Marriage
Why do People Get Married – or what do most
people want in life?

Traditional reasons for marriage:
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•
•
•
•
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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
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
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: - 50 yrs
 love marriage sweeps the world
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"
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
Characteristics of Marriage
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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
7. assumption of relative permanence
8. legal (a contract)
9. between individuals?
10.part of a social process
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 commonlaw 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.
Living in Sin?
 Suggests that cohabitation is
becoming more a substitute for
marriage, rather than a form of
engagement that culminates in
marriage
Even older people, when a marriage breaks up are now more likely
to first enter a common law relationship before re-marrying
Stats Canada
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
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).
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. 69-30)
 reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and
30 BC
 Married brother Ptolemy XIII
 After Ptolemy XIII’s death, married brother Ptolemy XIV
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
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.
I’m My Own
Grandpa
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!
2. Sexual Union?
Marriages of Convenience
Nayar Exception
Is exclusivity in a
relationship necessary?
Nayar Girls, Upper Class. Photo
by Nicholas & Co. [ca. 1913]
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
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 samesex 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
4. Between Adults?
Mina, 8, with Sukhram, 22, right, and his
family members, after their marriage
(Rajasthan N. India 1998)
Berber Child Bride,
Morocco (12 yrs old)
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.
Human rights activists have demanded
action over the marriage of Ana-Maria
Cioaba to a 15-year-old bridegroom.
Friends say she was forced to
consummate the marriage. "Legally it
was rape," one friend said.
Ana-Maria is reported to be either 12 or
14 years old
The wedding was an "exceptionally
grave breach of children's rights", said
Romanian Deputy Prime Minister
Serban Mihailescu.
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.
September 30 2003
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 schoolage marriages remains common in the
Roma community, and the Romanian
authorities normally turn a blind eye.
Florin Cioaba was defiant about AnaMaria's wedding
National Post
5. Political, Religious, Economic Union?
Catherine of Aragon
Mary Tudor
(Bloody Mary)
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
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.
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.
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
Dowry
A transfer of goods or money from the bride’s family to bridegroom,
or the groom’s family.
1. 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
2. which does not mean that she controls it
3. under traditional European law, for example, a
woman’s property falls exclusively under the
control of her husband.
4. Also provides a mechanism for forming alliances
A Kazak woman
between families
opening a young bride's
5. characteristic of societies with fixed plot
dowry. The dowry
agriculture
includes rugs,
6. common among European peasants and
handsewn mattresses,
widespread in Asia, especially India
dresses, and dishes.
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
Demonstration
Delhi, 1980
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.
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 2005. - 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.
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
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%
65
64
63
63
61
56
56
55
53
52
49
46
45
43
43
41
41
40
39
39
Austria
Denmark
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Israel
Kyrgyzstan
Romania
Portugal
Poland
Armenia
Greece
Spain
Azerbaijan
Croatia
Cyprus
Georgia
Italy
Uzbekistan
Albania
Turkey
Macedonia
38
35
34
28
26
25
24
21
19
18
18
17
15
15
13
12
12
12
7
6
5
7. Assumption of
Relative
Permanence
Percentage of
Divorces (as % of
marriages) in
Selected Countries
(1996)
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
8. A legal contract
What happens when the contract is broken?
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 brotherin-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.”
Levirate
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
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
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 Jan 2007, 3 men are arrested in China for killing
couple
two women so they could sell their corpses as

National Post Oct 6, 2006
ghost brides for recently deceased young men
9. Between individuals?
How Many Should one Marry?
Polygamy
Polygyny
Polyandry
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.

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
Polygyny
Advantages for woman
Polygyny
• 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
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.
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.
Rules of Residence
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

Patrilocal: Wife joins husband’s family
Matrilocal: Husband joins wife’s family
Neolocal: Couple form new residence