Star of the popular 2010 series Sister Wives, Christine Brown, has shown that feminism and Mormon polygamy are not incompatible. Before Christine Brown left her husband, Kody Brown, the show followed his polygamist family, including Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn.
All four wives have had fights with Kody, but Christine, his ex-third, really startled viewers when she begged her spouse for a divorce. She claims she was miserable for a very long period. Since most of her children, except 12-year-old Truly Brown, are no longer living at home, she feels free to strike out independently.
Christine Brown Stands Up To Kody
When Christine Brown initially began pointing out Kody’s problematic behavior and calling out his explanation, many people saw it for what it was: a load of excuses, while some loved her. Christine wasn’t the only wife concerned about Kody’s COVID regulations after realizing how challenging it would be to enforce them in multi-person households.
Christine Brown of “Sister Wives” Surprisingly Becomes a feminist Icon
He urged everyone to be socially distant from those in other families by having them wipe off their mail and not interact with one another. In addition, he told the mothers of the Sister Wives to stop going to see their children who were temporarily living elsewhere. There was widespread agreement amongst the women that his rules were ridiculous, but only Christine was ready to move out.
When Kody and Christine Brown’s daughter, Ysabel, required emergency surgery to correct her scoliosis, the situation reached a boiling point. In September 2020, Ysabel was taken into surgery without her father at her side. Kody said he would be absent because he wanted to avoid complying with his COVID treatment plan.
Kody told the producers, “I’m not going to surgery, I think it’s highly unsafe, and I’m not traveling with Christine and Ysabel on the way to surgery.” In addition, he said, “I also feel like a big hypocrite if I’m not respecting the guidelines that I’m asking — begging, really begging — others to keep.” Kody may have thought his decision was honorable, but it must have seemed like rejection to Ysabel and Christine.
Did Christine Change The Narrative About Polygamous Women?
Even if Kody’s decision not to attend Ysabel’s surgery wasn’t the final straw that caused Christine to leave him, it was an enlightened moment that helped her make up her mind. At the end of the program, she admitted, “I would’ve wanted to have him there, of course, because it’s what Ysabel needed.
But I didn’t need him anymore.” Christine’s liberation from Kody began when she realized how different her needs were from those of her children. She could keep her feelings about Kody’s presence in her life and her children’s feelings about him separate.
Christine’s feminism wins her fans since she has the maturity to keep her 25-year-ex-husband in her life for the sake of their children while being cordially distanced from him. The common belief that polygamist wives are submissive to their husbands makes Sister Wives a controversial film. In the show’s later seasons, Christine’s fierce individualism destroys this foundation.
Watching her talk Kody through the circumstances of their breakup says a lot: Christine feels at peace with herself and her situation. Christine Brown is the absolute opposite of the devastated divorcee her audience might expect her to be. Christine has become the show’s feminist icon since she uprooted her life at age 50 without resentment toward Kody.
