Topic 17: Marriage

Learning Objectives

uWhat are the different types of marriage

across cultures?

u How is marriage regulated?

uWhat are the social functions of marriage?

u Terms: bride price, dowry, sororate, levirate

I. How Do Anthropologists Define Marriage?

Definition offered in 1951: “Marriage is a union

between a man and a woman such that the

children born to the woman are recognized as

legitimate offspring of both partners.” (Royal

Anthropological Institute)

• Changed because not everyone in the world uses this system or values marriage

The current definition: Marriage as a domestic

partnership

Why Do People Get Married?

u Romantic love and marriage

uDid romantic love originate in the 11th -12th century

France?

• The “romantic love” did not even exist in vocabulary until around the 11th century

uHow widespread is romantic love?

uDoes romantic love have a biological basis?

• Their brain waves resemble those of coke addicts

The practical side of marriage

• Rights conferred to a married couple

• Social functions fulfilled by marriage

Marital Rights

Edmund Leach (1955) argued that the rights allocated by

marriage include:

u Establishing a legal father and mother

u Giving a monopoly in sexuality of the other

u Giving rights to the labor of the other

u Giving rights over the other’s property

u Establishing a joint fund of property

u Establishing a socially significant “relationship of

affinity”

Social Functions of Marriage

(Industrial Societies)

Although marriage is largely a personal matter

in modern industrial societies, it fulfills various

social, legal, and economic functions and can

be formed out of the considerations of

political, economic, religious, or other social

reasons.

Social Functions of Marriage

(Non-industrial Societies)

In many non-industrial societies, marriage remains

the concern of social groups rather than mere

individuals. Marriages then often become

“strategic marriages/arranged marriage,” that is , a

mechanism to create alliances between

families/groups.

• practical side, (usually) not romantical 

How to maintain a strategic marriage

uMarital gifts—insurance against the dissolving of

marriage.

uTwo types of marital gifts: bride price and dowry.

How to maintain a strategic marriage

u Bride price: gift from the husband and his kin to

the wife and her kin (often in patrilineal

societies).

• The woman will leave her natal family to live with her husband’s family, then her family will lose her companionship and labor. So this gift will compensate for that.

How to maintain a strategic marriage

u Dowry: gift from the wife’s group to the husband’s

family (also often in patrilineal societies)

uDowry is not associated with a matrilineal society

Both bride price and dowry are often associated with

practices and perceptions about women as less

privileged members of the society. (women are seen as property)

How to maintain a strategic marriage

• Continuation of marital alliance when the marital relationship fails

• The replacement of the wife by a kinswomen (if the wife can’t have kids, and she has a younger sister or something, that relative can get married to the husband in order to have kids) 

How to maintain a marriage

(especially a strategic one)

uContinuation of marital alliance when one spouse

dies

uSororate: husband may marry the wife’s sister if

the wife dies (in both matrilineal and patrilineal

societies)

uLevirate: widow marries the brother of her

deceased husband

Type 1—Monogamy (15% of societies)

The practice of being married to only one person

at the same time

uSerial Monogamy: individuals may have more

than one spouse but never, legally, more than

one at the same time

• most legally accepted in industrial societies

Type 2—Polygamy

The practice of being married to more than one

person at the same time. There are two types

polygamy—polygyny and polyandry.

uPolygyny (82% of societies): the marriage of one

man to more than one women

• The majority of men in societies practicing polygyny are still monogamous (more wives = more expensive. Most men can’t afford more than one wife)

uChanging customs as a result of modernization and globalization

uPolyandry (about 6 reported cases):

this is practiced mostly in South Asia

the marriage of one woman to more

than one men

uA cultural adaptation to male

mobility or extreme environmental

conditions

Type 3—Same Sex Marriage

u In non-industrial societies: often to fulfil certain

social needs or expectations

uThe “female husband” in the Nuer society in south

Sudan (cattle herders living in a patrilineal community)

u In industrial societies: often based on sexual

orientations, gender identities, and emotional

preferences

uPeople’s attitudes and laws regarding same-sex

marriage are changing

How Is Marriage Regulated?

Among human societies, marriage is regulated

mainly through some general rules:

uIncest taboo—a cultural universal

uKinship relations

uCustoms and laws

Incest Taboo—A Cultural Universal

u Incest: sexual relations with a close relative

u Incest Taboo: the universal prohibition against

incest is with the basic nuclear family

Why do societies discourage incest?

uBiological concerns: to avoid producing

abnormal offspring

uSocial concerns: marrying outside one’s kin

group can create new social ties and alliances

A Cultural Universal – Incest Taboo

Beyond the nuclear family, the range of incestuous relatives is

culturally defined.

u In the west: changes over time

u In some non-industrial societies

uParallel cousins: children of two brothers in a

patrilineal society or two sisters in a matrilineal

society

uCross-cousins: children of a brother and a sister

Marriage Regulated through Kinship Relations

u Exogamy: the practice of seeking a spouse outside one’s

own kin group—creating social alliances (obtaining new resources)

u Endogamy: marriage of people from the same social

group

u In modern societies: classes and ethnic groups

u India’s caste system

u Royal endogamy

Marriage is regulated through laws and policies in

modern nations, which vary greatly among nations

Divorce

Cross-culturally, high divorce rates correlate with a secure female economic position

• more common in matrilineal than patrilineal societies

• economic factor- very large percentage of gainfully emploeed women

• cultural- americans value independence

• religious- potestantism