CHAPTER 8 This chapter introduces students to the roles that families, kinship, and marriage play in society. It discusses the different classifications that anthropologists use for kin groups, descent, and residence. This chapter also discusses how difficult it is to define marriage, and the range of marriage practices, rights, and rituals that exist in human cultures throughout the world.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Nuclear and Extended Families The nuclear family consists of a married couple and their children. The nuclear family is ego-centered, and impermanent, while descent groups are permanent and reckoned according to a single ancestor. One’s family of orientation is the family in which one is born and grows up, while one’s family of procreation is formed when one marries and has children. The nuclear family is widespread, but not a cultural universal. In many societies, the extended families are the primary unit of social organization.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Industrialism and Family Organization The most prevalent residence pattern in the United States is families of procreation living neolocally. In the U.S., as in other large, industrialized societies, patterns of residence and family types may change from class to class, in response to the conditions of these different contexts.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Changes in North American Kinship Increasing representation of women in the work force is associated with a rise in marriage age. The divorce rate rose steeply between 1970 and 2000. The media is reflecting and intensifying these changes. Comparatively, Americans identify a smaller range of kindred than members of nonindustrial societies.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage The Family among Foragers The two basic units of social organization among foragers are the nuclear family and the band. Typically, the band exists only seasonally, breaking up into nuclear families when subsistence means require.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Descent Descent Groups A descent group is a permanent social unit whose members claim common ancestry. Matrilineal and patrilineal descent are types of unilineal descent in which individuals only recognize one line of descent. A lineage is a descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from an apical ancestor. A clan is a descent group that claims common descent from an apical ancestor but cannot demonstrate it. When a clan’s apical ancestor is nonhuman, it is called a totem.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Lineages, Clans, and Residence In tribal societies, the descent group, not the nuclear family, is the fundamental unit. In many societies, descent groups are corporate, sharing resources and property. Patrilocality—married couple lives with husband's family; associated with patrilineal descent and is more common than matrilocality.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage There is no single definition of marriage that is adequate to account for all of the diversity found in marriages cross-culturally. Incest and Exogamy Exogamy is the practice of seeking a spouse outside one's own group. This practice forces people to create and maintain a wide social network. Incest refers to sexual relations with a close relative. The incest taboo is a cultural universal, but what constitutes incest varies widely from culture to culture.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Endogamy Endogamy and exogamy may operate in a single society, but do not apply to the same social unit. Endogamy can be seen as functioning to express and maintain social difference, particularly in stratified societies. Homogamy is the practice of marrying someone similar to you in terms of background, social status, aspirations, and interests. Caste India’s caste system is an extreme example of endogamy. It is argued that, although India’s varna and America’s races are historically distinct, they share a caste-like ideology of endogamy.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Marital Rights and Same-Sex Marriage According to Edmund Leach marriage can: establish the legal father of a woman’s children and the legal mother of a man’s. give either or both spouses a monopoly in the sexuality of the other. give either of both spouses rights to the labor of the other. give either of both spouses rights over the other’s property. establish a joint fund of property—a partnership—for the benefit of the children. establish a socially significant relationship of affinity between spouses and their relatives.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Same-sex marriages are legitimate unions between two individuals because, like other kinds of marriage, same-sex marriage can allocate all of the rights discussed by Leach. In the U.S., since same-sex marriage is illegal, same-sex couples are denied many of these rights. This does not mean that same-sex marriages, like any other cultural construction, are not capable of meeting these needs, only that in the U.S. laws prevent them from doing so. There are many examples in which same-sex marriages are culturally sanctioned.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Marriage Across Cultures Bridewealth and Dowry Particularly in descent-based societies, marriage partners represent an alliance of larger social units. Bridewealth is a gift from the husband’s kin to the wife’s, which stabilizes the marriage by acting as an insurance against divorce. Dowry, much less common than bridewealth, correlates with low status for women. Fertility is often considered essential to the stability of a marriage. Polygyny may be practiced to ensure fertility.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Durable Alliances The existence of customs such as the sororate and the levirate indicate the importance of marriage as an alliance between groups. Sororate marriages involve the widower marrying one of his deceased wife’s sisters. Levirate marriages involve the widow marrying one of her deceased husband’s brothers.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Divorce Divorce is found in many different societies. Marriages that are political alliances between groups are harder to break up than marriages that are more individual affairs. Payments of bridewealth also discourage divorce. Divorce is more common in matrilineal societies as well as societies in which post-marital residence is matrilocal. Divorce is harder in patrilocal societies as the woman may be less inclined to leave her children, who, as members of their father’s lineage, would need to stay with him.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage In foraging societies forces act to both promote and discourage divorce. Promoting divorce: Since foragers lack descent groups, marriages tend to be individual affairs with little importance placed on the political alliances. Foragers also have very few material possessions. Discouraging divorce: The family unit is the basic unit of society and division of labor is based on gender. The sparse populations means that there are few alternative spouses if you divorce.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Divorce in the U.S. The U.S. has one of the world’s highest divorce rates. The U.S. has a very large percentage of gainfully employed women. Americans value independence.

CHAPTER 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage Plural Marriages Polygyny Even in cultures that approve of polygyny, monogamy still tends to be the norm, largely because most populations tend to have equal sex ratios. Polygyny is more common than polyandry because, where sex ratios are not equal, there tend to be more women than men. Multiple wives tend also to be associated with wealth and prestige.