1. CHAPTER 7 Marriage, Family and Kinship

2. Marriage Customs, rules, and obligations for relationships between: Sexually cohabiting adults Parents and children Families of the bride and groom Functions: Regulates sexual access Limits competition Creates a family Provides stability for children Expands social group Allows for stable economic exchange

3. Marriage Rules Every society has culturally defined rules concerning sexual relations and marriage. Marriage rules may: Determine how many people one can marry Allow for ending marriages Dictate the rituals that legitimate marriage Determine the rights established by marriage

4. Avoidance Primates One sex will usually move away Inbreeding Decline in fertility Disease Does not account for cross vs parallel Incest restrictions are cultural constructs Exogamy ensures survival

5. Incest Taboo Prohibits certain individuals from having sex with each other The most widespread taboo is mating between mother and son, father and daughter, and sister and brother Because sexual access is a basic right conferred by marriage, incest taboos effectively prohibit marriage among certain kin Reasons: Avoids inbreeding Prevents disruption in the nuclear family Directs sexual desires outside the family Forces people to marry outside the family and create a larger social community

6. Exogamy Rules specifying that a person must marry outside a particular group Reinforced by incest taboos Almost universal within the primary family group Leads to alliances between different families and groups

7. Endogamy Rules that marriage must be within a particular group Homogamy – marrying within the same social class Concentrates wealth Reinforces stratification Caste Endogamy Ascribed stratified groups India Endogamous caste groups with exogamous lineages Inter-caste sex for men and women Royal Endogamy Permissive brother-sister marriage Limits conflicts of succession Ensures royal (perhaps religious) purity Limits the number of heirs Estates intact Concentrated wealth

8. Cousins and Incest Cousins and taboo Two types of first cousins Parallel – the children of two brothers or two sisters Cross – the children of a brother and sister American culture does not distinguish Moiety - each of two social groups into which a people is divided Everyone in the group belongs to one half or the other Cross cousins - opposite moiety Non-incestuous Parallel cousins – same moiety

9. Diagram of Cousins

10. Choosing a Mate In most societies, marriage is important because it links kin groups of the married couple Romantic love is prevalent, even in societies with arranged marriage 166 ethnographies, 147 societies (89%) Love and marriage do not always go hand in hand Western media has spread the notion of a firm connection Arranged marriages A marriage planned and agreed to by the families or guardians of the bride and groom, who usually have little or no say in the matter themselves Often involves exchanges of goods: Bride service Bidewealth (lobola) Dowry

11. Bride Service The husband must work for a specified period of time for his wife’s family Occurs mainly in foraging societies, where accumulating material goods is difficult The Ju/’hoansi A man may often work for his wife’s family until the birth of the third child

12. Bridewealth Sometimes referred to as a lobola The most common form of marriage exchange Cash or goods are given by the groom’s kin to the bride’s kin to seal a marriage Legitimizes the new reproductive and socioeconomic unit created by the marriage Bridewealth is returned if a marriage is terminated

13. Dowry A presentation of goods by the bride’s kin to the groom’s family Less common than other forms of exchange at marriage Dowry has different meanings and functions in different societies. In some cases it represents a woman’s share of her family inheritance In other cases it is a payment transferred from the bride’s family to the groom’s family

14. Preferential Marriage Rules Durable Marriages Levirate: A man marries the widow of his deceased brother. Sororate: When a man’s wife dies, her sister is given to him as a wife.

15. Number of Spouses All societies have rules about how many spouses a person can have at one time. Monogamy The practice of being married to only one person at a time The norm in Europe and North America Pleural Marriages Can be the result of failed lobola A wife cannot produce offspring The contract is being violated The wife’s family may need to provide another female (sister) Polygamy A rule allowing more than one spouse Two types Polygyny – a man with more than one wife Polyandry – a woman with more than one man

16. Divorce Ease varies cross-culturally More difficult in non-industrial society More common in matrilineal Man can be sent off More difficult in patrilineal Women may be reluctant to leave Children belong to the father’s family Politics and Economics Foragers Sparse population leaves few alternatives Food producers Can draw on their descent group if marriage fails Contemporary society Economics, children, and social perception can influence marriage stability where romance, sex, and/or companionship have faded

17. Kinship Culturally constructed relationship established on the basis of blood ties or through marriage Kinship system - Kin relations, kin groups, and terms for classifying kin in a society Function Provides continuity between generations Defines a group on whom a person can rely for aid

18. Descent Groups Affiliations between children and parents Functions: Organize domestic life Enculturate children Allow transfer of property Carry out religious ritual Settle disputes

19. Unilineal Descent Descent along one parents line based on links through the mother or father Advantages: Forms non-overlapping descent groups that perpetuate themselves over time even though membership changes Provides clear group membership for everyone in the society Two types: Lineages and Clans Both believe in an apical ancestor Ex: Adam and Eve Not always human (totem)

20. Lineage and Clan Lineage - Group of kin whose members trace descent from a known common ancestor Clan - Unilineal kinship group whose members believe they are descended from a common ancestor but who can not trace the link through known relatives

21. Patrilineage Descent is traced through male lineage Inheritance moves from father to son, as does succession to office Man’s position as father and husband is the most important source of male authority Example: Nuer of Sudan

22. Kinship Diagram of Patrilineal Descent Sons and daughters belong to their father’s descent group (shown in dark green), as do the children of sons — but not of daughters.

23. Matrilineage Descent is traced through the female line Children belong to the mother’s descent group The inclusion of a husband in the household is less important Women usually have higher status Example: Hopi of the United States

24. Kinship Diagram of Matrilineal Descent Sons and daughters are members of their mother’s descent group (shown in dark green), as are the children of daughters — but not of sons.

25. Family and Descent Groups Many societies have both Obligations may conflict More often in matrilineal societies Patrilineal allows for a woman’s full investment in offspring Matrilineal leads to higher divorce rates and greater female promiscuity Ex: the Makua of Mozambique and a women’s brother’s wife’s fidelity

26. Double Descent Tracing descent through both matrilineal and patrilineal links Double descent systems occur in only 5 percent of the world’s cultures In these societies, a person belongs both to the group of the father and to the group of the mother, but the descent groups operate in different areas of life

27. Non-Unilineal Descent Bilateral System under which both maternal and paternal lines are used in reckoning descent Ambilineal A form of bilateral descent in which an individual may choose to affiliate with either the father’s or mother's descent group More flexible then unilineal May join both, or switch back and forth

28. Kinship Classification System The system of kinship terms and the rules for using these terms Every kinship classification system classes some relatives together and differentiates them from other relatives Some systems have a small number of kinship terms; others have a different term for almost every relative Must start by defining who is a relative Genealogical Kin Types and Kin Terms Kin Type refers to a relationship Ex: father’s brother Kin Terms refers to the title Ex: uncle Reflect social construction May lump relationships Ex: Cousin, uncle

29. Principles of Classifying Kin Generation Relative age Lineality vs. collaterality Gender Consanguineal vs. affinal kin Sex of linking relative Bifurcation

31. Hawaiian System The least complex kin naming pattern Nuclear family is de-emphasized Relatives within the extended family are distinguished only by generation and gender Ego's father and all male relatives in his generation have the same kin name Ego's mother and all female relatives in her generation are referred to by the same kin term Brothers and male cousins are linked by giving them the same kin term Sisters and all female cousins are also referred to by the same term Cousin marriage is strictly forbidden

32. Iroquois System Same term of reference is used for father and father's brother as well as mother and mother's sister Lumps together parallel cousins from both sides of the family with siblings but distinguishes them by gender Cross cousins are also lumped together and distinguished by gender Society may be either patrilineal or matrilineal and is usually not as strongly one or the other

33. Sudanese System Most extreme in complexity Each category of relative is given a distinct term based on genealogical distance from ego and on the side of the family Found in Sudan, Turkey, and some other societies with patrilineal descent Sharp distinctions made between kinsmen often mirrors the society's desire to distinguish people on the basis of class, occupation, and/or political power

34. Crow System Matrilineal naming system Relatives are lumped together on the basis of descent and gender Siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender are given the same term of reference Mother and mother's sister also have the same kin term Other people in ego's father's lineage are lumped across generations Reflects the comparative unimportance of the father's side of the family

35. Eskimo System The most common kin naming pattern in North America and Europe today Members of the nuclear family are given terms of reference based only on their gender and generation Aunts and uncles are distinguished from parents and separated by gender All cousins are lumped together No kinship distinction is made between uncles, aunts, and cousins with regard to side of the family

36. Omaha System Patrilineal naming system Siblings and parallel cousins of the same gender are given the same term of reference Father and father's brothers also have the same kin term Other people in ego's mother's lineage are lumped across generations Reflects the comparative unimportance of the mother's side of the family in a society that strongly follows the patrilineal descent principle.

37. Family In the United States, the definition of the family is changing to accommodate: High divorce rates Same-sex partnerships Working mothers and single-parent households Unmarried couples living together Childless couples People who never marry People who remarry

38. Types of Families Two types: Nuclear family - organized around the conjugal tie, the relationship between husband and wife Extended family - based on consanguineal, or blood, relations extending over three or more generations

39. Nuclear Families Two Nuclear Families Family of Orientation Birth Critical relation is to parents and/or siblings Family of Procreation Marriage Critical relation is to children and spouse More through divorce Usually take priority over other kin relations The Nayar Matrilineal group from Southern India Live in family groups called tarawads Marriage is a coming of age ceremony Females can have many sexual partners Children belong to their mother’s tarawad

40. Extended Families Economic advantages Keeps land intact and provides security in times of crisis Provides a sense of participation and dignity for the older family members A patrilineal extended family is organized around a man, his sons, and the sons’ wives and children A matrilineal family is organized around a woman, her daughters and the daughters’ husbands and children

41. Rules of Residence Patrilocal residence: woman lives with her husband’s family after marriage Men make strong alliances for battle Increases male prestige Accelerates gender stratification Matrilocal residence: man lives in the household of his wife’s family Female status tends to be high Successions, politics, land, and identity Public authority may still be male, but females provide the power Related males disperse Exists where warfare is infrequent War requires male bonding

42. Other Types of Residence Neolocal Residence - couple establishes an independent household after marriage Typical of “western” marriage Cultural and statistical norm Avunculocal residence – a married couple is expected to live with the husband’s mother’s brother Bilocal residence- a couple can choose between living with either the wife’s or the husband’s family

43. Patriarchy and Matriarchy Patriarchy Political system ruled by men Women generally have inferior status Dowry murders Female infanticide Clitoridectomy Domestic violence Exacerbated by kin separation Matriarchy Not a mirror of patriarchy Women’s roles are often symbolic or ceremonial Senior women tend to be pillars of society Generally more egalitarian society