SEX, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Chapter 9
QUESTIONS…
What Is Marriage?
 What Is Family?
 What Is the Difference Between Family and
Household?

SEXUAL RELATIONS
Among primates, the human female is unusual in
her ability to engage in sexual activity whether she
is fertile or not.
 Every society has rules that govern sexual access.

MARRIAGE

A relationship between one or more men (male or
female) and one or more women (female or male)
who are recognized by society as having a
continuing claim to the right of sexual access to one
another.
KIN RELATIONS

Consanguineal kin


Relatives by birth; so-called “blood” relatives.
Affinal kin

Relatives by marriage.
INCEST TABOO

The prohibition of sexual relations between specified
individuals, usually parent-child and sibling relations at
a minimum.

King Tutankhamun and other members of Egypt’s famous 18th
dynasty (~1350-1300B.C.E.) genetically identified as a products of
incest
ENDOGAMY AND EXOGAMY

Endogamy


Marriage within a particular group or category of
individuals.
Exogamy

Marriage outside the group.
REASONS FOR MARRIAGE
•
•
Monogamy is the most common form of marriage,
primarily for economic reasons.
In most of the world, marriage is not based on
romantic love, but on economic considerations.
Forms of marriage…
FORMS OF MARRIAGE
•
•
•
•
Monogamy: Marriage in which both partners have just one spouse
– “mono”=one, “gamy”=marriage
• Serial Monogamy: A marriage form in which an individual marries or
lives with a series of partners in succession.
Polygamy: One individual having multiple spouses at the same time
– “poly” =many, “gamy”=marriage
– Polygyny: Marriage of a man to two or more women at the same time; a form
of polygamy
• “poly”=many, “gyny” =women
– Polyandry: Marriage of a woman to two or more men at one time
• “poly” =many, “andry” (from andros) =men
Group marriage: Marriage in which several men and women have sexual access
to one another.
Fictive Marriage: Marriage by proxy to the symbols of someone not physically
present to establish the social status of a spouse and heirs.
–
Commonly involves citizens who are incarcerated, deployed in the military, residing in a foreign country, or
otherwise prevented from being physically present at the formal ceremony.
POLYGYNY

Marriage of a man
to two or more
women at the same
time; a form of
polygamy.
 Ex: Togo, West
Africa (Kotokoli
tribe,
practitioners of
Islam):
http://video.nationalgeographic.co
m/video/player/places/cultureplaces/beliefs-andtraditions/togo_multiplemarriage.
html
POLYANDRY

Marriage of a woman
to two or more men at
one time; a form of
polygamy.
 Ex: Pahari culture
in the Himalayas
(India) –woman
married to 3
brothers:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/v
ideo/player/places/cultureplaces/beliefs-andtraditions/india_multiplehusbands.ht
ml
CHOICE OF SPOUSE

Sometimes choosing a spouse rests not with the individual
but with parents and elders:
 Ex: Child marriage in India:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/cultureplaces/beliefs-and-traditions/india_childmarriage.html
CHOICE OF SPOUSE
COUSIN MARRIAGE



In some societies, certain cousins are the preferred marriage
partners.
Parallel cousin marriage
 A parallel cousin is the child of a father’s brother or a
mother’s sister.
 In some societies, the preferred spouse for a man is his
father’s brother’s daughter, known as patrilateral parallelcousin marriage.
Cross-cousin marriage
 A cross cousin is a child of a mother’s brother or a
father’s sister
 Some societies favor matrilateral cross-cousin marriage—
marriage of a man to his mother’s brother’s daughter, or a
woman to her father’s sister’s son.
KINSHIP DIAGRAM

Anthropologists use diagrams to illustrate kinship
relationships.
DIVORCE
A CONCEPT MANY OF US IN U.S. SOCIETY MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH…
How many of us come from a divorced household?
How many know of at least one couple that is
divorced?
DIVORCE
A CONCEPT MANY OF US IN U.S. SOCIETY MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH…
The Figures:
In the U.S.: Some 50% of first marriages end in
divorce –twice the 1960 divorce rate but slightly
less than the high point in the early 1980s.
Factors contributing to divorce:
 Many marriages are based on ideals of romantic
love or the idealization of youth.
 Establishing an intimate bond in a society in which
people are taught to seek individual gratification is
difficult (as is the case in our postindustrial
society).
FAMILY

Two or more people related by blood, marriage, or
adoption.

The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent
with one or more children, to a married couple or polygamous
spouses with offspring, to several generations of parents and
their children.
• Nuclear family 
– A group consisting of one or more
parents and dependent offspring,
which may include a stepparent,
stepsiblings, and adopted
children.
• Extended family
– A collection of nuclear families,
related by ties of blood, that live in
one household.
HOUSEHOLD

Basic residential unit in which economic
production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing,
and shelter are organized and carried out.

Non-family may live in a household together (i.e. a ruler
and his servants. Other examples?)
FOUR BASIC RESIDENCE PATTERNS
•
•
•
•
Patrilocal: Married couple lives in the locality associated
with the husband’s father’s relatives.
Matrilocal: Married couple lives in the locality associated
with the wife’s relatives.
Ambilocal: Married couple may choose either matrilocal
or patrilocal residence.
Neolocal: Married couple may establish their household
in a location apart from either the husband’s or the wife’s
relatives.