Lecture 13: Marriage

Question 1

what is marriage for most Americans?

Answer 1

•supposed to be based on:
love
sex
choice
•should not be:
explicitly about economics
made by parents
against the will of the espoused
for reasons other than love

Question 2

arranged marriages

Answer 2

often viewed negatively

based on the things marriage shouldn’t be based on

Question 3

homogamy

Answer 3

marrying people who are similar to you

Question 4

marriage legitimizes…

Answer 4

sex
procreation
gender
kinship

*Nuer same-sex unions:

Question 5

incest

Answer 5

sexual relations with a close relative

how cultures define their relatives(and incest) is variable and culturally specific

Question 6

Lakher of SE India

Answer 6

patrilineal
both parents divorce and have a daughter
ego can have relations with the mother’s daughter but not the father’s because they have the same lineage

incest is different cross culturally, but there is always a form that is frowned upon

Question 7

royal incest

Answer 7

Charles 2 of Spain
5 levels of incest

hemophilia: blood can’t clot

Question 8

theories to explain why incest is taboo

Answer 8

inbreeding avoidance, instinctive or otherwise
familiarity breeds contempt
prevention of domestic chaos
marry out or die out (about making alliances)

Question 9

exogamy

Answer 9

seeking a mate outside one’s own group

marry out or die out

Question 10

endogamy

Answer 10

seeking a mate within one’s own group

caste system

Question 11

bridewealth

Answer 11

more common in US (aka lobola)

gifts given by groom’s family to the bride’s family

Question 12

dowry

Answer 12

gift’s given by bride’s family to groom’s family

Question 13

sororate

Answer 13

widower marries one of his deceased wife’s sisters

Question 14

levirate

Answer 14

widow marries one of her deceased husband’s brothers

Shakespeare and the bush: the Tiv thought he did right

Question 15

polygamy

Answer 15

having more than one spouse

Question 16

polygyny

Answer 16

one man, several wives
encouraged
more prevalent when there is gender disparity

reasons: 
men marry later than women
levirate
increased prestige or household productivity
infertile wife

Question 17

polyandry

Answer 17

one woman, several husbands

rare
cultural adaptation to mobility associated with male travel
ensures at least one man at home

Question 18

Fraternal Polyandry

Answer 18

one woman, husbands are brothers
effective strategy when resources are scarce

Nepali

Question 19

plural marriage in US?

Answer 19

Serial Monogamy
*usually not more than one at a time

why don’t Americans advocate for legalization of polygamy

Question 20

the Nuer

Answer 20

The daughter steps in as a son to keep the family line going in the absence of a male heir

Question 21

same-sex marriage

Answer 21

Americans are currently arguing over the legitimacy of “same-sex marriage” but no one seems to be advocating incestuous ones