Janet bennion biography

Janet Benson Bennion (born October 2, 1964) is.
Janet Bennion is a Professor of Anthropology with a M.A. in Social Anthropology from Portland State University and a Ph.D.
Janet Benson Bennion is Professor of Anthropology at Lyndon State College, Vermont, United States.

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Recently, polygamy has become a “primetime” phenomenon. Television shows like Big Love and Sister Wives demonstrate the “progressive” side of polygamy, while horror stories from victims of abusive marriages offer less upbeat experiences among the adherents of the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church). Bennion, herself a product of Mormon polygamy, seeks to dispel the myths and misinformation that surround this topic. This study, based on seventeen years of ethnographic research among the Allred Group (Apostolic United Brethren) and on an analysis of recent blog journal entries written by a range of polygamous women, examines the variety and complexity of contemporary Mormon fundamentalist life in the Intermountain West. Although Bennion highlights problems associated with polygamy, including evidence that some forms are at high risk for father-child incest, she challenges the media-driven depiction of plural marriage as uniformly abusive and harmful to women. She shows how polygamist families can provide both economic security and social sustenan

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The practice of polygamy occupies a unique place in North American history and has had a profound effect on its legal and social development. The Polygamy Question explores the ways in which indigenous and immigrant polygamy have shaped the lives of individuals, communities, and the broader societies that have engaged with it. The book also considers how polygamy challenges our traditional notions of gender and marriage and how it might be effectively regulated to comport with contemporary notions of justice.

The contributors to this volume—scholars of law, anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and religious studies—disentangle diverse forms of polygamy and polyamory practiced among a range of religious and national backgrounds including Mormon and Muslim. They chart the harms and benefits these models have on practicing women, children, and men, whether they are independent families or members of coherent religious groups. Contributors also address the complexities of evaluating this form of marriage and the ethical and legal issues surrounding regulation of t

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Janet Bennion is a Professor of Anthropology with a M.A. in Social Anthropology from Portland State University and a Ph.D. from University of Utah. She is the preeminent world scholar on polygyny among Mormon Fundamentalist groups, having published extensively on female networking and the variability of poly lifestyles, including Women of Principle (University of Oxford Press, 1998) and Polygamy in Primetime (Brandeis University Press 2012). Her latest publication is collaborative and international, stemming from several international conference discussions about how to handle the poly world legally, compiled in the volume, The Polygamy Question (Utah State and Colorado Presses, 2015). Her most recent research explores polyamory networks in Paris where she is testing the efficacy of network theory (published in Sexualities, 2020).

Polyamory
Polygyny
Non-traditional Religions
Alternative Sexuality
Medical Anthropology

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Credit(s): 3
Introduction to Sociology (J) Credit(s): 3
Social Theory Credit(s): 3
Research Methods
Senior Semin