‘Sister Wives’: Kody Brown Deconstructed the Brown Family Through Control

Looking back at 18 seasons of TLC’s Sister Wives, it appears many elements led to the Brown family’s destruction. Favoritism, negligence, petty behavior, and thoughtlessness were just a few ways Kody Brown deconstructed his polygamist clan. However, control was his biggest downfall, and it ultimately destroyed his family.

Kody Brown’s ‘where we go one, we go all’ mentality was a way to control his family.

During the TLC series, Kody Brown repeated the family mantra, “Where we go one, we go all.” This statement encompassed every move the supersized clan made.

Kody’s insistence that the entire family support every one of his ideas gave him a sense of control. Therefore, his four wives—Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn—could not push back.

The wives had no real say when Kody kept moving his family around. They lived in Utah’s American Fork, Lovell, Wyoming, Montana, Lehi, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Flagstaff, Arizona.

Janelle appeared to be the only one of Kody’s wives who had enough of moving when the clan moved from Wyoming to Lehi. She stayed behind with her children before eventually moving to the large family home seen during the first two seasons of Sister Wives.

Subsequently, Kody’s controlling ways meant he became the keeper of the family schedule. He began to exert his power over the women, seeing them when he wanted and for how long he wanted. They, in turn, had to be grateful for his relationship scraps and not complain.

Kody Brown kept his wives working on TV with chaotic storylines

Kody Brown kept his wives working for many years. Janelle’s job as the primary breadwinner alongside Kody kept her out of the house from early morning until late evening, while Christine and Meri tended to their children and worked odd jobs.

While it was never made clear what Kody Brown did for a living other than advertising, once the family joined TLC’s roster, they began to make incomes unlike they had never generated before. For every episode, they family was paid upwards of $40,000.

That total was split between the five adults (not the children; they did not get paid for their on-camera appearances), coming to roughly half a million dollars or more a year for 14 episodes a season, around $100,000 per adult. Multiply that by 18 seasons of Sister Wives, and thus far, Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine, and Robyn Brown have netted millions of dollars.

Reality stars who deliver sleepy storylines don’t get renewed, so Sister Wives storylines became more chaotic. Therefore, in later seasons, Kody’s behavior turns darker, all in the name of exciting storylines and a steady paycheck.

Kody enforced patriarchy to remain in control

In later seasons of Sister Wives, Kody Brown tried to control his wives’ behavior by enforcing patriarchy. By definition, patriarchy is “the supremacy of the father in the clan or family.”

Kody wanted to enforce this way of life as Christine and Janelle Brown found their independence away from him. By ensuring he was the beginning and end of all family decisions, Kody’s wives couldn’t make any moves monetarily, personally, or professionally without him.

Ironically, as Kody spent more and more time with Robyn Brown to the detriment of his other three marriages, the women in his life grew away from him. This irritated Kody further, leading him to believe patriarchy was the way to control his wayward polygamist clan.

Janelle responded, “He wants a wife who’s all partnering with him, not independent. And I’m like, ‘That will never be me.’ He’s really advocating patriarchy, and I’m not that person.” 

Sister Wives Season 19 will look hugely different for the Brown family. Robyn and Kody are monogamous, Christine has remarried, Janelle is carving out her life in Flagstaff, and Meri lives in Utah. Will the show continue past this season? Only time will tell.