Journal 3: Kinship and Marriage

Kinship is a relationship that bases on cultural distinction among individuals who

normally have family ties. Societies use kinships to classify individuals into various categories.

Anthropology considers kinship as a connection arising from lineage and marriage. Marriage, on

the other hand, refers to a way that anthropologies refer to an understand mating and the

consequences that arise from it. Through marriage, kinship becomes a necessity so that there

could be an individual who could benefit from the transmission of status and property through

generations. The kinship video looks at kinships from the two perspectives namely; the forms of

descent and types of family particularly the nuclear family.

The nuclear family forms one of the most marriage types. It consists of father, mother,

and some 2 or 3 kids. Nevertheless, with the increasing cost of living it has become a necessity to

diversify the family leading to what is referred to as extended family. Some families have elders

they do not wish to put in nursing homes. Also, the high unemployment rate has created tough

conditions of living. Therefore, the kins should offer help, shelter, and financial support to those

related to them (Wikibooks, n.d.). In many ways, this leads to the multigenerational occupation

of a residential area in what turns out to be extended family. From the perspectives of critical

thinking and in my opinion, the extended family is important in tracing the line of descent which

is normally done through the father. Families create a tradition that is used to describe the

relationship existing within the family members although this mostly depends on the familial

descent.

There are various types of descent such as unilineal, patrilineal, matrilineal, bilineal and

ambilineal. Of much focus and in relation to the kinship video is the bilineal descent also known

as bilateral descent. This is the most popular descent in the western culture. According to the
video, it refers to a bloodline that is traceable through two people particularly the mother and the

fathers sides simultaneously. That is bilateral descent links individuals to both the fathers and

the mothers lineage. For example, an individual can trace his/her family line through the fathers

side of the family or the mothers. Thus, both the parents have equal importance as far as tracing

lineage is concerned.

Kinship becomes evident and recognizable when there is marriage. There are several

forms of marriage, but one form of marriage that concerns me is the arranged marriage. This is a

form of marriage where the concerned parties or parents often establish a union for the couples

without their consent. It normally happens for a specific purpose of uniting kinship groups with a

particular form of common goal. Several forms of arranged marriages exist. Firstly, is the forced

kind where the parents or interested parties dictate who the children will marry and what they

decide becomes the final. Secondly is the traditional type where the child has some say regarding

the person to marry. Thirdly, is the modern type which has courtship. In this type, the parents

choose the person that will marry their child but allow for courtship to occur (Wikibooks, n.d.).

One thing worth mentioning about arranged marriage is that it normally happens for the

benefit of the interested parties and not the couples involved. Nevertheless, the couples may try

to turn down the marriage in one way or another, but the interested parties will always ensure

that the marriage goes through in several ways.

Kinship and marriage formed a very important chapter to me. I got to understand that

kinship can be viewed from both the lineage of the mother and father and not like most tribes

that normally affiliate it with the father since he is the head of the family. Also, I learned that

economic reasons the parents or any other interest parties may have could lead them to arrange a
marriage for their children. One question worth asking, however, is that, how feasible is this

method in the 21st century?

 Reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5NYvJHbBcU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrTKDOTj5lE

Wikibooks, Cultural Anthropology/Marriage, Reproduction, and Kinship - Wikibooks, open

books for an open world. En.wikibooks.org. Retrieved 6 April 2017, from

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cultural_Anthropology/Marriage,_Reproduction_and_Kins

hip