I grew up in a polygamist commune 0:00:03.310,0:00:08.149 which had been founded by my grandpa in the early nineteen
sixties to escape
persecution from his religious beliefs
however I was used to any sort of lifestyle really because my father
only had one wife
the whole time I've known him 0:00:23.400,0:00:28.500 you know at one point he did have a second wife but she left shortly after I was born and so I don't have
any recollection of her
and so it was normal to me to have one wife
or multiple wives
basically your preference
and it didn't you know
come to my attention that it is his family it was not until I started to get older and I
started to go to public school outside of Pinesdale
that I saw okay people call us pinnies 0:00:51.949,0:00:54.830 so we must be somewhat different
It was fun though as a kid
it was a fun place to grow up
because you had
all these little kids running around like smurfs
playing
I had over four hundred first cousins
yes
you know ignorance is bliss I was
very innocent at the time and it was a good time
tell me what it's like specifically to take a seat at the table
in a polygamous kitchen
well you know it
I always tell the story if you sit 0:01:34.840,0:01:35.800 quietly long enough
in a polygamous home
you'll see all the sister wives and all the dynamics come out very quickly
and that I guess yeah they will they will band together to you know
force the husband to give them something
but once one sister wife leaves 0:01:52.520,0:01:55.680
they start back biting
and eventually when the husband comes home and there is only one wife she'll 0:02:01.840,0:02:03.130 sell 'em all down the river
to get what she wants 0:02:04.730,0:02:10.949 it's a fascinating and very entertaining dynamic that you see and it's human nature
it really is so unrealistic to ask 0:02:13.969,0:02:17.159 a woman to share her husband
and think that it's going to be all fun and games it's not
I could tell you that
a lot of a lot of
ache and anxiety 0:02:32.569,0:02:37.599 had to allow her husband's to be given away to a second wife
she
on the surface on the facade was very calm
grateful to be
sharing her husband on the principal of it
but I remember when he left on his honeymoon
it was hard
and
it's a common misnomer that people have is that
you know all
polygamists are sex fiends I mean no a lot of them are very celibate
you
only have intercourse for the sake of procreation
and so it becomes very
strict like that
and so it's not
it's not all this romance
that a lot of people Big Love will sometimes portray
and
I watched it once
having my intelligence insulted
I never watched it again
but honestly that's part of TV entertainment to you know
sensationalize some aspects that are pretty exaggerated