13.2 Family and Kinship

What is the most basic unit for Anthropologists?

What is the most basic unit for Anthropologists?

family

What does family determine?

our identities, our life chances, who you spend your time with

What is family directly related to?

economics

To understand a society, what must we understand about them?

how they organize their families

What do families form in all societies?

the basic social and economic unit of all societies

What can we discover by studying families and households?

some of the fundamental differences between various cultures

What is family generally defined by?

“kinship”

What does consanguineous mean?

being related by blood

What do anthropologists use to talk about family structures?

kinship charts

What does ego mean on kinship charts?

you

What are many of the rules about marriage based on?

who you are related to; but those relations are defined in different ways by different cultures

What are bilateral kinship systems?

you are related to both your mother’s and your father’s side; how many of us see the world

What are patrilineal kinship systems?

descent through the male line; these may or may not be your “relatives” since you do not trace descent through them; the chart doesn’t change, but how we read it does

What are matrilineal kinship systems?

descent through the female line

What does affinal mean?

marriage

The ideal of marriage is universal, but the form it takes varies between what?

societies based on cultural norms, religion, economic strategies, etc.

Because marriage is universal, what does it enable?

gendered divisions of labor which makes deciding who does what work more efficient (though not always fair)

Because marriage is universal, what does it allow us to do?

take care of our infants; human infants require so much more care and attention than the infants of other species

Because marriage is universal, what does it create for children?

role models for children to learn about gender roles and expectations (gender stratification)

Because marriage is universal, what does it minimizes?

sexual competition; we can spend less time dating and more time doing other things

Because marriage is universal, what can it be part of?

an economic exchange and alliance formation

While marriage is universal, different societies have different norms. What two kinds of marriages do we tend to think of?

arrange marriages and “love” marriages

Marriage is a continuum from _____ to ______ ______

arranged; couple’s choice

The role of “love” and money in marriages is a continuum from _____ ______ to _____-_______ _______

love marriages; socio-economic marriages

What is monogamy?

marriage between two

What is polygamy?

marriage between several

What is polygyny?

one man marries several women

What is polyandry?

one woman marries several men

What does mono mean?

one

What does poly mean?

many

What does gamy mean?

marriage

What kind of marriage restriction is incest?

restrictions against marrying “close” family, but “close” is defined differently between culture

What is exogamy?

only allowing marriages “outside” of the group

What is endogamy?

only allowing marriages “inside” of the group

What does exo mean?

outside

What does Endo mean?

within

In the USA, how many states allow first cousin marriages?

21

In the USA, how many states DO NOT allow first cousin marriages?

23

In the USA, how many states set conditions on first cousin marriage?

6

Can you marry your cousin in Illinois?

yes, but under certain circumstances

Worldwide what percentage of marriages are between first or second cousins?

10%

In the US, what is greatly exaggerated in popular culture to place constraints on the behavior?

the increased risks of genetic disorders between cousin marriage

The increased risks of genetic disorders between cousin marriage being exaggerated in the US is an example of what?

how “science can be exaggerated to encourage a specific cultural norms

What qualifies as a cousin in the US?

children of your mother’s brothers and sister or your father’s brothers and sisters

What are parallel cousins?

children of your mother’s sister or your father’s brother

What are cross cousins?

children of your mother’s brother or your father’s sister

What is one of the most common forms of marriage in the world and throughout human history involving cousins?

cross cousins marriages

What is the advantage of cross-cousin marriage?

it allows you to marry someone who is technically outside of your immediate family, but whose family know very well, and you can probably trust; family resources remain in a smaller circle of people who can be counted on to help out in times of crisis

What are single parent families?

one parent and their unmarried children

What is the smallest defined family and frequently female-led?

single parent families

What are nuclear families?

two parents and their unmarried children

What are some characteristics of nuclear families?

common in the US

rare in the world and almost non-existent in the past

our idea of nuclear family = household is a 20th century creation

in most common areas of the world both the concepts of families and households are far more complex

What are extended families?

one or two parents and their unmarried children plus one or more additional family members (often elderly)

What are some characteristics of extended families?

often involves the grandparents

common in 20% of American households

it is extremely common elsewhere

What are joint families (eg. patrilocal)?

two parents, their sons, their sons’ wives, and all of the unmarried children of their sons

What is the difference between joint families and extended families?

joint families include multiple generations

Where are joint families very common?

South Asia

What are some residence patterns?

patrilocal, matrilocal, neolocal

What does patrilocal mean?

a married couple lives with the husband’s parents

What are patrilocal residences made up of?

fathers, sons and brothers and their unrelated wives

In a patrilocal residence, if a husband and wife have four children, two sons and two daughters, who stays and who marries outside? What happens in the next generation?

The sons stay in the household while the daughters marry outside. In the next generation all the sons stay in the household while all the daughters leave

What does matrilocal mean?

a married couple lives with the wife’s parents

What does neolocal mean?

married couple finds a new residence separate from both parents’ households (this is a very new idea)

In the US, what are the few rules about residency after marriage largely determined by?

economics; this is very rare among other cultures and across history

What may determine the amount of power, prestige and wealth you have access to and control the most important aspects of your life?

who you live with

What does fictive mean?

neither marriage nor blood (social)

What social position in society do females tend to hold?

females tend to hold extremely poor social positions in societies that are organized with male descent groups (patrilineal) and where they must live with their husbands’ family (patrilocality)