I almost want to interject a comment, but I have no idea what this thread has managed to mutate into.

 

Considering that Jordan has gone to great lengths to establish the mutual respect among the ladies, and their affection for each other, and the fact that they conspired among themselves to bully Rand into accepting the unusual "arrangement"...doesn't this whole debate collapse into a personal position on whether or not polygamy is acceptable?

 

Most of the key WOT characters exhibit what I (and probably many readers) consider a provincial sort of morality, which Jordan appears to both value and poke fun at throughout the series. He seems to be pulling a Heinlein here and inserting his own commentary on American mores; although the lack of females with multiple spouses seems damning, Jordan is quick to turn it around and argue that a lack of strength on the part of the men makes this arrangement less common.

The original idea of this thread was to figure out if the women on this board found the relationship between Rand and his ladies demeaning.