The Utah branch of the National Organization for Women is championing the cause of Elizabeth Joseph, a lawyer who lives in a polygamous arrangement with six other wives and a shared husband, Alex Joseph. Ellen George, secretary of NOW's Utah branch, commented: "We fight for lesbian families and single-parent families. I don't know why we wouldn't support this."

While most feminists may regard polygamy as a form of slavery, NOW points out the advantages to working mothers—particularly in the area of child care. Ms. Joseph and her six co-wives live with Mr. Joseph and their 20 children in a communal living arrangement in Big Water, Utah. Career women such as Ms. Joseph go off to work, and the career caregivers look after the children. The arrangement allowed her to "go to law school, knowing my husband had clean shorts in the morning and dinner at night."

Without an official marriage certificate, they have not broken federal anti-polygamy law. A Utah statute prohibits their form of co-habitation, but no one has been prosecuted under it since 1944. Formerly a common practice among Mormons, polygamy was outlawed before the territory of Utah was admitted to the United States in 1896.

[Ed.: In South Africa, theology professor Christina Landman proposed adopting the practice of polygamy to counter the country's soaring divorce rate. "There are just too few men in the world," Landman said. "They have exterminated each other in wars. Now is the time to select a married man and go and negotiate with his wife to become part of the family." Landman further commented that because polygamy is traditionally practiced by the country's native black population, not offering it as an option for whites is "a clear case of discrimination."]

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