DO MULTIPLE WIVES COMPETE TO BE THE MOST LOVED? SISTER WIVES UPDATE - MISSY ON SECRETS VERSUS OPEN RELATIONSHIPS

I devoted a month to the Open Polygamy that is part of the Fundamentalist Mormon lifestyle. The modern Latter Day Saints no longer support the polygamy of the founders of their church. Many of the women who accept being co-wives have grown up in families in which their own mother was a "sister wife." When this lifestyle became the subject of reality television series, the world got a glimpse into the possibilities.  Was it better when it came to child care? Could any of the women expect to ever have the man to herself? What about sexuality?

Recently it came to light that the Sister Wives reality TV show's star Christine, who was the third wife of Cody Brown, left him and the arrangement after 25 years of it.  This Daily Mail article is one of a few that came out in that publication recently about the situation.

DAILY MAIL - SISTER WIVES- CHRISTINE LEFT - ROBYN 4th WIFE PREVAILS by Tracy Wright and Christine Rendon

The reason I focused on this example of an alternative lifestyle for MISTRESS MANIFESTO here is that we are exploring the lives of Mistresses who are often known to the Wives.  When a wife knows her husband has an ongoing relationship with another person, she often accepts that this is so, preferring to keep her marriage.  Sometimes she prevails and sometimes she doesn't.

Sometimes a person is not naturally monogamous. I recently met a man who told me that when he first met the woman who has been consistent in his life for near 50 years, meeting her when he was 16, he told her he could not be faithful.  She said it would not bother her if he had other women.  He told me that he had sex with other women along with being alcoholic and that when he quit drinking over 30 years ago, he stopped sleeping with other women. For other men who were not addicted or promiscuous, men who married and never thought they would, cheating is something else - a desire to love more than one person perhaps - or perhaps to move on out of the marriage or - well, there is no one reason.

While some people have Open Marriages in which one or both partners at various times also have other relationships. others are scandalized by their partner being sexually involved with someone else and see it as the reason for divorce.

I say relationship because while the stereotype is that it's "just" an affair, or only about sex, many of the couples who are -one or both- are married to someone else legally - do have significant and ongoing involvement with each other.  So while the Sister-Wives - Open Polygamy lifestyle is one in which everything is in the Open, Mistresses are often thought of as secret clandestine relationships - taboo - just plain wrong.

DO YOU HAVE A PARTNER WHO HAS ANOTHER RELATIONSHIP?

SISTER WIVES REALITY SHOW UPDATE

 June 2021  Missy here!

The original video from my April 2014 post about the reality TV series and displays of jealousy went poof. I took down the post, hoping for a replacement. There are so many! The reality TV show was considered to be a shocker when it came out in 2010. Various decisions have been made - to stay or go - since it aired. An April 2021 show was supposed to be the end of the series, in its15th season. SISTER WIVES was the special topic here at Mistress Manifesto in 2014 and you can summon up those posts in the archives!

I posted about a form of polyamory that is unusual because of the great number of women who are openly man sharing within a form of commitment, not in ancient China or present day Africa, but here in the United States where serial monogamy is probably the most common way of approaching relationships. 

Today the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints goes against polygamy though it was very much part of the foundation of their church, which was referred to as Mormonism.

However Fundamentalists with a huge number of wives, usually the first one being the only one legally married to the man, and a huge number of children, exist in Utah and some other enclaves where it seems there is lots of tolerance except when it turns out some of the wives were well under age. Sister wives have often had polygamy in their heritage. Their mom, for instance, might have also been a sister wife. These women are at ease with having many half siblings and their children having many half siblings as well. They are cooperative with sharing work, child-care, and often have to seek outside employment to help finance the set up.  To me the intention is to bring as many children (souls) into this earthly world. Some women who enter into this lifestyle even say they choose to be a second wife or a third or a fifth, sensing what is different about that from being a first wife.

A reality TV show that went for 15 seasons of changes, each person has their fans.  This article from The Sun does a good job of explaining who is who and what's happened.

SUN - SISTER WIVES CAST

i.e. Meri, the first wife, who has one child with Cody Brown, was married to him from 1990-2014 when they divorced so he could marry Robyn....

With Janelle  he has six children and two grand-children.

With Christine he has six children.

With Robyn he has two children plus three from a previous marriage that he adopted..

All of these relationships are out in the open.

ALYSSA MILANO WILL STAR IN AMERICAN VERSION OF "MISTRESSES"

Read a number of news articles around this and basically, it's going to be a 13-episode American series that's a remake of a six-episode British series that ran on BBC America.  The interest in mistresses goes on!  What will the writers and producers do with this show?  Will it be at all based in reality?  I don't mean 'reality TV" which is usually fake, but the real lives of mistresses.

DECLARATION FOR MISTRESSES - Secrets

"I know how to keep a secret!"  

There are secrets you shouldn't keep. If someone is in danger for their life or sanity, maybe because they are being abused, that's a sick secret. The Penn State molestation revelations are an example of many people keeping sick secrets that allowed the molestations to go on, all in the name of school reputation and the pursuit of football.

However, in life there are many secrets that you keep simply out of loyalty to a friend who has confided in you and secrets you keep out of loyalty to yourself.

These days most people don't have much privacy or respect privacy like they did even 20 years ago. It's almost as if the common person has come to not know or realize that they do have and should have a private life. Strangers, or people who are not close friends seem to think that they can ask you anything and are entitled to answers.

Not everyone wants to live as if their every move was being recorded on videotape or like on a Reality TV show.

Additionally, we have forgotten to keep our own council. If your relationship must remain private and you are not up to keeping it private, this is not a relationship for you. Remember that it is not your place as a mistress to "out" your man. It is up to him to tell his wife, if and when he thinks it best. Some wives may give a phone call to let you know where they stand, but don't you call them. SIMPLY, it is NOT YOUR PLACE!