The Trouble with Monogamy: Companionate Marriage and Gendered Suspicions in Bamako, Mali

While the rate of polygynous marriage has declined among Malian urbanites since at least the 1980s, monogamy remains a highly problematic marital ideal for most Malians, even in cities. In Bamako, Mali’s capital city, roughly one in five couples with the option to commit to a formal monogamy contract during their civil wedding ceremony chooses this option. Focus group discussions and individual interviews with a broad cross-section of Bamako residents reveal that although monogamy is theoretically appealing to men and women alike, the prospect of a legally binding pledge of monogamy arouses strongly gendered suspicions and tensions. These pertain to power differentials as well as women’s low expectations both of male sexual fidelity and of the rule of law under the contemporary Malian state, which is responsible for enforcing the country’s civil marriage code. As a result, polygyny continues to shape marital choices, discourses and practices in Bamako to a degree that belies its diminishing prevalence.