1. Outline Pre-industrial Marriage Patterns Control of women’s sexuality
Families and children
Modernization and change in marriage patterns
The divorce revolution
Violence in the family
Child abuse

2. Introduction
Marriage is found in all human societies, although in different forms
Marriages may be between one man and one woman (monogamy)
On man and multiple women (polygyny)
One woman and multiple men (polyandry)

3. Pre-industrial Marriage Patterns
Most pre-industrial societies have permitted polygyny, very few societies have permitted polyandry.
Male sexual jealousy means that polyandry is often difficult. Usually involves brothers, works best with only two brothers.

4. Type of marriage differs depending on type of society
Monogamy is most common in hunting and gathering societies, polygyny is most common in horticultural and agrarian societies.

5. In all societies, men typically marry younger women, women typically marry older men.
Women are most likely to marry someone with greater resources and status than themselves (referred to as hypergamy)

6. This can pose problems for low status men, who can find it difficult to get married.
Many groups are endogamous – members are obligated to marry within the group

7. For example, President Barack Obama’s father was from Kenya, an agrarian society, and his ethnic group was Luo.
As a Luo, Barack Obama Senior was expected to marry a Luo, which he did in 1954 (his first wife Kezia).
Later he traveled to the United States, where he met Barack Obama’s mother.

8. The opposite of endogamy is exogamy – marrying outside of the group

9. Bridewealth and Dowry
Bridewealth is a payment of goods and or services by the groom to the bride’s parents.
Dowry is the money and goods a bride’s family gives to her husband when she marries.

10. Most pre-industrial societies have bridewealth customs
In highly stratified agrarian societies, dowry is common.
Our custom of the bride’s family paying for the wedding is a remnant of a dowry system.

11. Rules of descent
All societies have rules of descent – how descent is traced
Four patterns of descent – patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral and double descent

12. Patrilineal descent traces the family line from father to son
Matrilineal descent traces the family line from mother’s brother to sister’s son.
Bilateral descent traces the family line through both the father and mother
Double descent recognizes both father and mother’s lines, but they typically have different functions

13. Most pre-industrial societies are patrilineal.

14. Rules of residence
Most societies have a customs determining the residence of a couple after they are married.
Patrilocal means the couple lives with the husband’s parents.
Matrilocal means the couple lives with the wife’s parents

15. The majority of pre-industrial societies are patrilocal.

16. Control of women’s sexuality
In most pre-industrial societies, there is a great deal of concern with controlling the sexuality of women
Stems from male concerns with paternity certainty

17. Control of women’s sexuality is most common in patrilineal societies, where sons inherit from their fathers, and least common in matrilineal societies, where sons inherit from their uncle (mother’s brother).

18. In most patrilineal societies, the penalty for adultery for women is high.
E.g. Hester Prynne, current Sharia (traditional Islamic) law

19. Women’s sexual behavior is also indirectly controlled
Foot binding in China
Women are forbidden from working outside of the home, getting an education, going out unchaperoned.

20. In many African societies today, women have their sexuality controlled by clitoridectomy (cutting out of the clitoris) and infibulation (sewing up of the vagina)

21. Trends in female genital cutting

22. Menstrual taboos
Likely an indirect way of controlling women’s sexuality
Women are banished to huts during their menstrual period
Way of letting everyone know who is menstruating (and hence not pregnant) and who is not (and hence pregnant)

23. Sex and the double standard
In most human societies there is a double standard for male and female sexuality
Males are typically given much more freedom than females

24. Families and children
Families in hunting and gathering societies are small (2or 3 surviving children)
In part because of breast feeding and consequent cessation of ovulation
In horticultural and agrarian societies families are larger (7 to 8 surviving children)

25. Modernization and change in marriage patterns
Early twentieth century saw increasing numbers of women in the workforce
After World War II, the percentage of women working outside of the home rapidly increased.
The feminist revolution of the 1960s helped change rules that stopped women working

26. Increase in women working outside home (U.S.)

27. The divorce revolution
Following the feminist revolution was the divorce revolution.

28. Divorces per 1,000 population, U.S. 1920-2004

29. In part because of these trends, people are now more likely to delay marriage

30. Why do people marry? One reason is because people fall in love.
Being in love is a biochemical state characterized by higher levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in blood.

31. Contemporary marriage
Despite love marriages, many similarities between modern marriages and marriages in pre-industrial societies
People of similar class and status backgrounds tend to marry each other

32. Women are still more likely to pick mates who offer resources and status
Men are still more likely to pick young and attractive mates.
Men still prefer younger women, women still prefer older men

33. The contemporary family
Within the family, sex roles have become more egalitarian
But…men still disproportionately major providers and spend more time working
Women still tend to do more of the housework and childcare

34. Mothers are still more committed to children than fathers, on average.
Most likely to get custody of children after divorce.

35. In industrial societies such as the U. S
In industrial societies such as the U.S., children are a major investment
Costs approximately $250,000 to raise a child to the age of 18

36. Children have a stabilizing effect on marriages
Marriage of parents encourages joint investment in children
Divorce disrupts this joint investment

37. Children of divorced parents receive less education and have lower occupational achievement than children raised by their biological parents.

38. Nonbiological families
Increasing numbers of nonbiological families – adoptive and other
Adopting families tend to be high income and high status
Adopted children receive about the same amount of investment as biological children

39. Stepchildren do not receive as much investment as biological or adopted children

40. Rise of fertility industry
Delayed marriage and childbearing has meant increased incidence of fertility problems, mostly for women
Rise in use of assisted reproduction technologies
Problems – multiple births, health problems

41. Also increases in numbers of frozen embryos that couples do not know what to do with!
They don’t want to throw them away

42. Violence in the family
While family life is a happy experience for most, it can also be a place of conflict and even homicide
Much violence by males against their partners is fuelled by sexual jealousy and fear of losing a partner to another man.

43. Women are most at risk of violence after they have just left a relationship

44. Child abuse Most parents do not abuse their children
Yet child abuse and infanticide occur.
If the mother is involved in infanticide, it tends to be young mothers with little financial or social support.

45. Chances of a biological parent killing a child are must smaller than the chances of a nonbiological guardian killing a child
Most children live with their biological parents.
Controlling for this, chances of a nonbiological caregiver harming a child are about 40 times that of a biological parent harming a child.