ANTH1006 CH20 - Lecture notes ch20 PDF

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ANTH1006 Fall 2019...

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DEFINING MARRIAGE We link romantic love of two individuals to marriage, and marriage to reproduction and family creation But marriage is an institution with significant roles and functions in addition to reproduction Marriage is notoriously difficult to define because of the varied forms it can take in different societies Example definition of marriage - marriage is a union between a man and a woman such that the children born to the woman are recognized as legitimate offspring of both partners ○ This definition isn’t universally valid for several reasons ○ In many societies, marriage unites more than two spouses, eg plural marriages where a man weds two or more women or eg fraternal polyandry where a woman weds a group of brothers ○ Some societies recognize various kinds of same-sex marriages Genitor: biological father of children Pater: socially recognized father EXOGAMY AND INCEST Exogamy: the custom and practice of seeking a mate outside one’s own group; has adaptive value because it links people into a wider social network that nurtures, helps, and protects them in times of need Incest restrictions (prohibitions on sex with relaties) reinforce exogamy by pushing people to seek their mates outside the local group Incest: sexual contact with a relative, but cultures define their kin (and thus incest) differently Parallel cousins: the children of two brothers or two sisters Cross cousins: the children of a brother and a sister INCEST AND ITS AVOIDANCE Incest Avoidance In most societies, people avoid incest by following rules of exogamy, which force them to mate and marry outside their kin group Exogamy is adaptively advantageous because it creates new social ties and alliances Marrying a close relative, with whom one already is on peaceful terms, would be counterproductive There is more to gain by extending peaceful relations to a wider networks of groups Marriage within the group would isolate that group from its neighbors and their resources and social networks, and might ultimately lead to the group’s extinction Exogamy helps explain human adaptive success Besides its sociopolitical function, exogamy also ensures genetic mixture between groups and thus maintains a successful human species ENDOGAMY Exogamy pushes social organization outward, establishing and preserving alliances among groups In contrast, rules of endogamy dictate mating or marriage within a group to which one

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belongs Formal endogamic rules are less common but are still familiar to anthropologists Most societies are endogamous units, although they usually don’t need a formal rule requiring people to marry someone from their own society In our own society, classes and ethnic groups are quasi-endogamous groups Members of an ethnic or religious group often want their children to marry within that group, although many of them do not do so The outmarriage rate varies among such groups, with some more committed to endogamy than others are SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Same-sex unions of various sorts have been recognized in many different historical and cultural settings Nuer of South Sudan allowed a woman whose father lacked sons to take a wife and be socially recognized as her husband and as the father (pater) of her children In situations in which women, such as prominent market women in West Africa, are able to amass property and other forms of wealth, they make take a wife Such marriages allow the prominent woman to strengthen her social status and the economic importance of her household When same-sex marriage is allowed, one of the partners is of the same biological sex as the spouse, but is considered to belong to a different, socially contructed gender Several Native American groups had figures known as “Two-Spirit,” representing a gender in addition to male or female ○ Sometimes the Two-Spirit was a biological man who assumed many of the mannerisms, behavior patterns, and tasks of women In some Native American cultures, a marriage of a “manly hearted woman” to another woman brought the traditional male-female division of labor to their household ROMANTIC LOVE AND MARRIAGE In our society, we think of marriage as an individual matter Although the bride and groom usually seek their parents’ approval, the final choice (to live together, to marry, to divorce) lies with the couple Contemporary Western societies stress the notion that romantic love is necessary for a good marriage Increasingly, this idea characterizes other cultures as well The mass media and human migration spread Western ideas about the importance of love for marriage Jankowiak and Fischer found romantic ardor to be very common cross-culturally Previously, anthropologists had tended to ignore evidence for romantic love in other cultures, probably because arranged marriages were so common Surveying ethnographic data from 166 cultures, Jankowiak and Fischer found evidence for romantic love in 147 of them (89%) Recent diffusion of WEstern ideas about the importance of love for marriage has influenced marital decisions in other cultures Among villagers in the Kangra valley of northern India (as reported by Narayan), even in the traditional arranged marriages, the partners might eventually fall in love

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In that area nowadays, however, the media have spread the idea that young people should choose their own spouse based on romantic love, and elopements now rival arranged marriages MARRIAGE: A GROUP AFFAIR Whether or not they are cemented by passion, marriages in nonindustrial societies remain the concern of social groups rather than mere individuals The scope of marriage extends from the social to the political-alliance formation Strategic marriages are tried-and-true ways of establishing alliances between groups Gifts at Marriage Gifts at marriage are widespread among the world’s cultures Dowry: a marital gift Dowries occur when the bride’s family or kin group provides substantial gifts when their daughter marries Friedl describes a form of dowry in rural Greece, in which the bride gets a wealth transfer from her mother, to serve as a kind of trust fund during her marriage More commonly, however, the dowry goes to the husband’s family, and the custom is correlated with low female status ○ In this form of dowry, best known from India, women are perceived as burdens ○ When a man and his family take a wife, they expect to be compensated for the added responsibility Lobola: a custom gift that compensates the bride’s group for the loss of her companionship and labor Sororate: a custom where upon death of a spouse, the marital alliance is continued with a substitute, specifically with a sister Levirate: a custom where if the husband dies, the widow may marry his brother DIVORCE Ease of divorce varies depending on the culture As we’ve seen, marriages that are political alliances between groups are more difficult to dissolve than are marriages that are more individual affairs, of concern mainly to the married couple and their children PLURAL MARRIAGES Many nonindustrial societies allow plural marriages, or polygamy There are two varieties; one is common and the other is very rare Polygyny: common; a man has more than one wife at the same time Polyandry: rare; a woman has more than one husband at the same time THE ONLINE MARRIAGE MARKET The Oxford survey found that online dating has become a significant part of the marriage market

Summary 1. Marriage, which usually is a form of domestic partnership, is difficult to define. Marriage conveys various rights. It establishes legal parentage, and it gives each spouse rights to

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the sexuality, labor, and property of the other. Marriage also establishes a “relationship of affinity” between each spouse and the other spouse’s relatives. Human behavior with respect to mating with close relatives may express generalized primate tendencies, but types, risks, and avoidance of incest also reflect specific kinship structures. The avoidance of incest promotes exogamy, which widens social networks. Endogamic rules are common in stratified societies. One extreme example is India, where castes are the endogamous units. Certain ancient kingdoms encouraged royal incest while prohibiting incest by commoners. In societies with descent groups, marriages are relationships between groups as well as between spouses. In patrilineal societies, the groom and his relatives often transfer wealth to the bride and her relatives. As the value of that transfer increases, the divorce rate declines. Examples of how marital customs create and maintain group alliances include the sororate and the levirate. The ease and frequency of divorce vary across cultures. When marriage is a matter of intergroup alliance, divorce is less common. A large fund of joint property also complicates divorce. Many societies permit plural marriages. The two kinds of polygamy are polygyny and polyandry. The former (and more common) involves multiple wives; the latter, multiple husbands. The Internet, which reconfigures social relations and networks more generally, is an important addition to the marriage market in contemporary nations....