1. Marriage

2. Why do People Get Married – or what do most people want in life?
Traditional reasons for marriage:
Sexual division of labor
To have legitimate children and provide for them
Economic and political considerations
To extend social relationships
Gain adult status
To gain respect
Duty
To survive
Love

3. Functions of Marriage
Regulates mating, reproduction and child rearing in a socially approved way.
Provides a mechanism for regulating the sexual division of labour.
Creates a set of family relationships that can provide for the material, educational and emotional needs of children.
Legitimizes children
provides for the woman in many technologically simply societies there is no means whereby an unmarried woman can support herself
defines social position of individuals e.g. adulthood
establishes legal rights and interests e.g. over property, children etc.
Serves as an instrument of political relations between individuals and groups

4. History of Passionate Love
1500 west diverges from rest of world - emergence of the self
the rise of individualism, democracy reinforces romantic love
West: 500 yrs to make transition
Rest of world: yrs
love marriage sweeps the world

5. WHAT IS MARRIAGE? Old Common Law Definition
"lawful union of one man and one woman."
New Common Law Definition (Bill C38)
"lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others"

6. Anthropological definitions
“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” Notes and Queries on Anthropology 1951
Tahitian couple

7. Characteristics of Marriage
socially approved or sanctioned?
sexual union
between a man and a woman?
between adults?
Political / religious / economic union
a bundle of rights, expectations, and obligations
assumption of relative permanence
legal (a contract)
between individuals?
part of a social process

8. Is it OK for unmarried couples to cohabit?
1. Socially Approved
Is it OK for unmarried couples to cohabit?
Prior to 1960 unmarried couples in the US were legally prevented from registering in hotels or obtain a home mortgage.
In Canada, the number of common-law relationships more than doubled between 1981 and 2001 (14% 2001)
Women in the 90s were more likely than women in the 80s to cohabit rather than marry in response to pregnancy.
Suggests that cohabitation is becoming more a substitute for marriage, rather than a form of engagement that culminates in marriage
Living in Sin?

9. Even older people, when a marriage breaks up are now more likely to first enter a common law relationship before re-marrying
Stats Canada

10. Who Should one Marry/Not Marry
Rules of Exogamy (out marriage) and Endogamy (in-marriage)
It was only after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1967 that mixed race couples could marry anywhere in the U.S

12. Cross Cousin and Parallel Cousin Marriages
Ego's cross cousins (yellow) are the children of opposite sexed parental siblings
Ego's parallel cousins (green) are the children of same sexed parental siblings
In some societies the ideal is to marry one’s cross cousin, as he/she will belong to a different lineage (for alliance purposes), or parallel cousin, as he/she will be in the same lineage (inheritance purposes).

14. Incest Taboo Holds for parents and siblings in all current societies
Only exceptions in past: Brother-Sister mating among royalty in ancient Egypt, Hawaii, Inca
Cleopatra, the Last Pharaoh (B.C )
reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC
Married brother Ptolemy XIII
After Ptolemy XIII’s death, married brother Ptolemy XIV

15. Explanations for incest taboo
Biological
Inbreeding results in Deleterious genetic defects
Psychological
Familiarity breads contempt
Sociological
Increases network of cooperation, alliances, prevents fighting
Minimizing sexual competition within family
Avoids role disruption within family

16. I’m My Own Grandpa Many, many years ago when I was just twenty-three,
I was married to a widow, she was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red
And my father fell in Love with her. Soon they too were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law--changed my very life!
My daughter was my mother because she was my father's wife!
To complicate the matter even though it brought me joy,
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby he then became a brother-in-law to Dad.
Well, that made him my uncle--made me very sad!
Because if he was my uncle then he also was a brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter, who, of course, was my stepmother.
My father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run.
And, of course, he became my grandchild because he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother and this makes me blue
Because although she is my wife, she's my grandmother too!
Now if my wife is my grandmother, well, then I am her grandchild,
And every time that I think about this, it nearly drives me wild!
Because now I have become the strangest case that you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother, I’m my own grandpa!
I’m My Own Grandpa

17. 2. Sexual Union? Marriages of Convenience Nayar Exception
Nayar Girls, Upper Class. Photo by Nicholas & Co. [ca. 1913]
Is exclusivity in a relationship necessary?

18. 3. Between a Man and a Woman?
Cheyenne
Are same sex marriages, an affront to a divinely ordained order, or, as George Bush claims a threat to civilization?
The Nandi- Kenya

19. Same Sex Marriages
1961 Illinois is the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexuality. Others follow in 1960s and 1970s
1967 Britain decriminalizes homosexuality
1969 homosexuality decriminalized in Canada
1989: Denmark becomes the first country to legally recognize same-sex partnerships, essentially sanctioning gay marriages
2000Vermont is the first state in the U.S. to provide same-sex couples with rights, benefits and responsibilities similar to those of heterosexual couples
2001: The Netherlands allows same-sex couples to marry and gives them the same rights as heterosexuals when it comes to adopting
2003 June 10, Ontario widens marriage definition allowing same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses. Other provinces follow
2005 (July 20) Bill C-38 becomes law redefining marriage as a “lawful union of two persons” permitting same sex marriage

20. 4. Between Adults? Berber Child Bride, Morocco (12 yrs old)
Mina, 8, with Sukhram, 22, right, and his family members, after their marriage (Rajasthan N. India 1998)
Each year thousands of girls, some as young as 6 months, are married to older boys in weddings across Rajasthan as part of the annual Akhai Teej, festival considered an auspicious day for marriage.
Berber Child Bride, Morocco (12 yrs old)

21. Human rights activists have demanded action over the marriage of Ana-Maria Cioaba to a 15-year-old bridegroom.
Ana-Maria is reported to be either 12 or 14 years old
Family members say she had been promised in marriage to 15-year-old Birita Mihai when she was just seven, for the price of 500 gold coins.
The girl's father, Florin Cioaba, told critics to keep out of his business. "As a father I know what is good for my kids. We Roma have a tradition to marry our children when minors," he said.
The minimum age for legal weddings in Romania is 16, but the practice of school-age marriages remains common in the Roma community, and the Romanian authorities normally turn a blind eye.
Friends say she was forced to consummate the marriage. "Legally it was rape," one friend said.
The wedding was an "exceptionally grave breach of children's rights", said Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Serban Mihailescu.
Florin Cioaba was defiant about Ana-Maria's wedding
September
National Post

22. 5. Political, Religious, Economic Union?
Catherine of Aragon
Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary)

23. Bridewealth or bride-price
A gift of money or goods given to the bride’s kin by the groom or his kin.
most common in pastoral communities where the traditional currency is livestock, especially cattle, horses, camels and, increasingly, money.
in order to marry, young men must subordinate themselves, and become obligated to their elders (and provide labour, political support, bear arms etc.)
senior men also therefore command the allocation of women’s labour power.
some men use this power to obtain several wives for themselves
Dani Chief with Bride Price Stone

24. Bridewealth
payments may be concluded at the time of marriage or may continue for years.
Bridewealth provides for a continuing relation between groups since in many societies a man’s kin are expected to contribute to the bridewealth needed for this marriage.
Represents a tangible public statement of the marriage transaction -- as if they went through a church wedding
Some dramatic changes in bridewealth have occurred with the introduction of education. An educated women is worth far more than an uneducated one.

25. Bridewealth is most common in patrilineal descent systems
For the Nuer and Dinka, the transfer of cattle in marriage has a symbolically and politically central place in the affairs of descent groups.
rights transferred to the groom’s group in exchange for
rights over a woman’s fertility
labour
future members
characteristically seen as compensation to her kin group for the loss of her work services and presence as well as her fertility.

26. Bride service: groom works for bride’s family
Bridewealth
Legalizes marriage and legitimizes offspring
In patrilineal system, gives father the right to have the children belong to his group
Compensates bride’s family for loss of her services and allows them to replace her with daughter-in-law
Serves to ally families, those who receive share of payment are witnesses to marriage
Status symbol for both families
Guarantee of husband’s good behavior
Bride service: groom works for bride’s family

27. Dowry
A transfer of goods or money from the bride’s family to bridegroom, or the groom’s family.
a dowry can be thought of as a woman’s share of parental property which instead of passing to her upon her parent’s death is distributed to her at the time of her marriage
which does not mean that she controls it
under traditional European law, for example, a woman’s property falls exclusively under the control of her husband.
Also provides a mechanism for forming alliances between families
characteristic of societies with fixed plot agriculture
common among European peasants and widespread in Asia, especially India
A Kazak woman opening a young bride's dowry.  The dowry includes rugs, handsewn mattresses, dresses, and dishes.

28. Anti-Dowry DemonstrationDelhi, 1980
Bollywood spoof posters
Although demanding a dowry has been illegal since 1961 it is still an essential part of many marriage negotiations in India.
Anti-Dowry DemonstrationDelhi, 1980

29. Anti-Dowry Demonstration Delhi Jan 07
As the Indian economy opened up for international investment in the 1990s, the gulf between rich and poor widened
so did the economic uncertainty facing the majority of people including the relatively well-off.
Anti-Dowry Demonstration Delhi Jan 07
There has been a dramatic escalation in reported dowry deaths and bride burnings.
Dowry deaths in India increased from around 400/yr in 1980s to over 5000/yr in 1990s to 7,026 in killed because they did not bring a big enough dowry ("bride burning" or "dowry deaths")
Dowry has been transformed as a means to escaping poverty, augmenting one’s wealth or acquiring the modern conveniences that are now advertised daily on television.

30. 6. A Bundle of Rights and Obligations
Traditionally, in most societies, marriage was primarily an alliance between kin groups rather than between individuals.
marriage involves a transfer or flow of rights from a wife’s group to husbands (or vice versa)
rights to labour of men and women (economic)
rights to property (economic)
rights to the priority of sexual access (sexual)
rights over fertility - children i.e. belong to man’s or woman’s lineage (patrilineal/matrilineal) (social)
Gabonaise Woman – Michael Brugger

31. 7. Assumption of Relative Permanence
Belarus Russia Sweden Latvia Ukraine Czech Rep. Belgium Finland Lithuania U. K. Moldova U.S. Hungary Canada Norway France Germany Netherlands Switzerland Iceland Kazakhstan
68% 39
Austria Denmark Slovakia Bulgaria Israel Kyrgyzstan Romania Portugal Poland Armenia Greece Spain Azerbaijan Croatia Cyprus Georgia Italy Uzbekistan Albania Turkey Macedonia
Percentage of Divorces (as % of marriages) in Selected Countries (1996)

32. Divorce in non-Western societies
often involves a contract between corporate groups and is more difficult than in West
where bridewealth is high marriage is stable, where low divorce common
what happens to the bridewealth?
sometimes all or part returned
may depend on the cause of divorce, or any children
what happens to the contract between kin groups in terms of rights over the children.
The relationship contractually established may endure despite the death of one of the partners

33. What happens when the contract is broken?
8. A legal contract
What happens when the contract is broken?
Levirate
Deuteronomy 25:5-6 “If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her… The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.”

34. Sororate
If a wife dies her lineage may be contractually obliged to provide a replacement I.e. her sister, or brother’s daughter, or some other close relative
1. a widower is entitled to a replacement bride from the same lineage or family.
2. obliges a woman to marry her deceased sister’s husband.
3. The longer the period of first marriage and the more children the less the claim.
4. levirate and sororate demonstrate that marriage is a union not simply between individuals but between the representatives of groups and that it is a contractual relationship

35. Nuer Ghost Marriage
A Nuer woman whose husband has died remains subject to a legal contract through which rights to her children were transferred to her husband's group. 
Ideally, she should remarry her deceased husband's brother.
Alternatively she may simply take lovers
Any children she then bears are socially defined as the offspring of her dead first husband.
Occasionally an unwed woman may marry the “ghost” of a dead man

36. Minghun -- afterlife marriage
rooted in Chinese form of ancestor worship
an ancestor is someone to honour, but also someone whose needs must be maintained
Traditional Chinese beliefs also hold that an unmarried life is incomplete, which is why some parents worry that an unmarried dead son may be an unhappy one
To ensure a son's contentment in the afterlife, some grieving parents will search for a dead woman to be his bride.
once a corpse is obtained, bury the pair together as a married couple
Jan 2007, 3 men are arrested in China for killing two women so they could sell their corpses as ghost brides for recently deceased young men
National Post Oct 6, 2006

37. How Many Should one Marry?
9. Between individuals?
How Many Should one Marry?

38. Polygamy Polyandry Polygyny
one man and two or more women. (70% of societies)
Polygamy has been the cultural ideal in most societies.
But monogamy is the statistical reality in all societies.
most common where women are important contributors to the economy e.g. agricultural societies
Polygyny often practised by men of wealth or high rank
Commonly associated with an age asymmetry, were prominent men have gained power and wealth later in life and can afford another wife
This causes a shortage of young women, and an excess of young unmarried men
men marry at an older age than women.
Polyandry
Polygyny

39. Polygyny Advantages for man: Many children Prestige
Wealth produced by wives and children
Sex partners -- often many taboos
Political alliances with in-laws
Tom Green and Family
Salt Lake City Utah

40. Polygyny
Advantages for woman

41. Polygyny Advantages for woman Prestige and wealth of household
Share housework and childcare
Less child bearing
Greater freedom and autonomy
Companionship
Can get married easily
Advantages for woman
Conflicts
Conflicting interest in children – inheritance
jealousy

42. Polyandry two or more men married to one woman quite rare
common form is where a group of brothers marry one woman - called fraternal polyandry
E.g. In Himalayas with land shortage its an effective way of limiting the population while ensuring their perpetuation.
The marriage of brothers to a single woman averted the danger of constantly subdividing farmlands among all the sons of any one landowner.

43. 10. Marriage as a process
process through which families and kinship groups are formed
process whereby descent groups are interlinked
process of achieving reproduction of society, both socially and biologically.

44. Rules of Residence Patrilocal: Wife joins husband’s family
Matrilocal: Husband joins wife’s family
Neolocal: Couple form new residence