# Jfk vs bozo



## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

"Which woman would not rather be John Kennedy's third wife than Bozo the Clown's first?" Quote by a female anthropologist.

Assuming that polygamy was respectable and legal, which would you prefer?

Darn it. I put up a poll. What happened?

Fixed


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## Cosmos (May 4, 2012)

I'd think twice about becoming someone's third wife, but would never become Bozo the Clown's first, second or third wife.


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## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

Cosmos said:


> I'd think twice about becoming someone's third wife, but would never become Bozo the Clown's first, second or third wife.


Have you seen his shoe size though?


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## Cosmos (May 4, 2012)

JCD said:


> Have you seen his shoe size though?


Large shoes are simply an indication of large feet


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## Starstarfish (Apr 19, 2012)

I think this description about all the medication JFK was on:



> The combination included hormones, animal organ cells, steroids, vitamins, enzymes, and amphetamines, and potential side effects included hyperactivity, hypertension, impaired judgment, nervousness, and significant mood swings


Sounded like he'd be a real winner to live with. So - sorry, I'll pass.

As for Bozo, I get this idea he'd be like Krusty the Clown off set. :lol:


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## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

For a lot of women of the world, this is *not* a theoretical exercise for those already secure in a LTR and frequently, they have to make this choice in their twenties, not as mature women.

It's marry the village Bozo, or go find someone richer but take a lower status as wife.


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## Faithful Wife (Oct 31, 2012)

I don't really get the question....can you explain it to us in some form of understandable language?


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## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

Faithful Wife said:


> I don't really get the question....can you explain it to us in some form of understandable language?


Very well. I thought it was clear, but if it isn't, it's the fault of the writer, not the reader.


You are a single woman. You desire a mate.

Because of circumstances, you are stuck with either marrying a rich, powerful and sexy man (JFK as a stand in) but as a LEGAL third wife OR...you can marry a village Bozo (if not the actual clown, someone who is NOT particularly appealing: poor, not in great health, uneducated, low status etc.)

There is no "Well, I'd find someone else." See, all the OTHER single girls are looking for that someone else and scooped them up. Maybe there was a war. Maybe you decided to 'play the field' just a WEE bit too long. Maybe most of the men work in an industry like fishing or on oil rigs. Maybe you live in San Francisco.

So:

One: Marry a rich man as (a legal) third wife. You get money. Your kid is taken care of. You may not have to work as hard. But there is a hierarchy in the household and you ain't on top! Primary wife naturally resents every single added wife. Polygamy is a great deal for a rich man (not so good for poor ones) and a good deal for the second and additional wives...but it stinks for the first wife.

Two: Marry a man who is not applealing: You will have to work hard. You have no borrowed status (another perk of being third wife). Kid's future is up in the air. Maybe he makes it...maybe he doesn't. BUT...you have someone all to yourself, you're the air he breathes and you don't need to worry if Aunt Flo visits on Tuesday and Thursday which are your designated nights in the saddle. You can't become an unfavored woman essentially living alone without hubby suffering the same

Three: Spinsterhood at least for a good while. And you aren't getting any younger (i.e. new girls are getting up to nubile status) Saying it is unappealing is saying you would rather live alone...with the consequences that brings.

Personally, I thought the quote was funny as hell but since it was the opinion of ONE woman, I thought I'd get a read from some TAM women.

Most are not interested in the question. They seem to want to reject having to make the choice at all.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

Just don't go for Lee Harvey Bozwald.


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## Faithful Wife (Oct 31, 2012)

Um...well, I guess I still don't get why anyone would put themselves in this hypothetical situation? I mean, there is nothing even close to reality here. Is it the same as "if you were stranded on a desert island with only one book to read for the rest of your life, what would the book be?"


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## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

Faithful Wife said:


> Um...well, I guess I still don't get why anyone would put themselves in this hypothetical situation? I mean, there is nothing even close to reality here. Is it the same as "if you were stranded on a desert island with only one book to read for the rest of your life, what would the book be?"


Really? 

I'm reminded of this bit from Kate Bolick who wrote an article in The Atlantic "All the Single Ladies" Nov 2011.

Here is a historical reference from that article:



> Take the years after the Civil War, when America reeled from the loss of close to 620,000 men, the majority of them from the South. An article published last year in *The Journal of Southern History reported that in 1860, there were 104 marriageable white men for every 100 white women; in 1870, that number dropped to 87.5.* A generation of Southern women found themselves facing a “marriage squeeze.” They could no longer assume that they would become wives and mothers—a terrifying prospect in an era when women relied on marriage for social acceptability and financial resources.
> 
> Instead, they were forced to ask themselves: Will I marry a man who has poor prospects (“marrying down,” in sociological parlance)? Will I marry a man much older, or much younger? Will I remain alone, a spinster? Diaries and letters from the period reveal a populace fraught with insecurity. As casualties mounted, expectations dropped, and women resigned themselves to lives without husbands, or simply lowered their standards. (In 1862, a Confederate nurse named Ada Bacot described in her diary the lamentable fashion “of a woman marring a man younger than herself.”) Their fears were not unfounded—the mean age at first marriage did rise—but in time, approximately 92 percent of these Southern-born white women found someone to partner with. The anxious climate, however, as well as the extremely high levels of widowhood—nearly one-third of Southern white women over the age of 40 were widows in 1880—persisted.
> 
> ...


So no, I don't consider the situation that unreasonable, either historically or currently in some parts of the world. It's a good article.


But honestly, I just wanted the ladies to discuss whether this lady's quote was stuff and nonsense or if she was onto something: that most women would prefer to be a third wife instead of Bozo's.


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## Blue Firefly (Mar 6, 2013)

You can make the argument that this is why polygamy was outlawed to begin with.

If only 1 in 5 women would accept polygamy with an alpha over marrying down, then that means 20% of men in a society would have no prospects of marriage. Which would cause all kinds of problems in most societies. 

Given that we are headed into something of an "anything goes" phase of the definition of marriage, you have to wonder if polygamy will make a comeback and its effect on society in general

There's already a push to legalize polygamy in some European countries with large Muslim populations, so the question is far from academic. In the last 20 years, gay marriage has gone from being a pipe dream to a reality. Twenty years form now legalized polygamy could very well be a reality too.


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## JCD (Sep 2, 2012)

Blue Firefly said:


> You can make the argument that this is why polygamy was outlawed to begin with.
> 
> If only 1 in 5 women would accept polygamy with an alpha over marrying down, then that means 20% of men in a society would have no prospects of marriage. Which would cause all kinds of problems in most societies.
> 
> ...


Right now, I'm in the middle of reading "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature". 

In it, it argues that with democracy, *single men* who wanted to be married 'voted' themselves the ability to have wives by outlawing polygamy.

Frankly, I think polygamy is a silly idea. I can barely dissatisfy ONE wife. How am I supposed to adequately dissatisfy four???


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## SaltInWound (Jan 2, 2013)

Clowns are scary.


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## Entropy3000 (May 11, 2011)

JCD said:


> Right now, I'm in the middle of reading "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature".
> 
> *In it, it argues that with democracy, single men who wanted to be married 'voted' themselves the ability to have wives by outlawing polygamy.*
> 
> Frankly, I think polygamy is a silly idea. I can barely dissatisfy ONE wife. How am I supposed to adequately dissatisfy four???


:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:


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