Marriage

An anthropological perspective

Universality
All societies recognize
families and marriages
The details of what this
looks like varies from
culture to culture.
In Indonesia, people
typically ask, Are you
married, or not yet?

Family
A social unit characterized by the following
economic cooperation
the management of reproduction and child
rearing
common residence.
socially approved sexual relations
Recognition of rights and responsibilities

Traditional View of Marriage

Marriage is a union
between a man and
woman such that the
children born to the
woman are recognized
as legitimate offspring
of both partners.
Royal Anthropological
Institute, 1951.

Non-ethnocentric view
A relationship between one or more men (male
or female) and one or more women (female or
male) who are recognized by society as having a
continuing claim to the right of sexual access to
one another.

This recognizes that gender is culturally defined

Not all married couple live together
Multiple spouses are accepted in many societies
In no society do all marriages endure until death

Functions
Stable relationships to regulate sexual
mating and reproduction
Regulates sexual division of labor.
Provides socially sanctioned rules for
economic rights and obligations
Provides relationships to provide for the
material, educational, and emotional
needs of children

Mate Selection- Dont Marry

Incest: prohibitions relating to mating with relatives is universal but

the precise rules vary. Many rules of incest apply to the choice of
spouse for marriage
Iranian loss of virginity with young boys by male relatives
No nuclear family. However, brothers and sisters of Egyptian, Inca and
Hawaiin royalty frequently married
First cousin? Cross cousin? Parallel cousin?
24 states forbid first cousin marriage
Yanomami consider cross cousins proper, but not parallel cousins

Why?
Natural aversion? Found to be found in Jewish Kibbutz. Yet 10-15% of
people experience incest
Prevent inbreeding? Mating with first cousins doesnt significantly increase
the risk of birth defects
Family disruption? Too much competition
Expanding social alliances? Allows families to create wider social ties

Mate selection- Who to Marry

Exogamy: Marriage outside of a group
Endogamy: Marriage within a group
Indian caste
Race, class, ethnicity, religion

Arranged marriages
Japanese Omiai or India

Cross cousin: mothers brothers children or fathers sisters childrensolidifies family ties
Parallel cousin: found in Middle East and North Africa as way to
prevent fragmentation of family property.
Levirate (marry brother or close male relative of dead husband)looks after wife in patrilineal society and maintains connections
between the family
Sororate- other way around. In a matrilineal and matrilocal society, a
husband can stay with the family. It also allows the brides family to
keep the bridewealth.

Arranged Marriage
In 1996, a recent Iraqi refugee living in Nebraska
arranged a double marriage for his two
daughters. It was an occasion for a big party.
The problem was that his daughters were 13
and 14 and the men were 28 and 34.
Marriage in traditional Iraqi society is viewed a
union between two large families. Moreover, by
marrying young, a woman is protected from the
shame of being dishonored by premarital sex
Should American law take into account cultural
considerations?

Number of Spouses

Monogamy- one spouse at a time

Lifelong partnerships are
circumvented by discreet
extramarital affairs or serial
monogamy

Polygany
7/10 world cultures permit or
prefer
In 2005, it is estimated that 30,000
people practice polygany
Where women are seen as
economic assets, like in Africa,
rates are high, while the converse
is true
In the Solomon Islands, women
farm and raise pigs

Ratio is possible if males killed in

war, male infanticide, male
capture, or if older men marry
younger women

Utah polygamist Tom Green with his

family of five wives and some of his 29
children

Polyandry
Practice of one woman
marrying more than one man
Found in 1% of the worldNepal, Tibet, India
Fraternal or non-fraternal
Advantages: Shortage of
women, conserve
economic resources,
prevent primogeniture
Used when shortage of
women or for the
preservation of family
resources

Polyandry

YUSHU COUNTY, CHINA - JULY 18: (L-R) La Wen, Cai Zhuo, Gama Sangding and their
child Gelai Bajiu pose for a photo in their house located at the downtown area on July
18, 2007 in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, northwest China.
The 40-year-old Tibetan woman Cai Zhuo has two husbands who are brothers, 44-yearold La Wen and 41-year-old Gama Sangding.

Economic considerations
Bridewealth:
Compensation given by family of groom to the family of the
bride-- 46%
Compensates the brides group for the loss of companionship
and labor

Bride service
Providing of labor rather than goods

Dowry
Compensation from bride to groom. It is meant to compensate
the husbands for the added responsibility of taking care of a
woman
Found in India, where sati and dowry murders exist

Woman exchange
Reciprocal exchange: 6%

Modern Thai Bride Wealth

Modern Bride Wealth in

Thailand: Following the initial
greetings to her family we
presented the bride wealth to
Pooks mom. The bride wealth
consisted of 100,000 Baht in
cash (approximately $2500
USD) and two solid gold
necklaces. Pooks mom gave
the necklaces back to us and
we put them on and wore them
for the remainder of the
ceremony. (While the bride
wealth price was 100,000 Baht,
Pook's mom did what many Thai
parents do these days and she
gave back most of it, keeping
only 30,000 Baht.)

Nuer Bride Wealth

Primary Family of
the Bride (20)

father of the bride

8 head:
3 cows and their 3 calves
2 oxen
brother of another mother
2 cows
brother of the same
mother
7 head:
2 oxen
3 cows
1 cow and its 1 calf
mother
1 cow and its 1 calf
1 heifer

Siblings of brides mother- 10

Siblings of brides father- 10

Divorce
Rules and availability of
divorce vary around world
In places where love
marriages are valued,
divorce rates are
generally higher.

Patterns of residence
Patrilocal: with or near husbands father
(46%)
Matrilocal: With or near relatives of wife
(13%)
Avunculocal: With or near husbands
mothers brother (4%)
Ambilocal: choice of wife or husbands
relatives (9%)
Neolocal: independent residence (5%)

Who lives in the family

Nuclear: based on
marital ties
Extended: based
on blood ties
among 3 or more
generations

Bush Extended family

Same Sex Marriage

On 4/7/09, the Vermont legislature passed a law which overrode

Governor Douglas veto permitting same sex marriage

Readings
Read intro from Cultural Anthropology
What is a working definition of marriage?
What are the functions of marriage?

Read excerpts on same sex marriages from

Anthropology by Haviland and Anthropology by
Kottack.
According to Haviland, what are the main reasons
people cite for opposing gay marriage? What is
Havilands response to these concerns? Do you
agree?
According to Kottack, how would same sex marriage
accomplish the 6 goals of marriage? Do you agree?

Research

Read Governor Douglas reasons for vetoing the same sex marriage
bill along with congressman who opposed the bill.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/assets/pdf/BT1322
6146.PDF
Read the arguments of those who supported it, such as
congressmen and the Freedom to Marry task group

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090407/
NEWS03/90407016

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090407
/NEWS03/90407009/1095/news03
Summarize the main arguments on both sides
Prepare a 2-3 minute radio editorial in which you use
anthropological concepts to support or oppose the same sex
marriage bill.