1. Lesson 9: Marriage and the Family
Family Matters
Lesson 9:
Marriage and the Family

2. The Family A social unit of related people
The main function is to bear and raise children
Biologically, this behavior would be selected for
Family units
Conjugal
Nuclear
Extended

3. How are we related? Kin are people we call relatives
Consanguine – “Blood” relatives
Are we actually related by blood?
Affine – “In-Laws”
Related by marriage
How else can we be related?

4. Ancestry through Descent
Descent groups are permanent social units whose members claim a common ancestry
Lineage
Knows all ancestors back to the first ancestor and can recite these ancestors
Clan
People who claim to be descended from the same ancestor but cannot recite these ancestors
Example – Family last names

5. Ways of Tracing Descent
Bilateral
Emphasizes both sides of the family
Unilineal
Emphasizes ties to one side of the family
Two types – Patrilineal and Matrilineal

6. Patrilineal Descent Emphasizes a person’s ties to their father
Pater is Latin for “father”
Males are essential to maintaining the patrilineage
With only daughters the line dies out
Marriage
Not a matter of a man getting a wife
Bringing a child bearer into the family

7. Patrilineal Kinship Chart
Family Not Family

8. Matrilineal Descent Emphasizes a person’s ties to their mother
Mater is Latin for “mother”
Not the opposite of patrilineal
A group of males who are related to each other through the female line
A man inherits his property from his mother’s brother
The biological father is an outsider because he is a part of another matrilineage

9. Matrilineal Kinship Chart
Not Family Family

10. Does Biology Prove Bilateral Descent is Right?
Many in the US would use biology to justify Bilateral Descent
We are biologically related by chromosomes

11. Using the Chromosomes 46
Mom Dad
1 0

12. Marriage Can be defined in many ways, but we’re not going to define
Instead we will look at the various marriage practices throughout the world

13. How do we select potential marriage partners?
By capture
Bride kidnapping not practiced anymore
By arrangement
The most common method
Either match maker or parents make the match
By choice
Not as common as you may think

14. Does an exchange need to take place?
Bride service
The groom will work for the bride’s family before marriage
Bride wealth
Exchange from the groom or groom’s family to the bride’s family
Not “buying the bride”
Dowry
Wealth given to the bride from her family

15. How many spouses are we permitted?
Monogamy
One spouse at any given time
Serial Monogamy?
Polygamy
Multiple spouses at any give time
Two Types:
Polygyny – one man with multiple wives
Polyandry – one woman with multiple husbands

16. Who can marry whom? Within or outside groups
Endogamy – marriage within
Exogamy – marriage outside
Marriages can be both at the same time
Within or outside one’s sex
A hot button issue in the U.S.
There are cross-cultural examples
Female husband among the Nuer

17. Exam Review Questions
What are the terms for the following marriage practices?
Within groups/outside groups? Single/multiple spouses? Marriage exchanges?
What is descent?
What are the three ways for tracing descent?