Relevance: Sociology: Systems of Kinship: Family, household, marriage. Types and forms of family.
Marriage
It has been generally assumed that the institution of marriage is a universal feature in human societies. Although many sociologists and anthropologists have attempted to provide definitions of marriage, none of them has been satisfactorily and sufficiently general enough to encompass all its various manifestations. This is because marriage is a unique institution of human society that has different implications in different cultures. It is a biological fact that marriage is intimately linked to parenthood. This has led to many anthropologists like Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown to propose definitions of marriage centering on the Principle of Legitimacy.
According to Malinowski, a legal marriage is one which gives a woman a socially recognized husband and her children a socially recognized father.
Radcliffe-Brown states that Marriage is a social arrangement by which a child is given a legitimate position in the society determined by parent hood in the social sense.
According to Westermarck it is a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is recognized by custom or law and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of parties entering the union and in the case of children born out of this union.
According to Lundberg, marriage consists of rules and regulations that define the rights, duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.
According to Horton and Hunt marriage is the approved social pattern whereby two or more persons establish a family.
According to John Levy and Ruth Monroe people get married because of the feeling that being in a family is the only proper indeed the only possible way to live. People do not marry because it is their social duty to perpetuate the institution of family or because the scriptures recommend matrimony but because they lived in a family as children and cannot get over the feeling that being in a family is the only proper way to live in society.
Edmund Leach argued that the institutions commonly classed as marriage are concerned with the allocation of a number of distinguishable classes of rights and hence may serve to do any or some or all of the following.
- To establish the legal father of a woman’s children.
- To establish the legal mother of a man’s children.
- To give a husband a monopoly of the wife’s sexuality.
- To give the wife a monopoly of the husband’s sexuality.
- To give the husband partial or monopolistic rights to the wife’s domestic and other labor services.
- To give the wife partial or monopolistic rights to the husband’s domestic and other labor services.
- To give the husband partial or total rights over property belonging or potentially accruing to the wife.
- To give the wife partial or total rights over property belonging or potentially accruing to the husband.
- To establish a joint fund of property – partnership for the benefit of the children of the marriage.
- To establish a socially significant relationship of affinity between the husband and his wife’s brothers.
It is clear from different definitions that it is only through the establishment of culturally controlled and sanctioned marital relations that a family comes into being. The institutionalized form of these relations is called marriage. Marriage and family are two aspects of the same social reality that is recognized by the world. Anderson and Parker say that wedding is the recognition of the significance of marriage to society and to individuals through the public ceremony usually accompanying it. Such a ceremony indicates the society’s control.
Anthropological studies of marriage have brought out complex marriage systems .In the Nuer ghost marriage a woman marries a woman. In another form of marriage a widow either remarries or takes lovers. The children born to her are considered as a legitimate offspring of her dead husband. In yet another form of marriage among the Nuer a woman marries another senior woman. Children born to the junior woman because of the links with a lover are considered to be the members of the husband’s patrilineage. In the matrilineal Nair society in Kerala, young girls were married ceremoniously but did not reside with their husbands. The girls were permitted to take lovers with whom they bore children. Neither the husbands nor the lovers had right over the children who became the members of their mother’s lineage.
Hypergamy and Hypogamy
The norm in Hypergamy is that a man should marry his daughter in a family of higher status than his own. In a hypergamous marriage a woman marries a superior or an equal; a man should not marry a woman of higher status than himself. Though Hypergamy is prevalent in India it is not universal. In classical Hindu ideology the bride is considered as a gift or dan. In addition gifts in terms of dowry and materials are also given. The hierarchical relationship between the wife giver and wife receiver may be expressed in commensal activities. Families by adopting hypergamous marriages may improve their rank. Hypergamous marriages when repeated by wife givers and wife receivers may lead to consolidation of affinal relationship.
The norm in hypogamous system is that a man should marry a woman of higher status than his own. In such a case the wife giver has a higher status than the wife receiver. Such a type of marriage has been chronicled in Myanmar where commoners married women of aristocratic lineages.
Types of Marriage
Meaning and Types of Marriage
Marriage is one of the universal social institutions established and nourished by human society. It is closely connected to the institution of family. According to Gillin and Gillin, “Marriage is a socially approved way of establishing a family of procreation.” Westermarck says that marriage is rooted in the family rather than the family in the marriage. Marriage is an institution of society with different purpose, functions and forms in different societies but is present everywhere as an institution. According to Malinowski, ” marriage is a contract for the production and maintenance of children.” According to Robert H Lowie,” Marriage is a relatively permanent bond between permissible mates.”
The main types of marriages are:
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which one man married more than one woman at a given time. Polygyny is more popular than polyandry but not as universal as monogamy. It was a common practice in ancient civilizations. At present it may be present in primitive tribes like Crow Indians, Baigas and Gonds of India. Polygyny is of two types:
Sororal polygyny
It is a type of marriage in which the wives are invariably the sisters. It is often called sororate. The Latin word Soror stands for sister. When several sisters are simultaneously or potentially the spouses of the same man the practice is called sororate. It is usually observed in those tribes that pay a high bride price.
Non-sororal polygyny
It is a type of marriage in which the wives are not related as the sisters.
Polyandry
Polyandry is the marriage of one woman with several men. It is practiced among the Marquesan Islanders of Polynesia, The Bahama of Africa and tribes of Samoa. In India among tribes of Tiyan, Toda, Kota, Khasa and Ladakhi Bota it is still prevalent. Polyandry is of two.
Fraternal polyandry
When several brothers share the same wife, the practice can be called fraternal polyandry. This practice of being mate, actual or potential to one’s husband’s brothers is called levirate. It is prevalent among the Todas in India.
Non – fraternal polyandry
In this type the husbands need not have any close relationship prior to the marriage. The wife goes to spend some time with each husband. So long as a woman lives with one of her husbands, the others have no claim over her. Polyandry has its own implications. It gives rise to the problem of determining biological paternity of the child. Among the Todas one of the husbands goes through what is called a bow and arrow ceremony with the woman and thereby becomes the legal father of her child. Among the Samoans, the children after the first few years are given the liberty to choose their parents for their permanent stay. The selected parent becomes the actual father of the children.
Monogamy
Monogamy is a form of marriage in which one man marries the woman. It is most common form of the marriage found among in the societies around the world. According to Westermarck monogamy is as old as humanity. Monogamy is universally practiced providing marital opportunity and satisfaction to all the individuals. It promotes love and affection between husband and wife. It contributes to family peace, solidarity and happiness. Monogamous marriage is stable and long lasting. It is free from conflicts that are commonly found in polyandrous and polygamous families. Monogamous marriage gives greater attention to the socialization of their children. Women are given very low position in polygyny where their rights are never recognized. In monogamy women enjoy better social status. There are two types of monogamy.
Serial monogamy
In many societies individuals are permitted to marry again often on the death of the first spouse or after divorce but they cannot have more than one spouse at one and the same time.
Straight monogamy:
In straight monogamy the remarriage of the individuals is not allowed.
Group Marriage
Group marriage means the marriage of two or more women with two or more men. Here the husbands are common husbands and wives are common wives. Children are regarded as the children of the entire group as a whole.
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