Discussion Polygamy

I don't see how you could argue they are mutually exclusive, on the other hand I would argue the negative. Wouldn't a world that is rigidly tiered with the strong at the top and the weak at the bottom have people(man/woman) who would rather suck the tits of the powerful and use that to get stronger even if it means joining a harem? Even with some type of luck or good fortune people find its usually only the MC who gets something that can be his crutch till he gets stronger. Most people's luck is finding a high tier weapon or pill or some old master takes a liking to you. But even in the old master case you sometimes can get unlucky and that old master may be trying to steal your body so and have a younger vessel.

In the cultivation world not everyone is born equal so there will definitely be situations where the weak will try to cozy up to the strong for advantages.

Spoiler

I remember in Martial World one of the MCs childhood friends who was a talented girl decided to get engaged to a guy from a rich family cause he would be able to give her resources to be able to further develop. There was even a clan that was known to scout for talented women to use as cauldrons and most woman were known to go for it cause first it was a powerful clan with resources and also dual cultivation would improve their cultivation even if one gets more out of it than the other. But with that they get to increase their lifespan and in turn maintain their youth for hundreds of years.

So yea it may be a world that champions self improvement but it is still very rigid society since their is a clear distinction between the strong and the weak, so I'd imagine many at the bottom(cause even the Martial God was once a snot nosed whelp) would gravitate to the strong for resources to get stronger. Its pretty clear in these cultivation stories that to cultivate to a powerful level one has to be endowed with the right will to get stronger but also an insane amount of resources which many cannot afford. Also many of these cultivation stories have the cliche "only women sects" with very powerful female sect leaders and elders who don't give take shit from anyone lol. They may look pretty but they are all 1000 year old hags who would snuff you out like an ant for looking at them with any unwholesome thoughts.

 

I agree with u on all of that , but the have to tell u , I SERIOUSLY DON'T Think that if a cultivation world existed it would be loosely based on Chinese society ( if it is I don't know much about that but , the transmigrated MCs never find anything weird about it , so I am going with it ) . In fact their is a higher chance of it being more likely a olden European countries like Vikings then China . All those 'u give me face' crap Uh Uh not buying it . I am not saying that their will be no conflict but the closest to a real working society I would consider to be real would be the one shown in Arcane Emperor ( the scions of big families r taught to always be cautious and try NOT to offend even a Begger. ) It shows that in a society where ANYONE can be an old monster in disguise , the people with authority and Much to lose would be very cautious about their people and children's education. And in Cultivation worlds there is a LITERAL Higher world that they Know about and r trying to get there , most of the time MCs r not that surprising because their is a Precedent set and yet a LOCAL power thinks it can do whatever it wants whenever bit wants . Nope , not buying it

 

Polygamy never works even if you marry two sisters, both will try to kill each other.
But given that harem stories seem to portray the women as best of friends and cordial, it feels too unrealistic
so that is why I do not read harem.
Let us not kid ourselves, it has nothing to do with plot
It is all about placating readers.
Regardless of which waifu is a reader's favorite, they can live vicariously through the protagonist since he marries them all

 

I definitely agree that cultivation world would probably not exactly mirror Chinese society but I fear that my western bias(and maybe yours if you are from the West) makes me unfit to judge one way or the other. However, I think Warlock of the Magus World is probably closer to what it looks like if if it did exist in the real world. Sex wasn't embellished with a conservative bias(which mainly is due to religion) and was very open in that world. Also blood feuds were there but rare. Most people in WMW never went as far as to attack a persons family/clan unless that said person was confirmed dead because of the fear of reprisal. Men and women had equal status(as much as they do in the West) particularly in leadership if they were talented enough since any family/clan would prefer to keep any talented individual in said family/clan since ones magical aptitude was considered hereditary. This meant that men or women were rarely used as political tools to be shipped out when they would be much better put to use fostering more geniuses within the clan/family.

As for local powers, it comes down to where they get their power from. Whether its solely in that local powers hands ie clan/family/organization or some guy who is higher on the pyramid than them pulling the strings it would still exist. This world we are talking about would contain humans which we are all very well familiar with, so I don't see how those humans would be vastly different from what we see, but it may be my lack of imagination lol. Personally, I just don't see how even if people(man/women) can cultivate to outstanding degrees with enough willpower still not have those who will try to cozy up to the strong for benefits, whether its in simple servant-master relationship or a harem/reverse harem. Even in the real world, the cost of increasing your "human capital" to improve oneself ie. education or trade skills still requires resources the majority of the people in this planet cannot afford or not natural endowed with. Even getting employment can sometimes involve on who you know in the top floors so i don't really see how a cultivation based world would be so different these elements don't exist? Do Chinese novels embellish certain themes a bit more to fit their narrative? Of course! But I won't simply discount it and say its all hogwash.

 

U Know What , I Forgot about WMW and u r right , that is the closest case study we can consider . Again , like u said sex would not be conserved , since no one would teach as such . But u have to agree that even in WMW , while Harems were present , no one believed that the women liked each other, because every other extra member to harem is an extra burden that will eat into ur resources. Bottom line remains is that , while Possible , the members would Certainly NOT get along with each other , there is a higher chance of them trying to get rid of each other than going ' Oh , u r new well now I am ur big sister , let's have fun Hehehe ' . No while on the surface and in front of the main master they Might seem to get along , they will try to undermine each other .

 

Honestly, when I began writing my own novel, I had not thought much about polygamy. Following down the plotline, I somehow ended up in a position where I have a path where I can choose to go or not to follow the harem route.
I think some novels end up really well as harems since the Writer spends time in fleshing out his supporting characters. Take for instance Ze Tian Ji. I honestly didn't have a problem at the end if the Author went down a harem route. Some novels, however, overdo it. It's like every arc is a new FMC until you probably lose count and get a headache if you have to support a particular one.

What I would like to here, is the female point of view in this discussion. How do female readers feel about harems, male or female harems of course?

 

Harem route is badly executed and makes reader bored of them. For example The Lord’s Empire which treating women like fuck toy and collect them like goods.

 

i have mixed feelings about the ending for that series

 

Oh? Why?

 

In a way I would like to read about a harem where the girls are at odds with each other.
Cordial in front of their man, but dangerous towards each other when he is not around.
I think it make for a funny rom-com.

On a serious note, Harem's for political purposes are still interesting in the sense. Kinda like an Emperors/ Kings Harem and the wives children in line for succession.


In Sevens the epilogue, basically spoke of the fall of the Walt empire. that due to the lineages of the multiple wives, the fight for succession eventually broke the kingdom apart.

 

I like harems. It isn't important if the girls are actually romantically interested in the male lead, if the romance goes anywhere or anything.
What I like is for the book/manga/anime to have a lot of female characters (and you can even drop the male lead). Why? because I'm working in a male-dominated profession and my life has quite enough men in it, and not enough women and girls.

Sure, not every harem is equally good.
Some authors just feel obliged to include a bunch of girls for the male lead and aren't actually writing any romance in there (I'm looking at you, Strongest Sage of the Failure Crest). But I don't mind, as long as the rest of the story is good.
Some authors aren't able to provide enough spotlight for the girls. They probably bit more than they could chew.
Some authors make the girls less of reliable adventure companions, and more of a bunch of useless pets who are only there to be cute. I want to think it's about a lack of writing skill too, but I suspect the author might be a bad person who looks down on women.

Ouch. I suggest you switch to Japanese stories. They aren't as rape-tastic as Chinese ones, unless it's actual porn.

That just proves these "young masters" aren't charismatic. Given how quick they are to get into a fight with protagonist, I'd say they are totally uncharismatic. Maybe it's because everybody knows what happened to his last "single wife". Maybe it's because he's all-around horrible person who can't be expected to treat his wife better. Maybe they're too confident to actually properly romance the girl.
Charisma is not all about being full of yourself.

What's so hard about it? Imagine there is a really nice girl. She's beautiful and it's fun to be with her. Sure, there are some other guys around her, but they're pretty chill, and you're sure you're the one she loves. And she says she needs you on her journey to save the world. Would you refuse?
Even if you aren't sure you're the one she loves, you're so awesome she'll choose you, once she has a chance to know her better. If you're manly enough, you probably would not mind to outright compete with other guys, trying to impress the girl the most.
And even if she sorrowfully says she is going to save the world alone, and you can stay back home safely, you would not agree with that and follow her anyway, right?
And even if she tells you she's greedy and can't be satisfied by only one guy, gangbang sounds pretty sexy, right?

In short, with enough positive thinking (or obsession), getting into a harem is not a problem. It might not be the wisest choice, but when have you seen teenagers making wise choices?

 

Actually I was talking about point of view of a guy who thinks it's unrealistic to have a harem but I don't see how that would change what u have said even if we change genders , and I guess u would be right about teenagers not making wise decisions.

 

Harem doesn't align with my world views of monogamy. Simple as that.

 

Simple and unoffensive response.

 

TBH I think that's most people's underlying or subconscious reasons for not reading harem.

 

I don't assume that. People may all look the same on the outside, but we all have our quirks. If you saw me casually me on the street with my family, you would never know or realise what my sexual preferences.

 

Interesting.

I was making a blanket statement about a population. But on the individual level, I do agree.

 

when you talk about population, you are talking about what is social, which is what people will admit freely. When there is a taboo associated with a small section of society, how often will people openly admit to their lifestyles if the stigma will harm them? This is what being a polygamist is like.... It used to be what admitting to homosexuality and other forms of gender identity felt about 'stepping out of the closet' in a society that didn't accept gray areas and alternative lifestyles...you do what you need to do to survive which includes lying about your true feelings to be accepted in society.

There is a lot more going on in people's private life that is admitted to openly in polite conversation. It's why japan has made an industry of fetishist, escapist and fantasy media.

 

Precisely. That's why I said "most" not "all".

There's also the fact that people will have their own reasons.

 

I was not disagreeing, I was just further explaining my statement.