MarriageMarriage

ANTH 321: Kinship and Social OrganizationANTH 321: Kinship and Social Organization

Kimberly Porter Martin, PH.D.Kimberly Porter Martin, PH.D.

What Is a Family?

A family is a group of people who are connected to one another by consanguineal, affinal or fictive kin ties.

Types of Kin TiesConsanguineal ties = ties

established by birth/descent from a common ancestor

Affinal ties = ties established by marriage

Fictive kin ties = ties that mimic consanguineal or affinal ties where no such tie exists

Aspects of MarriageWho chooses marriage partners?What is the basis for selecting

partners?What kind of contract exists between

families?How many spouses are involved in

given family?Where does a couple usually go to

live after marriage?What kind of household form is the

norm?

Who Chooses Marriage Partners?

FathersMales in the familyParentsFamily members including siblingsPersonal choice

Sometimes with rights of refusal for bride and/or groom

Marriage Contract Bride Price/Wealth – groom’s family gives

goods/animals to bride’s family to show his ability to provide and to compensate them for the loss of their daughter’s labor

Suitor Service – groom works for the brides family (usually hunting in a foraging society) to demonstrate his ability to provide and to compensate for the loss of the daughter’s labor

Dowry – bride’s family offers goods that come with the bride into the marriage to make her more desirable as a marriage partner. Sometimes bride controls the goods, sometimes they become the property of the groom.

Types of Marriage Contracts

Female Husbands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0DIL6DkZE

Masai Tribal Customs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq_cptHufTQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqGA0xjOms4

Brideprice in Uganda (What Price Brideprice?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmp4ogS1UH8

Dowry in Greece

Dowry in India

Numbers of Spouses in a Family

Monogamy = the marriage of one woman to one man Polygamy = the marriage of multiple wives OR

husbands to a member of the opposite sex (a general term). There are three (3) types: Polygyny = the marriage of one man to

multiple wives Polyandry = the marriage of one woman to multiple husbands Group Marriage = the marriage of multiple women to multiple men

Example of Polygynous Marriage

This is “Sororal Polygyny”

Example of Polyandrous Marriage

Household Form

Nuclear Family = a monogamously married couple and their offspring living together in a household.

Centralized Polygynous Family = a man and his multiple wives living together in a family.

Satellite Polygynous Family = Multiple wives of a single man who maintain separate houses for themselves and their children, but work together in domestic tasks

Extended Family = a domestic group consisting of three or more generations of consanguineally and affinally related people.

Group Marriage Family = a domestic unit composed of all of the spouses and offspring of a group marriage.

Nuclear Families in a Standard Kinship Diagram? In the diagram below, all the different nuclear

families are shown indifferent colors. Notice that the adults in EGO’s parent’s generation are members of two different nuclear families.

Patrilocal Extended Family

Matrilocal Extended Family

OR