Sex, Marriage and
Family
Part II
Functions of Marriage

Generally, marriage confers exclusive
sexual access to a woman on her husband

Division of labor by gender leads to
interdependence

Education of children
Marriage and Rights
Edmund Leach argued that there are
several different kinds of rights allocated
by marriage
 Marriage Rules

– Exogamy (marrying out) ("exo" = "exit;
"gamy" = "marriage") prohibits people of
same social group from marrying
– Endogamy (marrying in) ("endo" = "in")
marriage must take place within a group
Monogamy

Monogamy is marriage in which both
partners have just one spouse
– Monogamy is the most common form of
marriage, primarily for economic reasons.

Serial Monogamy: a marriage form in
which a man or women lives with a series
of partners in succession
Polygamy


Polygamy: one individual having multiple
spouses at the same time (“poly” =
“many”)
There are two forms of polygamy
 Polygyny: marriage of a man to two or more
women at the same time
 Polyandry: marriage of a woman to two or
more men at the same time
Polygyny
The most preferred form of marriage
 Most common in cultures that support
themselves by growing crops and where the
bulk of the work is done by women
 Polygyny is frequently found in societies where
violence, including war, is common and where
many young males lose their lives in fighting
 Where men are the producers, polygyny is not
common

Polygyny


Another reason for a man to take on
secondary wives is to demonstrate his
high position in society
Polygyny occurs in a few places within
Western societies
 Europe (legally)
 US (illegally)
Polyandry

Polyandry is quite rare, fewer than a
dozen societies are known to favor this
form of marriage
– Some reasons why it is practiced is that
woman’s life expectancy is usually longer than
a man’s
– Female infant mortality is somewhat lower
creating a surplus of women in a society
– Economic security and property does not need
to be divided
Question

The two most common forms of
marriage in the world today are
A. Polygyny and polyandry
B. Polygyny and monogamy
C. Polyandry and monogamy
Question

The two most common forms of marriage
in the world today are polygyny and
monogamy.
Other Forms of Marriage
Group marriage: in which several men and
women have sexual access to one another
 Fictive marriage: is marriage by proxy to
the symbols of someone not physically
present to establish the social status of a
spouse and heirs
 Arranged marriage: is arranged by
someone other than the persons getting
married

Cousin Marriage

In some societies, certain cousins are the
preferred marriage partners in others.

Cross-cousin: children of a mother’s brother or a
father’s sister

Parallel cousin: is the child of a father’s brother
or a mother’s sister.
Same-sex Marriage

Marriages between individuals of the same
sex may provide a way of dealing with
problems for which opposite-sex marriage
offers no satisfactory solution
– Same-sex marriages are formed in some
societies in order to resolve specific concerns
regarding property and labor
Arguments Against Same Sex
Marriage

Marriage has always been between males and
females.
– Same-sex marriages have been documented for a
number of societies in Africa but in other parts of the
world as well.

Same-sex unions legitimize gays and lesbians,
whose sexual orientations have been widely
regarded as unnatural.
– Neither cross-cultural studies nor studies of other
animal species suggest that homosexual behavior is
unnatural.
Arguments Against Same Sex
Marriage

The function of marriage is to produce children.
– Marriage involves economic, political, and legal
considerations.
– It is increasingly common for same-sex partners to
have children through adoption or reproductive
technologies.
Marriage Exchanges

In many societies marriages are accompanied
by economic exchanges which include bride
price, bride service and dowry

Bride-price (wealth): payment of money from
the groom’s to the bride’s kin
– The most common form of marriage exchange
– Is more common where women will work for the
husband's family
Marriage Exchanges

Bride service: the groom is expected to work
for a period for the bride’s family
– Occurs mainly in foraging societies, where
accumulating material goods for an exchange at
marriage is difficult

Dowry: payment of a woman’s inheritance at
the time of marriage to her or her husband
– Less common than other forms of exchange at
marriage
– Dowry is more common where most productive
work is done by men
Question

Bride __________ refers to the period of
time a groom is expected to work for his
bride's family.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
price
service
period
exchange
work
Answer: B

Bride service refers to the period of
time a groom is expected to work for his
bride's family.
Divorce
Marriages that are political alliances
between groups are harder to break up
than marriages that are more individual
affairs.
 Divorce is more common in matrilineal
societies, in patrilocal societies as the
woman may be less inclined to leave her
children who as members of their father’s
lineage would need to stay with him.
