‘Sister Wives’ Unpopular Opinion: Christine Brown Is a Hypocrite, Too
Christine Brown is a strong, independent, and thoughtful person. That much she’s shown over the last decade on Sister Wives. She became a star the moment she opted to leave her troubled marriage behind, and fans of the series are largely hailing her as a hero for having the guts to forge her own path. That decision absolutely should be celebrated. No one person is 100% right and 100% wrong, though. While Christine’s decision was certainly brave, the more she talks about her life and her past unhappiness, the more the mother of six looks a bit hypocritical, albeit not to the same level as her ex-husband.
‘Sister Wives’ fans have taken sides in the divorce
Fans rejoiced when Christine announced her separation from Kody Brown ahead of season 16 of Sister Wives. They had been waiting for one of Kody’s wives to get sick of it all and leave him. Christine wasn’t the wife they thought would be the first to go, but everyone largely jumped to her defense. Kody doesn’t seem to have a ton of fans, and there are surprisingly few Sister Wives viewers who have taken his “side” in this divorce.
It seems that fans of the series aren’t the only ones who have taken sides. The Brown family members have taken sides, too, and most seem to agree that Christine Brown is in the right. Paedon Brown recently took to TikTok to throw shade at his father while praising his mother. Gabriel Brown, Janelle Brown’s son, opted to take Christine’s side long before she decided to walk away from her marriage. The praise Christine receives from the rest of the Brown kids, while they barely mention their father on social media, also speaks volumes about the situation.
Christine’s decision to make a happy life for herself should be praised. It should be celebrated. Still, Christine, like her ex-husband, can be seen as a bit of a hypocrite.
Christine Brown sold fans on the concept of a happy plural marriage in the early seasons
Just like the rest of the Brown family, Christine was all-in on painting a picture of a happy, functioning polygamist family. In fact, Christine seemed devoted to the principle until just a few years ago. While Christine originally led fans to believe her unhappiness stemmed from the family’s move from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Flagstaff, Arizona, the mother of six is telling a different tale now.
In a confessional-style interview in the season opener of Sister Wives, Christine revealed how long she had been unhappy and how poorly her marriage had been functioning for over a decade. Since leaving her marriage, Christine has accused Kody of being an absentee father from when her children were incredibly young. She has said he failed to fulfill her needs for over a decade. Christine has also accused Kody of treating her like a “basement wife.”
Despite her longstanding unhappiness, Christine not only portrayed a happy wife on the family’s reality TV show, but she also openly campaigned for polygamy. She claimed that the practice had plenty of benefits for the family unit, it’s clear that was never true. Christine even spoke at a college to discuss plural marriage. She was, for all intents and purposes, a fierce activist, despite feeling resentful toward the practice in her own life. Knowing how unhappy she was while still selling the idea of polygamy makes her seem a touch hypocritical.
Christine also fed into the toxic Brown family dynamic
After 17 seasons of Sister Wives, it’s safe to say that most people who watch the show aren’t interested in pursuing polygamy in their own lives. The Brown family dropped the act of a unified family many seasons ago. Fans have seen an incredibly toxic family dynamic over the last five or more years.
Christine was no more innocent of feeding into that dynamic than Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Robyn Brown, or Kody. Fans of the series have accused Meri and Janelle of holding grudges; you could say Christine did the same. We’ve spoken at length about Robyn’s desire to revise the Brown family’s history; Christine is actively doing that in season 17 of Sister Wives. The Brown family’s dynamic can be seen as toxic, and Christine, like the other adult family members, fed into it.
Still, Christine has opted to end the cycle and cut that part of her life out because it was no longer serving her. That was an incredibly bold and brave decision, and surely one she didn’t make lightly. Still, time will tell how she chooses to use the platform she now has.
