A hard man is good to find

[astuffedshirt_perv]

Human culture changes. For example, it was awful to be a single mom in the 60's, now not so much. This idea is about polygamy becoming common.

Much has been made about the dearth of good men--guys are unemployed, just hanging out, watching porn and playing video games. Further, there is an abundance of good women, educated with good jobs who want a relationship, just not with some loser. It seems that a good comprise would be for two good women to share a good man. Naturally, at the start of this social movement there would be a lot of shock.

The story would revolve around a woman who is finally confronting the reality that there are no good men, but there is this guy who has a girlfriend but still flirts with her. Eventually they end up in a triplet. They try to hide it, as it still shocking to many people.

 

[Hypoxia]

Flip the paradigm. In some traditional cultures a successful man is expected to marry several women so the sister-wives can share the household work. Only a marginal guy can only afford to support as few as two wives. The story: a guy's two brides constantly berate him for not marrying more women. But the good women are all taken! What to do, what to do... ??

Other traditional cultures with a shortage of women expect a wife to marry two or three brothers. Some of those brothers might be less than pleasant. How can she keep them in line?

 

[Carnevil9]

If we are going to look at alternate cultures, how about a culture where it is considered taboo to marry outside one's family? Brothers and sisters and cousins are normal; aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews are commonplace. Any further than that raises an eyebrow, and marrying (or even dating) someone completely unrelated would be scandalous! What would be the ramifications of falling in love with someone from outside the family circle? It might be viewed the same way interracial relationships are sometimes viewed in our own culture.

 

[Hypoxia]

If we are going to look at alternate cultures, how about a culture where it is considered taboo to marry outside one's family? Brothers and sisters and cousins are normal; aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews are commonplace. Any further than that raises an eyebrow, and marrying (or even dating) someone completely unrelated would be scandalous! What would be the ramifications of falling in love with someone from outside the family circle? It might be viewed the same way interracial relationships are sometimes viewed in our own culture.

I cited IRL examples. Your alt.culture is only halfway there. Many IRL cultures *do* accept or promote cousin or avuncular marriage; I can't think of any that promote sibling marriage except among royals (to distinguish themselves from common riff-raff) -- and even then, the couple may be expected to have outside lovers.

If you (a commoner) are *expected* to marry a cousin or aunt or uncle, then dating outside the family would likely result in social ostracism and expulsion. You and your lover(s) lose all status and connection. You're cast aside as 'queer'. You wander in the wilderness, seeking a friendlier community -- and hope.they speak your language.

 

[KayceeCharles]

If we are going to look at alternate cultures, how about a culture where it is considered taboo to marry outside one's family? Brothers and sisters and cousins are normal; aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews are commonplace. Any further than that raises an eyebrow, and marrying (or even dating) someone completely unrelated would be scandalous! What would be the ramifications of falling in love with someone from outside the family circle? It might be viewed the same way interracial relationships are sometimes viewed in our own culture.

When you think about it, a lot of royal families in Europe in centuries past are pretty darn inbred if you think about it. So much so, there's a section in Wikipedia about it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_intermarriage#Inbreeding

I think that's why some countries pass laws that the reigning ruler *must* marry a commoner, so no more inbreeding.