PAGE 14

HIGH GEAR

NOVEMBER 1976

camel Lot

ᄑ

complex I

Comes to Warren

Go-Go Boys

Disco Light Show

Full Service Food available soon

532 SOUTH ST. (RT. 422), WARREN

NORTHEASTERN OHIO'S FINEST

Troubadour Lounge

2010 Market Street Youngstown Dance & Cruise Bar

OPEN 7 NIGHTS 9 pm 2:30 am

An atmosphere that makes meeting new friends easy.

Expanding To Serve You Better

Suck What's New at

ECLUB

ECOLUMBUS

1575 E. Livingston Ave. (614) 252-2474

LOCKER

=

$4

ROOM $6

-

Weekdays: 1/2 price Special 10 am-2 pm

YOUTH NIGHTS MON. & WED. 25 & UNDER

4 pm

12 pm 1/2 Price

NEW STEAMROOM NOW OPEN

Discount Cards Now Available

091tnolo 2291

REAL POLYGAMY

By Leon Stevens

Is it possible to maintain a promiscuous society? You bet! Among the Nayar castes of South India the family consists of a woman and her children. Nayar women perform a ceremony at which they celebrate their first sexual experience. Following this ceremony, the women simply take in various lovers for the rest of their lives. There is no marriage ceremony to speak of. A Nayar lineage is traced through the mother and all property is inherited through her. The Nuer pastoralists of the Sudan practice form of marriage in which a diwos may have sex with any number of men or accept a number of lovers. Any children she has are considered the children of her deceased husband. What is more, a Nuer woman need not marry a man at all! She may contract a marriage with an old and important woman after whom her children are named and through whom their lineage is traced. These offspring are obtained through promiscuous liaisons with men or through affairs with male lovers.

a

Adolescent men and women of the Muria of India must live together in co-educational "dormitories." Free sexual relations are promoted between all dormitory-mates, and any regular pairing-off is discouraged. In certain dormitories, no couple is permitted to sleep together for more than two successive evenings.

None of the above societies is undergoing a "depraved" or "decadent" period in their history. They represent highly stable and ageless social superstructures.

parts of India, Southeast Asia and much of non-white (Indian) South America. In Tibet, which comprises nearly a quarter of the land-mass of China, polyandry (a type of polygamy in which a woman has several husbands) is frequently practiced.

Our Western monogamy (having only one spouse) appears to be derived from firstcentury Hellenism. In fact, the biblical Hebrews were happily polygamous with Yahweh's blessing. Contrary to common belief, the New Testament does not condemn polygamy. Rather, the Apostle Paul merely admonishes bishops or important church, overseers that they "ought" to have only one wife.

Even in societies where single or multi-mate marriages are strictly adhered to, prostitution thrives. There is nothing to indicate that having a ritual mate or mates is instinctive or "natural." Some anthropologists assert that marriage is an archaic device by which wealth is accumulated or preserved. In a distinct or closed society, any system or manner of interrelationships can acquire legitimacy. The rising divorce rate among straights protends a sort of time-lapse promiscuity for heterosexuals in the near future. Does complete Gay Liberation mean we become latter-day Victorians? Will we manufacture nuclear families each to consist of two nuclei with no satellites? Certainly not! There is no reason why promiscuity cannot be adopted as a wholesome, honorable and secure institution, leaving marriage, either with. one or several individuals acceptable option. Polygamy, taken seriously, may be a mind-blower for many of us, but so is coming out. Gay Liberation has told us that "coming out politically" is our next heaven. Perhaps when Gay Liberation "comes out culturally", those of us not out politically will have something genuinely concrete to come out for.

as an

Although socially-sanctioned promiscuity (having sex with numerous people outside of marriage) is less common, polygamy (having more than one spouse) is widely accepted by non-Christian civilizations. Polygamy is common fare over most of Africa, the Middle East, pridsm6o priteisot ni enoitutite onw ensaio to bris teapio stat