in most societies are kinship systems and/or household forms:
(families).

They are very important units for cross-cultural understanding
•
•
•
•
• variations of marriage (cross-culturally)
• issues of
sexuality
and
reproductive capacity of women and men.
gender relations domestic violence divorce patterns changes in household and kinship systems

Household forms
•
•
•
•
Nuclear
---
a couple (usually a man and a woman) living together with or without their unmarried children.
Extended families
---nuclear family plus later generations
(the children of the children also live in the household )

In North America nuclear families are declining rapidly
• women independency
• work patterns
• high rate of divorce

Most people
belong to at least two nuclear families in their lifetime
.
•
family of orientation
and
•
family of procreation.

• Or Polygamy
• a
. Polygyny
: more than one wife
• b.
Polyandry
: more than one husband

The practice of men marrying later than women promotes Polygyny among the
Kanury
people of
Bornu, Nigeria
(Cohen 1967)
•
between 18 and 30 years of age
•
women between 12-14
•
more widows than widowers

Polyandry is more rare
than polygyny
•
Found in
•
•
•
•
•
Tibet, parts of India,
Nepal and Sri-Lanka
.
Fraternal polyandry

Bridewealth and Dowry
Bridewealth
compensates the wife’s group for the lost of companionship and labour.
Dowry,
on the other hand, is a marital exchange in which the wife’s kin provides gifts to the husband’s family.

Polyandry
•
•
• The case of the
Pahari people
of the
Himalayas in India
•
• West and Central regions differences
shortage of females in west Pahari.
Infanticid
e
joined the Buddhist nuns

Discussion Questions
•
Why do you think “fraternal polyandry” is socially acceptable in Tibet but not in our society?
• What are the pros and cons of arranged marriages versus freedom of choice?

B
h and Dowry