Final Exam Flashcards
what are the three main principles within the Hijra kinship system?
respect, livelihood, and embodiment
Define kinship. What are the main three ways that kinship is reckoned?
kinship is defined as a network of relatives within which individuals possess certain mutual RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
it is also a SOCIAL ORGANIZATION that is in every society within the world. its about organizing who is responsible for who.
Kinship is reckoned through:
- Marriage (affinal)
- Birth (consanguineal)
- Siblingship
- Sharing (chosen)
what does Affinal mean?
mother-in-law, father-in-law,
relatives you have based the bonds of marriage.
what is consanguineal?
blood relatives: brother, mother, father, grandparents.
what is siblingship?
connected to consanguineal connections. siblingship is more horizontal, the relationships between siblings.
what is sharing (chosen) kinship relations?
can be a substance (children who share the same breast milk), or those who spend time hunting together and share meat are considered brothers, or if you share food cooked on the same Perth, then you are family.
What are the common functions of kinship organization?
- Organize who is responsible for CARING FOR CHILDREN
- DEFINING PARENTAL ROLES – what is the responsibility for the parent. What are your obligations and rights as a parent.
- REGULATING SEXUALITY – who’s a relative/not a relative can help us reduce conflict around incest. / cant have sexual relationships with members of the same lineage or clan.
- PASSING ON OF PROPERTY AND KNOWLEDGE
What is a descent group? What do we mean when we say that some descent groups function as corporations and determine an individual’s citizenship?
descent groups are:
any kinship group with a membership lineally descending from a common ancestor.
they are important for IDENTITY and SOCIAL SUPPORT As well as managing ECONOMIC RESOURCES, DETERMINING WHERE PEOLE LIVE, who one MARRIES and how PROPERTY IS ALLOCATED
define unilineal descent
establishes descent group membership exclusively through the male OR female line.
membership is only to one of those family groups in terms of RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS.
encompasses about 60% of world’s societies
includes:
- fixed resource base (inheriting of land)
- organization of labour
- post marital residence patterns.
define patrilineal descent
children trace their descent through the male line to their common ancestor
describe the organization of patrilineal descent
- authority over children rests with the father or his eldest brother
- a women belongs to the same descent group as her father and his brothers. (she would have her descent group to look out and care for her.
- a women’s children would not trace their descent through their mothers patrilliniage
- patrilocal post marital residence patterns (when a couple gets married they will live with or near the husbands family)
define matrilineal descent and organization
- children trace their descent through the female line to their common ancestor
describe the organization and features of a matrilineal descent system
- authority over children rests on the mother and the mother’s brother. (maternal uncle would be responsible for children wellbeing, not their father)
- responsibilities are shared by members of the matriliniage society (mother, mothers brother… but mothers sister would be involved in her own family)
- a man will belong to his mother’s descent group (belong to the same descent group as his mother and his sisters)
- matrilocal post marital residence pattern - after a couple marries they will live near the wife’s family (this is about organizing labour)
- women have a higher status. they do not need to depend on their husbands for their wellbeing.
- marriages are easily broken in matrilineal descent systems.
an example of this is Navajo
who belongs to a patrilineal descent group.. who does not?
a father, and his children ( sons and daughters)…
the father’s son’s children will belong to the patrilineage.
however, the daughters children will belong to a different descent group.
who belongs to a matrilinage descent group? who does not?
the mother, and her children (her daughters, and sons)
the daughter’s children will belong to the descent group, however, the sons children will belong to his wife’s descent group.
Who holds authority over children in a matriliniage descent group?
the mother, and the mother’s brother.
who holds authority over the children in a patrilinial descent group?
the father and his eldest brother
why is kinship terminology important?
- terms used in a language to describe relatives.
- tells us about important relationships
Terms are meaningful, because it tells you the significance of the relationship of that person; as well as the role that this person has in your life.
e.g. mom, dad… (do you call everyone in the matrilinage mom – that would tell you the significance of the relationship and responsibility that those people held to an individual)… Vs. in western society we just call one person mom, which is indicative of the significance of that relationship.
define: family
the smallest group of individuals who see themselves connected to one another in terms of kinship.
what are the 4 kinds of family?
- households
- trannational
- chosen and non-chosen families
- SNAF (standard north american family)
what kind of family system would Hijra kinship be considered?
non-binary family
define: household
refer to those who reside together and share labour and resources.
– can be nuclear, extended (joint), or transnational.
define: transnational
when everyone in a family is not residing within the same household.
stay connected through Skype, Facebook, ect.
can households include non-kin?
yes
define: chosen and non chosen families
used as a way to talk about families of choice. because of their sexuality, individual were rejected by their biological kin and then had to create their own families (chosen families)
what is SNAF (standard north American family)?
refers to the dominant ideology (beliefs about) what family means.
women stay at home to take care of children / husband works and provides.
white heterosexual norms that originated in the 1800’s.
beliefs were originated in the industrial revolution before families worked together and shared work.
Define: clan
a type of kinship organization based on multiple lineages related to a common ancestor (the ancestor may be mythical)
a mythical ancestor is when a common ancestor Is so far back that you don’t know how you were connected to it.
e.g. Jones… who knows who was named Jones first — its a mythical ancestor
define: exogamous
when you have to marry outside of your clan or lineage – clan exogamy
define: neolocal
new/ independent houshold
why is it important to recognize these different types of family structures?
- sheds light on the social organization in every society
- dictates the distribution rights and obligations that may be present within each family group.
- is influences by economic system (modes of subsistence)
- is actively produced (the performance of kinship relations)
e. g. who is responsible for remembering birthdays in the family, writing thankyou cards, ect
why is it important for kinship studies to be intersectional?
provide an example of such research.
because kinship is going to look difference in every place.. some factors that influence this are:
- economic systems / economic structure
- the performance of kinship relationships.
an example of this is queer anthropology ( and the ethnographic study of black lesbian families and the division of labour)
- research on the gender division of labour in black lesbian households
- goal: to understand the strong value around egalitarianism and independence.
- separate bank accounts –> contributed equal amounts to food, rent, ect.
- sometimes values don’t play out in behaviours.
- one person often took on more responsibilities in terms of childcare and household responsibilities.
e. g. biological mother. - couples subscribed to egalitarian method. but one person took on more household and childcare responsibilities (biological mothers and women with self defined gender presentation)
define the cult of domesticity
“true womanhood,” was an idealized set of societal standards placed on women of the late 19th century
- women stayed at home to take care of children.
- originated in the industrial revolution.
- wealthy wife’s stayed at home, jobs like: oversee the servants.
(majority of individuals still had to work in factories and didn’t fit into the cult of domesticity)
define: nuclear family
a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children
define: extended family
a family that extends beyond the nuclear family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives, who all live nearby or in one household.
define: gharana
symbolic units of lineage guiding the overall schematic outlining of the social organization of hijra community in India.
define: noxnbinary family network
kinship pattern for those who identify on the gender spectrum outside the male-female binary.
define joint-family
a household system in which members of more than one generation of a unilineal descent group live together.
Define Chela
a disciple
- lower on the Hijra hierarchy
- addressed using feminine pronouns
the chelas might works as ritual workers in the morning and sex workers in the evening.
payments are given to the gurus
what is nati-chela
disciple of a disciple
- lowest in the Hijra hierarchy
addressed using male pronouns.
The nati-chelas may work as beggars in the morning and as sex workers in the evening
payments are given to the gurus.
(the bottom of the structure pay those above them)
what is a Hijra pristine economy system?
a system of kin relatedness within the hijra community based on the social standing of hijras to one another.
define guru
“teacher” or “master”
if there is no guru in the Hijra community, then that person from the community does not have honour/ respect and is not recognized as a Hijra.
the more chelas a guru has, the more social status and respect the guru earns in the broader hijra community.
hijras are adopted by gurus through ritualistic ceremony. they renounce their assigned gender at birth, as well as caste as assigned at birth.
gurus sometimes engage in prosititution.. although the chelas respect them by not acknowledging this aspect of their lives in public.
what is a dand
a monetary fine that is imposed on the chela by the guru for infringement of rules..
the chela is not allowed to participate in Hijra activities for earn through their Hijra networks until the land is paid
define: nirwana
castrated hijras.
in the prestige economy system of the Hijra community, those who are castrated gain more respect than those who are not.
one of the crucial elements of rising in rank is achieving an ideal castrated hijra body—an element central to hijra performativity of gender.
- symbolic of androgyny and asexuality.
- castrated hijras are considered god-like
- increases their bargaining power within society by asking for donations in exchange for their blessings
- desire is seen as the root of evil… renouncing desire through asexuality and castration is seen as being associated with rising above material pleasures and becoming spiritual
define Akwa
noncastrated Hijra
lower rank
what is a toli-badhai? why was sharmili denied the opportunity to collect money this way by their Hijra guru?
a traditional way of Hijra money earning by collecting RITUAL BLESSINGS (or toli-badhai). where hijras shower their blessings on newborns and newlyweds in exchange for gifts.
Sharmili was denied this opportunity because of lower-caste status.
what is a caste system?
Indian kinship is always grouped around a system of social stratification based on birth status known as the caste system.
describe the Hijra kinship system, including Hijra gharana, the main kinship terms, and the guru-chela relationship
1st - MAHA NAYAK (supreme cheif 2nd - (NAYAK / CHEIF) 3rd - GURU - Master 4th - CHELA - disciple 5th - Nati-Chela - disciple's disciple.
Main Kinship terms:
- Chela (feminine pronouns)
- Nati-Chela (masculine pronouns
- Bhai ( all disciples of the same guru - “brotherly” - male pronoun
- Ma (or mother - feminine term - what higher ranked hijras are addressed as by their disciples lower than them)
Guru-chela relationship :teacher and student, master and disciple, husband and wife, mother and daughter, and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,
how are Hijra kinship relations performed and how are they institutionalized in a prestige economy?
- hijras who have higher caste privileged by birth often retain their surnames.
- sometimes, newly initiated Hijra chelas may take the surnames of their Hijra gurus
- maintaining guru-chela relationships rests heavily on the performance of kin relations.
- social standing is based on a number of factors contingent of the power relations between and among different hijras and their gharana networks.
- ideals of a “good Hijra is based on behaviour expectations and a code of conduct, as well as unspoken norms.
–> three key aspects of performative kin relatedness within the Hijra community are RESPECT, LIVELYHOOD AND EMBODIMENT.
DEFINE: symbolic lineage
symbolic units of lineage that join a kinship group
Define: Marriage
a culturally sanctioned unit between two or more people
What are some common functions of marriage?
- regulation of sexual relations (if they are allowed to have sexual relations outside of the marriage or before marriage)
- regulations of gender division of labour
- support and legitimacy of children
(sometimes children produces outside of marriage are considered illegitimate) - perpetuation of kinship groups (family involvement in spousal selection / decide if the person will fit into the family)
- links social groups (builds social and political alliances)
Define gender division of labour
the allocation of different jobs or types of work to women and men.
What are the worldwide trends In marriage today?
1) Marrying later
2) Viewed as too expensive
3) Focuses more and more on individual choice (push back against arranged marriages)
4) expectation and value of gender equality (more women entering the work force. has lead to changes within gender equality in marriage)
5) competes with existing social structure and economics (tension between social structures such as misogyny and sexism and gender equality..)
6) marriage is the end of a relationship not the start ( marrying a person after you get to know them, not marrying a person to begin getting to know them)
what are the main ways that marriage varies across cultures?
- number of spouses
2. Polyandry and Polygyny
What is the most common form of marriage? and why
Monogamy
its the most common primarily for economic reasons. (its expensive to have more than one wife)
what is serial monogamy?
common pattern is for people to have more than one spouse In their lifetime (but not at the same time).
e.g. Married, divorced, married, divorced.
described as a cultural phenomenon
what is polygamy?
when one individual has multiple spouses.
its two forms are polyandry and polygyny
what is polygyny?
the marriage of a man to two or more women at the same time..
- 85% of polygamous societies are polygynous
- common in food producing societies (agricultural societies)
- two common patterns are wealth generating and non-wealth generating.
describe what a wealth generating polygynous society is.
found in Africa.
- women labour is more valued.
- multiple wives increases productivity in agricultural productivity and make everyone wealthier.
describe what a non wealth generating polygynous society is
- women who are married to a man who has multiple wives
- not expected to work
- not involved in the production of work or goods.
- women immobility is valued.
- man shows his wealth by being able to provide for multiple wives
- declining due to shifts in economy
what are the benefits and costs of having multiple spouses?
- can increase one’s social standing
- more affinal ties
- more relatives
- more chance that the children will be better taken care of
costs:
- can lead to conflict,
(fights between wives for attention, favouritism, support)
What is polyandry?
marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time
what is faternal polyandry?
where is it practiced?
does everyone practice it?
when a women is married to two or more brothers
- practiced among Tibetans in Nepal and parts of China
- traditionally, this would be a marriage option for those who are middle class.
this is because: upper class people have enough land for all brothers to inherit ( poor families have no land.
What is woman-woman marriage?
- found in WEALTH GENERATING POLYGYNY. (also correlation with patrilineal descent systems)
- patrilineal descent –> wealth is inherited through male line
First wife takes on another wife to help her with the division of labour.
more wealth is accumulated within the family group
At some point the senior wife may have generated enough income that she is able to take on a wife herself.
- -> senior wife pays bride wealth.
- -> that wife would then have a female husband.
- -> wife is able to have sexual relationships with whoever she wants
- -> wife’s children belong to her female husband in terms of rights and responsibilities.
may occur for reasons:
- -> wife may have a child out of wedlock
- -> seen as trouble maker
- -> might have a disability
- -> appeal of sexual freedom
- -> reduced likelihood of physical violence.
- not a lesbian marriage!
- but there may still be intimate or sexual relationships
- countries where same sex marriage is illegal,
Why is monogamous marriage more common than polygynous marriages in societies where polygyny is preferred?
its too expensive
have to be able to pay bridewealth.
What are the main types of post-marital residence patterns?
- PATRILOCAL - most common
- MATRILOCAL - living with or near mothers family
- NEOLOCAL - new family/ independent household. separate from wife’s family or husband’s family. most often connected to bilateral kinship system.
- AVUNCLOCAL - lives with or near the maternal uncle - makes sense in matrilinage descent system because the maternal uncle would play a significant role in raising children
Why has the practice of polygyny declined over the last 30 years?
as countries have modernized, that has been accompanied by more monogamous and less polygamous relationships.
what are the main types of economic exchange that accompany marriage? describe the characteristics of each type of exchange
- DOWRY
- a woman’s inheritance given at the time of marriage
- can go to the woman or to her husband.
- particularly present in societies where wealth is passed down through the sons.
- traditional dowry was to ensure the girls had something on hand incase they needed it. (something of value they could sell in case of emergencies)
e. g. Yugoslavia = dowry would go to the woman / would be shameful for the husband to ever ask for it —> would bring his manhood into question.
e. g. India = illegal, but still practiced. –> dowry would go to the husband and his family. sometimes this allows the daughter to marry up, increasing the families social standing. Dowry death is sometimes a consequence of this if the family does not think the gift was generous enough, they sometimes will murder the young woman.
- BRIDEWEALTH
- the giving of gifts from the husband to the bride’s kin
- occurred for centuries in many cultures
- problematic as it has monetized as peoples expectations have increased
- common in food producing societies with a patrilocal PMRP.
- can be seen as payment for wife’s labour (husband has ownership over her productive and reproductive work)
- women can be bought and sold. it is a financial transation, where a women’s family is given money and then she is owned by the husband.
- OR as building bonds and reciprocity between families as a sign of respect.
- indicative that the husband is a hard worker and will be able to care for the daughter
- traditional took the form of valuable goods and culturally significant goods (livestock, shells)
- today is has become commodified (luxury goods) and monetized
- this is problematic because many young men can’t afford to get married, and therefore are not considered real men.
what are the critiques of bridewealth for women and men?
• constraints on men
– feel it’s important part of manhood to get married but they don’t have enough resources.
- a lot of men would have to leave the country, especially when bridewealth is standardized in counties where marriage is expected and tied to a man’s manhood. They may have to leave the country to be able to make enough money to gain a bride.
• constraints on women
– transactional, can put constraints on women who are in abusive situations and cannot leave because the bridewealth would have to be paid back.
- it is associated with a lot of child marriage.
- Girls married against their will, to attain the bridewealth that would come. It would be a need for the money
What is endogamy?
marrying within a particular group or category of individuals
- if you have endogamous marriage rules then there would be some sort of rule / law that says you must only marry a certain kind of person.
e. g. same cast, same religion, same socio-economic status, same race.
this is endogamy if it is CULTURAL rules and norms that regulate this.
a prime example of this is PATRILINEAL COUSIN MARRIAGE.
(as long as they don’t belong to the same patriligiage, it would not be incest.)
- ‘cross cousins’ are considered good marriage partners.
What is Exogamy?
marrying outside of the group
- more common than endogamy
- arranged marriage began with agriculture
- keep large areas of land within a class of individuals.
what is forced marriage?
a situation where an individual has no say in their spousal selection
what is the key driver for women for the raising age of marriage for women in Narobi?
- education
- autonomy
What are the three marital attitude types? how does the author explain these different attitudes?
1) The marriage centered
- when marriage was important to their life projects and their social recognition as adults.
- marriage over “come-we-stay relationships”
2) The marriage-adverse
- marriage has no importance to their life projects or social recognition as adults
3) the marriage ambivalent
- considering marriage important in some ways but not others.
- majority didn’t feel that marriage was important to socially-recognition as adult
