] Several respondents indicated that during the digubi ceremonies they were instructed that polygyny is an aspect of life that may be hard to avoid.

I was told to live peacefully with my husband. You should serve him as usual. If you won't care about him he can find other women outside. That will be the beginning of problems, that is what they told me. (R37, age 49)

After marriage, there is considerable social support (or even pressure) for males to marry additional wives. One respondent, who was the first wife of a headman, indicated that because of her husband's position, he had experienced a lot of social pressure to marry a second wife.

People started talking that the headman is having only one wife, a headman should have two wives. . . . They tried very much to convince him, but I was refusing. . . . His bosses were against him having only one wife. One wife cannot cater for all the guests coming to the headman's house, a headman has many guests. . . . When they heard that I have got two babies, they said now it is a must that the headman should get another wife for himself. (R30, age 92)

Despite his wife's opposition, this man was eventually pressured into marrying another wife. In addition to pressure from other males, a man may try to convince his wife that a co-wife is beneficial, arguing that it will reduce his wife's workload:

[My husband] claims that there are many duties for one wife, he wants to give me assistance. (R42, age 33)

In addition to the social support for polygyny in Kaguru society, starting in early adolescence the socialization process is geared at informing women that it is common for a man to marry more than one wife. As Ware (1979) remarks, in some societies these social pressures to accept polygyny may be so strong that women may claim to be happy with a co-wife, even if such is not the case.

While polygyny endows Kaguru males with higher status because it increases their dependents, for females it implies competition between wives over scarce resources. With matrilineal descent, each Kaguru co-wife and her children belong to a different matrilineage, and each co-wife is ultimately responsible for providing for her own children. In other words, each co-wife and her children form a separate matrifocal unit within the polygynous family. Because a polygynous husband allocates a share of the limited family resources to each of his wives, it is likely that the share of a finite set of resources that are available for a woman and her children will reduce when her husband marries another wife. Consequently, polygyny does not accord the same status or economic benefits to Kaguru women as it does to men.

Despite strong social support for it, Kaguru women do not necessarily support polygyny. When asked how they would react if their husbands were to marry another wife, many indicated strong disapproval of polygynous unions.

R: I don't like it. If it happens I can't avoid it, but I hate to have a co-wife. (Rl2, age 45)

R: I don't want a co-wife. I don't want my children to be married to co-wives. I hated this even before I got married. Unfortunately, l was involved in one way or the other to have a co-wife, though not legally. It wasn't my will; I came to experience this, so I don't want my children to experience it. (R8, age 36)

A few of the respondents interviewed did indicate that they approved of polygyny. However, these respondents accepted polygynous unions, not because polygyny itself appeared beneficial, but rather because it allowed them to share the burden of an unsatisfactory marriage with another woman.

R: I would like [to have a co-wife] because both of us would suffer the same. (R21, age 49)

I: Did you mind having a co-wife?

R: I was happy, how can one be unhappy for such thing? I thought maybe I treated my husband in an abnormal way. . . . I was happy in the sense that I faced a lot of problems. So I wanted to see if the new wife could tolerate as I did. That was what made me happy.

I: That means that you were not happy to have a co-wife. You wanted her to experience the troubles you faced, but not really a thing you can be happy with.

R: To stay with a co-wife is not a bad thing, but there are many things. She can lie to you, even lie about things you haven't done. . . . To have a co-wife is not a good thing. You just let your husband marry another wife, since he has decided to do so. (R22, age 50)

This latter type of response provides support for the argument that polygyny may be considered either a deprivation or a gain, depending on whether the husband is valued positively or negatively (Ware 1979:190). In the above examples, women are willing to share their husbands only because they have unsatisfactory relationships with them.

Women provided several explanations for their aversion to polygynous unions. Only one respondent noted that Christianity prohibits polygynous unions, and that people who do contract a polygynous union would be cast out by the Church. On the other hand, many respondents remarked that polygyny often causes problems in the household, either because the husband shows favoritism toward the youngest wife, or because it affects the relationship between the husband and the first wife.

R: Men have many problems; it depends. When a man marries a second wife, he starts troubles in the house. If a woman tries to comment on what her husband does, he will simply answer that it is due to jealousy. Every day there are a lot of problems. No more love between the two. In such a situation, a woman can demand for a divorce. (R25)

R: This is because if [a man] gets a co-wife, definitely one family will suffer. He won't manage to satisfy the needs of both women, as a result he will favor the junior wife. (R4)

R: Normally, [couples divorce] because of problems. If a man has a second wife, when he comes to you everything you prepare he feels like they are not well prepared. (R3)

R: I wouldn't be happy [with a co-wife] since life would change. You know, if a husband has two wives or more there will be no balance in love and in most cases the elder wife is the one disadvantaged. Normally, the junior wife is more favored than the senior wife, that is, the junior wife becomes number one, while the senior wife becomes number two. (R25)

R: [When my husband married another wife] I was not happy because it distorted my life, also you are not confident about your completeness as a woman. The thought erodes your love for him. (Rl4)

R: Marriage is for two people, if the third joins love will automatically fade away. (Rl6)

Evidently, at least some of these women disapprove of polygyny because they value romantic love as the basis for a successful marriage. Potential conflicts between co-wives is another reason why many Kaguru women oppose their husbands marrying another wife. According to Beidelman, tensions between co-wives sometimes culminate in witchcraft accusations. Some women are unwilling to let their children take food from a co-wife for fear of witchcraft and the possible contamination of children's food. Because of beliefs that a woman may cause sickness of her co-wives' children, women prefer to let their children eat with their clan sisters and mother (Beidelman 1963:88-90, 1986:154). While none of the respondents interviewed here mentioned such extreme reactions, many women expressed concerns about conflicts with co-wives.

R: I would not be happy [with a co-wife]. I do not want to quarrel with a co-wife. If [my husband] marries another wife, I will divorce him. (R26, age 42)

R: [Having a co-wife] would pain me, since I would think that he has degraded me and loves the other wife more. I think that I would quarrel very much with my co-wife. (R23, age 38)

I: Would you mind having a co-wife?

R: If my father was dead, okay. But because he is alive I could have gone back home.

I: Why?

R: It is not jealousness, but polygamy has a lot of problems.

I: Tell me one problem.

R: The first wife will be killed by the other wife.

I: So, the second wife is usually offensive?

R: Yes. (R29, age 35)

R: What cause [divorce] is mostly scorn. Sometimes the husband scorns you. The other wife scorns you, and the husband sides with her and sees you as nothing. You must get angry! (R43, age 60)

R: Having a co-wife is not good. It creates a lot of misunderstandings. You know if a junior wife comes in she can think that she is the most beloved and think that you [the first wife] are nothing. (R5, age 56)

Beidelman (1986:16-20) remarks that while Kaguru men have a tendency to think of all the women and children of a polygynous household as one large family, it is evident that with matrilineal descent each household with a different mother and her children has its own priorities. In other words, women in polygynous unions compete with co-wives over benefits and resources for themselves and/or their children. When a woman's husband marries another wife, or has an outside wife, the resources available to her will decline because the husband's resources are then divided between the two women. At least in some cases, the husband will only support his new wife.

R: [W]hen you become two it is not possible in fact to have an understanding. Also even the budget will be higher; how are you going to progress? . . . You don't progress. Do you think it is just paying bridewealth only! . . . The needs will increase? You could buy one kilogram of meat and suffice, now you have to send for half a kilogram.

I: Here half, and there half?

R: I who came first have a family, the half kilogram what will it suffice? (R35)

R: When [my husband] married a second wife, I am now nothing, he no longer loves me. I don't lie about him. When I was sick he left me and went to another town with his junior wife. He did not mind about me being sick. He is now visiting me, but for one year when I was sick he was not visiting me. (R41)

The reduced support also affects a woman's children. In many cases, Kaguru women indicated that their husbands failed to provide for their children after the husbands married another wife.

I: When [your husband] married his second wife, did he continue to care for you?

R: He never did, I was living with my children facing troubles. He was only taking care of his new wife, he forgot about me and my children. (R22)

R: When I got my sixth child my husband tasted a better love from outside, this made him to concentrate with an outside woman, they had a child. They continued until they had three children. At this long period, I had a lot of problems of taking care of the family. If my children were sick I had to take care myself, for everything, I was mother and father. (R8)

I: When he married another wife, was he taking care of your children?

R: He wasn't caring. He could leave on Friday to Mamboya village--his woman was there--while a child is sick. He would only give me some tablets for the child. He wouldn't come back until Monday. (R14)

R: After he had other women, he never worked in our farms, he never brought food in the house and he never bought clothes for the children. He didn't even mind when the children were sick. (R25)

It is noteworthy that several women were upset about their husbands' lack of support, particularly when their children were sick. Clearly, the husband is expected to contribute to the needs of his children, and failure to provide assistance when children are sick is unacceptable. This lack of material support is one of the main reasons why Kaguru women oppose polygynous unions.

Until relatively recently, ethnographic studies tended to convey the general impression that most African women were passive victims of a male-dominated society (e.g., Boserup 1970; Meillassoux 1981; for exceptions, see e.g., Bowen 1964; Obbo 1980). Studies now emphasize that women are social actors in their own right who try to achieve their own goals within certain constraints imposed upon them (Hunt 1989; Mbilinyi 1992; Robertson 1987; United Nations 1992). This latter perspective suggests that Kaguru women's aversion to polygynous unions should be reflected in attempts to prevent their husbands from marrying additional wives or, alternatively, in behavior geared at limiting the negative effects of such polygynous unions.

Some Kaguru respondents expressed a fatalistic point of view, suggesting that women have little bargaining power to stop their husbands from marrying another wife.

I: If you tell [your husband] not to marry the second wife, would he listen to you?

R: Never, he will never listen to you. We women are considered as children, whatever the man says we have to tolerate. (R22)

I: Would you mind having a co-wife?

R: That depends on the man himself. If he decides to marry, he marries.

I: Yes, if he decides to marry he marries, but in your heart would you like that or you would not like it?

R: That is his own decision. A woman cannot decide for him not to marry. (R33)

I: If he married another woman and you don't like it, why can't you leave him and get married to another man?

R: You as the woman, you are married, you haven't married the man, how can you decide to quit? I: So, you try to tolerate, even when you have problems you don't want to divorce. You bear and bring up your children in that situation?

R: Yes, there is no other way. (R24)

But other women are less passive. One option available to a Kaguru woman is to threaten to divorce her husband should he become interested in marrying another wife. Similarly, polygynously married women may use the threat of returning to their brothers or parents when their husbands maltreat them or provide inadequate support. This is particularly important for women in polygynous unions, since they tend to compete with reference to the interests of their children (Beidelman 1986:20).

R: I wouldn't be happy [if my husband married another wife]. I would have told him to send me back home before getting another wife. (R15)

I: Would you mind having a co-wife?

R: I wouldn't be happy. I don't want to quarrel with a co-wife. If he marries another wife, I will divorce him. (R26)

R: [My husband] had another woman.

I: He had a woman in this same village?

R: He was mistreating me and therefore I told him to divorce me.

I: What did he say?

R: He didn't like to send me back home.

I: Did he care for you in all aspects as he did before he got the other woman?

R: Yes, then the elder people tried to warn him about his affair with the outside woman, so he decided to leave her. Then our life returned to normal.

I: Did he marry that woman or were they only friends?

R: He didn't marry her, they were friends. (R13)

Such threats of divorce are generally not actual divorce attempts, but rather attempts to avoid or resolve problems without dissolving the union. In his research on the Gusii of Kenya, Hakansson (1994:529) also notes that a Gusii wife may return to her parents in order to force her husband to abandon a new partner. Indeed, it is probably no coincidence that two of the Kaguru respondents quoted above indicate that they would not initiate a divorce, but rather would or did tell their husbands to divorce them. Chances are that a Kaguru husband will refuse to initiate a divorce because his bridewealth will not be returned if he initiates a divorce without valid reason. Threats of divorce are probably most effective when the woman has a strong support network. Such may be the case when the couple lives with the wife's kin because the husband was unable to pay a large bridewealth (Beidelman 1963, 1986). From our interviews, it appears that although threats of divorce are not uncommon, only a few women actually left their husbands and returned to their parental home.

R: An evil spirit has entered [my husband], and he took another wife. That is why I am resting here at [my parents'] home What happened with my husband made me come back [to my parents], without a choice.

I: You yourself decided to come back?

R: I had to come back.

I: So, your life has been a nice life before that?

R: Yes, it was a happy life.

I: But when it came toward the end?

R: Difficult. But he has asked me to go back [to his house]; he has already divorced that other woman.

I: He has divorced her?

R: Yes, he has divorced her, but I haven't made up my mind to go back. (R28)

To some extent, this apparently low prevalence of women divorcing their husbands may be related to the fact that women may lack better marital alternatives, which implies that remarriage may not be an improvement. Furthermore, in Kaguru society divorce may be more difficult than in many other societies with matrilineal descent because a woman's family members often do not support her attempts to divorce her husband.

I: Did you ever consider leaving your husband?

R: It was not possible, my father objected. He said my husband having another wife is not good enough a reason for us to separate. Men are like elephants, they never eat from one tree! So, I tolerated it. (R14)

The lack of support for the divorce from a woman's kin members is not surprising, considering that a Kaguru marriage is based on bridewealth payments. Since a woman's kin members are her bridewealth recipients, they would be expected to return the bridewealth when the woman initiates the divorce.

Much prior research on African polygyny has focused on the sociocultural and demographic correlates of polygyny, on the economic and demographic outcomes of polygyny, and on the expected trends in polygyny. This project supplements those studies by examining polygyny from the woman's perspective. In particular, it examines Kaguru women's perceptions of polygyny's impact upon their lives and the lives of their children.

Despite institutionalized social support for polygyny through the initiation ceremonies, most Kaguru women do not support polygyny. Those women who have not experienced polygyny are wary of the institution and the effect it may have on their lives, and those who have had a co-wife express only negative remarks about polygyny. Our respondents did not provide much information about outside wives, but from the available information it is evident that opinions about such unofficial polygynous unions are at least equally stern (see also Ware 1979).

Although it appears that Kaguru women reject polygyny outright, their opinions about the effects of polygyny do vary. While some Kaguru women stated that polygyny was undesirable because it may negatively affect their own lives and happiness, others were much more concerned about the deleterious effects a co-wife may have on their children. Unlike other studies (e.g., Amadiume 1987; Dorjahn 1988; MacCormack 1983), Kaguru women failed to mention any benefits of having a co-wife, such as the reduction of one's workload or the friendship of a co-wife with whom one can bond and share gossip (Bowen 1964; Ware 1979).

While it is not unusual to encounter such strong opposition to polygyny among educated and urban women in many African societies (e.g., D'Hondt and Vandewiele 1980; Ferraro 1991; Okonjo 1992; Pool 1972; Ware 1979), in a more traditional setting, such as that of the Kaguru in Morogoro, a more tolerant attitude may be expected, at least for some of the women. The findings from this study support Beidelman's (1986) argument that Kaguru women in polygynous unions compete with co-wives over resources for themselves and for their children. Material support for a wife and her children frequently declines when the husband marries another wife. Considering that resources are scarce in Kaguru society, it is in a woman's best interest to oppose her husband marrying another wife. While a woman may have limited power to actually prevent her husband from marrying another wife, or to prevent him from taking an outside wife, it is not uncommon for a Kaguru woman to use the threat of divorce whenever the continued material support for herself and her children is at stake.

In part, this analysis of women's views toward polygyny underscores gender relations among the Kaguru. Polygyny as an institution is opposed by women, and yet institutionalized support for it, through the digubi instructions and the elders' demands on younger men, remains strong despite the Church and state prohibitions. Unlike women of other societies, Kaguru women have no active role in co-wife selection, nor do they appear to form any bonds of friendship or camaraderie with co-wives. This opposition remains, regardless of either the age of the woman or her years of experience with polygyny.

Given the reality that opposition to polygyny is not strong enough to prevent polygyny or its newer manifestation, girlfriends or outside wives, it appears that women have attempted to devise their own coping strategies. For example, several older respondents indicated that they were determined not to remarry if widowed or divorced, provided it were economically feasible. Others resort to accusations of witchcraft against other women, a culturally strong accusation among the Kaguru. Throughout it all, women appear to be resigned to the practice of polygyny and skeptical that a change will ever occur.

While Kaguru women oppose polygyny, societal props supporting the institution remain dominant. Whether men continue to marry more than one wife, or instead marry once but maintain girlfriends, wives are aware that either form of polygyny implies that they will be unable to lay full claim upon their husbands. Women's concerns for their own and their children's welfare will remain as they face economic competition from other women, either co-wives or girlfriends.

1. An earlier version of this essay was presented at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, held in Atlanta. Research was funded by a grant from the Research and Graduate Studies Office (RGSO) of the Pennsylvania State University to Dr. Meekers, and a grant from the Rockefeller foundation to Dr. Etienne van de Walle. Additional support came from grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Population Research Institute of the Pennsylvania State University and the Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania.

The authors are grateful to the University of Dar es Salaam and the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology for granting research clearance, Dr. Penina Mlama for supervising fieldwork and translations, Monica Kimwaga for conducting the interviews, Natasha Deer and Li Zhan for assistance in transcribing the data, Jeffrey Meeker for conducting the Ethnograph coding, and to Pat Draper, Elliot Fratkin, Sheryl McCurdy, Constance Mugalla, Amy Stambach, and Etienne van de Walle for their comments and suggestions on various phases of this project.

2. This instruction is provided by women from alternate generations; i.e., girls are instructed by women from the generation of their grandmothers (Beidelman 1986).

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By Dominique Meekers, Pennsylvania State University and Nadra Franklin, University of Pennsylvania