A Modern Day Harem

Remember the good old days when TLC was actually called “The Learning Channel” and they ran programming that lived up to their title? Well, those days are long gone and their latest monstrosity, Sister Wives, puts the final nail in the coffin of decency.

Sister Wives follows the lives of four women and one man who follow a sect of Mormonism that still practices polygamy.

Meet Prince Charming: The blond and attractive Kody Brown. He is a proud polygamist, with four wives and 13 children. Watch Kody in his native habitat as he struggles to balance the financial and emotional needs of his ever-expanding family.

Meet the Sister Wives:

Meri (first wife): 39-years-old, married 20 years, with daughter Mariah, 14.

Janelle (second wife): 40-years-old, married 17 years with six children — Logan, 15, Madison 14, Hunter, 13, Garrison, 11, Gabriel, 8, and Savanah, 5

Christine (third wife): 37-years-old, married 16 years with five children — Aspyn, 14, Mykelti, 13, Paedon, 11, Gwenelyn, 8, Ysabel, 6 — and one on the way, Truely.

Robyn: 31 years old, soon-to-be-fourth wife with three children from another husband — Dayton, 10, Aurora, 7, and Breanna, 5.

TLC guarantees that this show will “wow” its viewing audience with “the unexpectedly tight-knit and loving relationships between Kody’s wives,” states their press release.

I find that a hard pill to swallow. If these women hadn’t been raised in this cult of oppression, they would most likely have not agreed to be Kody’s house maids and sexual servants. After doing some research on the lives of women living in these degrading and demoralizing situations, here were some tidbits of information that I came up with to bring to light what really happens in these “unexpectedly tight-knit and loving relationships”.

But first, a few facts on the history of the sect:

• Joseph Smith, founder of the once-isolated sect now based in Salt Lake City, Utah, had two dozen wives. His successor, Brigham Young, had about 20.

• Today, the Mormon church distances itself from about 40,000 breakaway Mormons in nearby states practicing polygamy illegally, as well as the many excommunicated Mormons in polygamous marriages who still identify with the faith.

• The largest known US polygamist sect is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), with an estimated 10,000 followers. They practiced polygamy before the Civil War and then banned it in 1890 when the federal government threatened to deny statehood to Utah.

• Currently, the followers of FLDS dress in 19th century clothing and are led by Warren Jeffs. He claims to be the “President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator”. Jeffs was convicted of being an accomplice to rape for using his authority and religious influence to order a 14 year-old girl to marry and have sex with her 19-year old cousin in 2007. The Utah court has since overturned the polygamist’s rape conviction because the jury in the 2007 rape trial received improper instruction from the trial judge.

TLC wants to paint a rosy picture of an “quirky” American family, and to “redefine” our ideas about marriage, but the truth is, by whitewashing this illegal practice, they neglect to show a darker side to this oppressive and degrading lifestyle that often leads to cycles of abuse.

Take Sara Hammon, who was once a part of the polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs. As a child, she saw her sisters taken away from school only to be married off to men they didn’t even know. Sara feared this fate for herself, and so she ran. She ran at the age of 14 because she knew something was fundamentally wrong with what was happening in her home.

Leaving behind 19 mothers, 74 siblings and a father who couldn’t remember her name even though he molested her on a regular basis, Sara couldn’t remain a nameless sex slave in her own home any longer. She has since become one of the most outspoken former members of this sect.

“Probably the worst part of the whole theology,” she states, “is the treatment of women and teaching women that they are not equal to men. They have to have a husband in order to get to the highest degree of heaven, and not only a husband, but they have to allow the husband to have two other wives,” she adds.

Hammon escaped almost 20 years ago. To this day, she works with The Hope Organization, which is a non-profit group based in St. George, Utah, that aids survivors of abusive polygamous relationships, including youth “placement marriage” and underage “child bride” marriages, as well as women who are trying to get out of this environment. They also work to help the “lost boys” of the sect that are cast out, left on their own with little education and no opportunities, leaving the older men to enjoy the many vulnerable young women.

“There was a tremendous amount of abuse in our home,” Hammon recalls. “It happened on a daily basis and there was all kinds: sexual, physical, emotional, mental. My brothers were sexual abused. Some of my mothers were physically abusive.”

I am sure there are some families that seemingly function in a polygamous environment, but at what cost? I know that TLC is out to make money and secure ratings, but by perpetuating this lifestyle through television is offensive, frustrating and demoralizing to those who have suffered greatly under this draconian lifestyle.

***Watch the TLC preview of "Sister Wives" as well as a testimonial of a woman who escaped the lifestyle after 28 years in an abusive polygamous relationship at www.twodaymag.com