By: Vaishvi and Prishita HUMAN SEX & ARRANGE MARRIAGE

 Within the Trobriand Islanders, children at the age of 6 begin to have sexual understanding.  After 4-5 years, they start experimenting sexually. Switching partners constantly.  Upon finding the one and meeting constantly for several months, the couple appears at the boy’s house one morning and this indicates their motive to be married.  This is an important business among the Trobrianders as this prepares the youth for adulthood.  This was a step towards the understanding of the effort and balance it takes to maintain a relationship with someone who is not a relative.  This outlook on sexuality tends to contrast compared to the North American society. TROBRIAND ISLANDERS

 Margaret Mead(1935) and Bronislaw Malinowski(1929) were two of the earliest anthropologists to take interest in studying humans as sexual beings.  Degree of privacy is main problem for anthropologists during research (For ex. Gay or lesbian, teenage premarital sexual activity, or women refusing to discuss their sexuality with a male stranger)  Great cultural variation in the way sexuality is viewed, practiced, and controlled.  “Sexual practice, subcultures, and identities is characteristic of our history. To define human sexuality you would need as many definitions as experience.” – Jeffery Weeks  Our sexuality has been formed partly by our cultural environment and differs from someone from another culture.  Ex. Mukkuvar people of South India view female sexuality as a kind of prosperity of fertility, whereas may societies in Christianity have high values for chastity.  Ex. The Trobriand Islands and the Ju/’hoansi view sexuality(both heterosexual and homosexual) among youths as natural, all though restrictions apply. HUMAN SEXUALITY

 In western culture, it is defined as the desire to have sexual relationship with the same sex.  This is a very narrow definition  For ex. For the Navajo, homosexuality is based on gender roles rather than biological anatomy.  In many cultures, homosexuality is considered natural/expected  In ancient Greek and Roman it was considered socially acceptable behaviour  Papua, New Guinea, young men go through a initiation that include elements of homosexuality HOMOSEXUALITY

 Getting married in India or finding a suitable wife/husband for your son/daughter is as easy as it seems  All the rules must be followed when looking for the perfect partner  Some of the rules for the groom side being;  They have to find a girl who is suitable for not only the groom but also the whole family  Girl’s family should be respectable, have a good reputation, and a similar status  The girl should be modest, loving & caring, respectful, and understanding  She should not only please the husband but also take care of the whole family ARRANGE MARRIAGE IN INDIA

 Whereas the girl’s family has different factors to look for;  Groom should be wealthy  He’s well settled  Understanding  The groom's family should have a good reputation  A happy family  The bride`s family also has to consider the groom and his family's demands or what their daughter and son-in-law might need in the future ARRANGE MARRIAGE IN INDIA

 This study was regarding the search of a suitable wife for the son of a mother who was friends with the anthropologist named Serena Nanda  The guy was serving at the air force for many years that is why his marriage was so delayed  Now after leaving the military he has joined his father’s business  The mothers describes her son as both short and dark, meaning they had to keep that in mind when looking for a perfect bride  The search for the bride had began and the mother had already asked her friends around to keep an eye for a suitable wife for her son  During the search Serena and the mother went to the mother’s social club in Bombay also known as Mumbai THE ETHNOGRAPHY

 There were many women there looking for a suitable groom for their daughters  They came across a family with five daughters, Serena was sure that they will definitely find the girl they are looking for amongst the five sisters  However the mother didn’t bother taking the proposal further because she had her reasons  The next proposal they saw was from a girl who from a very rich and educated family  The girl herself was pretty, independent and the family had a great  Serena considered her a great match however the all the talk just stopped suddenly and again the mother had her reasons  Serena understood the situation and didn’t bother with it  Then she found another suitable math and went over to their house THE ETHNOGRAPHY

 After seeing the girl Serena was eager to know the mother’s opinion and she rejected her because once again she had her reasons  This talk also died down it had been months and they still haven’t found the perfect match  During the last days of Serena’s stay in India she met a family who were related to a good friend of hers  Serena met the girl and thought she was perfect for her friend’s son THE ETHNOGRAPHY

 The family and the girl had all the factors in them  They came from the same village as her friend’s husband  They had a successful business in a medium-sized city in central India  Were from the same cast  The girl was pretty and chic  She had studied fashion designing and was running a small dress making boutique from her house  She was modest, home-loving and had traditional values THE ETHNOGRAPHY

 Before returning back to New York Serena told the family about her friend and they promised her that they will give them a call  A year later Serena received a letter inviting her to her friend’s son’s wedding and he was getting married to the girl Serena found for him, therefore Serena was a special guest at the wedding THE ETHNOGRPAHY