51 pages • 1-hour read
Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom
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Background
Ideological Context: Polygamy in Fundamentalist Mormonism
In Sister Wife, Christine Brown Woolley conveys her personal experiences of polygamy. This practice, in which one man takes multiple wives, was once a fundamental aspect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS); its members are sometimes colloquially referred to as “Mormons.” The founder of the LDS church, Joseph Smith, allegedly received a divine revelation regarding polygamy as early as 1831, but he did not formally reveal this message to the church until 1843. He would tell his followers that “the Lord told him such acts were not adultery when done at divine command; multiple women could be eternally ‘sealed’ to the same man” (“Polygamy and the Church: A History.” American Experience). While a large percentage of LDS members did not practice polygamy, church elders held that if the church members were charged by God and the church “to take other wives,” they must comply. Smith himself took 30 wives; his successor, Brigham Young, also engaged in plural marriage and fathered 57 children with his multiple wives.
In 1890, the then-president of the LDS church, Wilford Woodruff, announced that polygamy would no longer be sanctioned. The church’s denunciation of polygamy historically aligned with the national illegalization of the practice and preceded Utah’s statehood by only a few years. Although the mainstream LDS church remains opposed to polygamy to this day, some fundamentalist sects do continue to practice plural marriage. Such groups—like Woolley’s—hold that polygamy is a spiritual and eternal arrangement that offers its participants entrance into heaven. Meanwhile, mainstream LDS members uphold Woodruff’s stance on the practice. Specifically, Woodruff was “fearful that the continuation of the practice of plural marriage would lead to the destruction of all Mormon temples,” so he “announced an end to official support for polygamy” (Polygamy and the Church: A History).
Cultural Context: Sister Wives and Reality TV Shows
Woolley’s memoir traces her longtime appearance on the popular TLC reality series Sister Wives. The show first began airing in 2010. The following brief of the show is included on TLC’s website: “With four wives and 18 children, the Brown household has more than its fair share of family drama. Kody Brown and his wives share an intimate glimpse into both the challenges and the joys at the heart of this unconventional family structure” (“Sister Wives.” TLC). When the show was first picked up, Woolley and her family were hopeful that their new platform would educate the public on their religion and polygamous practices.
From Woolley’s vantage point, Sister Wives was meant to present a more “acceptable” version of the Brown family’s atypical marital arrangement to the world. At the same time, the series quickly incited backlash from the LDS church and from Utah legislators. Despite these negative responses, Sister Wives has remained on the air for 20 seasons and is in production for Season 21. The series has followed the Browns through several marriages, numerous births, and countless interpersonal conflicts.
Sister Wives aligns with a tradition of family-based drama series that first gained popularity throughout the early aughts and in the years since. Reality series like Sister Wives feature “ordinary people” and seek to film their authentic lives and relationships for the dual purposes of entertainment and education. Such shows are also purportedly unscripted, and Sister Wives does present grittier aspects of the central figures’ relationships, highlighting a range of marital, sexual, and personal tensions. These aspects of the show have gained public attention and have sustained viewer engagement over the course of its 15-year run. In her personal memoir, Sister Wife, Woolley expresses her deep appreciation for viewers’ investment in her and her family’s televised story. In the epilogue of her memoir, she asserts that countless women have taken her story of rebirth as inspiration for their own self-liberation. In her view, the show, which has offered viewers access to the Browns’ often tumultuous and dramatic dynamics, has also offered potential real-life lessons for a wide audience.
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