Perspectives An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology Family and Marriage

FAMILY AND MARRIAGE Mary Kay , Central Arizona College Learning Objectives Describe the variety of human families with examples . Discuss variation in parental rights and responsibilities . Distinguish between matrilineal , patrilineal , and bilateral kinship systems . Identify the differences between kinship establish by blood and kinship established by marriage Evaluate the differences between dowry and as well as between different types of residence . Recognize patterns of family and marriage and explain why these patterns represent rational decisions within the cultural texts . Family and marriage may at first seem to be familiar topics . Families exist in all societies and they are part of what makes us human . However , societies around the world demonstrate tremendous variation in cultural understandings of family and marriage . Ideas about how people are related to each other , what kind of marriage would be ideal , when people should have children , who should care for children , and many other family related matters differ . While the function of families is to fill basic human needs such as providing for children , defining parental roles , regulating sexuality , and passing property and knowledge between generations , there are many variations or patterns of family life that can meet these needs . This chapter introduces some of the more common patterns of family life found around the world . It is important to remember that within any cultural framework variation does occur . Some Variations on the standard pattern fall within what would be culturally considered

183 the range of acceptable Other family forms are not entirely accepted , but would still be recognized by most members of the community as reasonable . RIGHTS , RESPONSIBILITIES , STATUSES , AND ROLES IN FAMILIES Some of the earliest research in cultural anthropology explored differences in ideas about family . Lewis Henry Morgan , a lawyer who also conducted early anthropological studies of Native American cultures , documented the Words used to describe family members in the In the book Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family ( 1871 ) he explained that words used to describe family members , such as mother or cousin , were important because they indicated the rights and responsibilities associated with particular family members both within households and the larger munity . This can be seen in the labels we have for family like father or describe how a person fits into a family as well as the obligations he or she has to others . The concepts of status and role are useful for thinking about the behaviors that are expected of who occupy various positions in the family . The terms were first used by anthropologist Ralph and they have since been widely incorporated into social science For , a status is any position a person occupies in a particular setting . Within the setting of a family , many statuses can exist such as father , mother , maternal grandparent , and younger Of course , cultures may define the statuses involved in a family differently . Role is the set of behaviors expected of an individual who occupies a particular status . A person who has the status of mother , for instance , would generally have the role of caring for her children . Roles , like statuses , are cultural ideals or expectations and there will be variation in how individuals meet these expectations . Statuses and roles also change within cultures over time . In the past in the United States , the roles associated with the status of mother in a typical family included caring for children and keeping a house they probably did not include working for wages outside the home . It was rare for fathers to engage in regular , ing or childcare roles , though they sometimes helped out , to use the jargon of the time . Today , it is much more common for a father to be an equal partner in caring for children or a house or to times take a primary role in child and house care as a stay at home father or as a single The concepts of status and role help us think about cultural ideals and what the majority within a cultural group tends to do . They also help us describe and document culture change . With respect to family and marriage , these concepts help us compare family systems across cultures . KINSHIP AND DESCENT Kinship is the word used to describe culturally recognized ties between members of a family . Kinship includes the terms , or social statuses , used to define family members and the roles or expected behaviors family associated with these statuses . Kinship encompasses relationships formed through blood ( consanguineal ) such as those created between parents and children , as well as relationships created through marriage ties ( affinal ) such as ( see Figure ) Kinship can also include chosen kin , who have no formal blood or marriage ties , but consider themselves to be family . Adoptive ents , for instance , are culturally recognized as parents to the children they raise even though they are not related by blood .

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Figure These young women from Western are affinal kin , who share responsibilities for childcare . men often have multiple wives who share domestic responsibilities Photo used of Laura de . While there is quite a bit of variation in families , it is also true that many families can be categorized into broad types based on what anthropologists call a kinship system . The kinship tem refers to the pattern of culturally recognized relationships between family members . Some cultures create kinship through only a single parental line or side of the family . For instance , families in many parts of the world are defined by patrilineal descent the paternal line of the family , or fathers and their children . In other societies , matrilineal descent defines membership in the kinship group through the maternal line of relationships between mothers and their children . Both kinds of kinship are ered because they involve descent through only one line or side of the family . It is tant to keep in mind that systems of descent define culturally recognized kin , but these rules do not restrict relationships or emotional bonds between people . Mothers in patrilineal societies have close and loving relationships with their children even though they are not members of the same In the United States , for instance , last names traditionally follow a pattern of patrilineal descent children receive last names from their fathers . This does not mean that the bonds between mothers and children are reduced . Bilateral descent is another way of creating kinship . Bilateral descent means that families are defined by descent from both the father and the mothers sides of the family . In bilateral descent , which is common in the United States , children recognize both their mothers and fathers ily members as relatives . As we will see below , the descent groups that are created by these kinship systems provide members with a sense of identity and social support . Kinship groups may also control economic resources and dictate decisions about where people can live , who they can marry , and what happens to their property after death . Anthropologists use kinship diagrams to help visualize descent groups and kinship . Figure is a simple example of a kinship diagram . This diagram has been designed to help you see the ence between the kinship groups created by a bilateral descent system and a system .

185 , ox , Figure This kinship chart illustrates bilateral descent Kinship diagrams use a specific person , who by convention is called Ego , as a starting point . The ple shown on the chart are Ego relatives . In Figure , Ego is in the middle of the bottom row . Most kinship diagrams use a triangle to represent males and a circle to represent females . Conventionally , an equals sign placed between two individuals indicates a marriage . A single line , or a hyphen , can be used to indicate a recognized union without marriage such as a couple living together or engaged and living together , sometimes with children . Children are linked to their parents by a vertical line that extends down from the equals sign . A sibling group is represented by a horizontal line that encompasses the group . Usually children are represented from left to to youngest . Other conventions for these charts include darkening the symbol or drawing a diagonal line through the symbol to indicate that a person is deceased . A diagonal line may be drawn through the equals sign if a marriage has ended . Figure shows a diagram of three generations of a typical bilateral ( two sides ) kinship group , focused on parents and children , with aunts , uncles , cousins , grandparents and grandchildren . Note that one in the diagram is related to everyone else in the diagram , even though they may not interact on a regular basis . The group could potentially be very large , and everyone related through blood , marriage , or adoption is included . The next two kinship diagram show how the descent group changes in kinship systems like a patrilineal system ( father line ) or a matrilineal system ( mother line ) The roles of the family in relationship to one another are also likely to be different because descent is based on lineage descent from a common ancestor . In a patrilineal system , children are always members of their fathers lineage group ( Figure ) In a matrilineal system , children are always members of their mothers lineage group ( Figure ) In both cases , individuals remain a part of their birth lineage throughout their lives , even after marriage . Typically , people must marry someone outside their own lineage . In figures and , the shaded symbols represent people who are in the same lineage . The unshaded symbols represent people who have married into the lineage . In general , bilateral kinship is more focused on individuals rather than a single lineage of ancestors as seen in unlineal descent . Each person in a bilateral system has a slightly different group of relatives . For example , my brothers relatives through marriage ( his ) are included in his kinship group ,

186 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL but are not included in mine . His wife siblings and children are also included in his group , but not in mine . If we were in a patrilineal or matrilineal system , my brother and I would largely share the same group of relatives . This kinship chart shows a household with Ego in lineage . and are not just mirror images of each other . They create groups that behave somewhat differently . Contrary to some popular ideas , are not matriarchal . The terms matriarchy and patriarchy refer to the power structure in a society . In a patriarchal society , men have more authority and the ability to make more decisions than do women . A father may have the right to make certain decisions for his wife or wives , and for his children , or any other dependents . In matrilineal societies , men usually still have greater power , but women may be subject more to the power of their brothers or uncles ( relatives through their mother side of the family ) rather than their fathers . Among the matrilineal Hopi , for example , a mothers brother is more likely to be a figure of authority than a father . The mothers brothers have important roles in the lives of their sisters children . These roles include ceremonial obligations and the responsibility to teach the skills that are associated with men and men activities . Men are the keepers of important ritual knowledge so while women are respected , men are still likely to hold more authority .

AT Ac ' Isa ' Figure This kinship chart shows a matrilineal household Ego mother lineage . The of southern India offer an interesting example of gender roles in a matrilineal society . In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , men and women did not live together after marriage because the husbands , who were not part of the , were not considered relatives . Women lived for their entire lives in extended family homes with their mothers and siblings . The male siblings in the household had the social role of father and were important father figures in the lives of their sisters children . The biological fathers of the children had only a limited role in their lives . Instead , these men were busy raising their own sisters children . Despite the matrilineal focus of the household , communities were not . The position of power in the household was held by an elder male , often the oldest male sibling . The consequences of this kind of system are intriguing . Men did not have strong ties to their logical offspring . Marriages were and men and women could have more than one spouse , but the children always remained with their mothers . it does seem to be the case that in matrilineal societies women tend to have more freedom to make decisions about to sex and marriage . Children are members of their mothers kinship group , whether the mother is married or not , so there is often less concern about the social legitimacy of children or fatherhood . Some anthropologists have suggested that marriages are less stable in matrilineal societies than in patrilineal ones , but this varies as well . Among the matrilineal , for example , women owned the . Men moved into their wives family houses at marriage . If a woman wanted to divorce her husband , she could simply put his belongings outside . In that society , however , men and women also spent significant time apart . Men were hunters and warriors , often away from the home . Women were the farmers and tended to the home . This , as much as , could have contributed to less or disapproval of divorce . There was no concern about the division of property . The

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL belonged to the mothers family , and children belonged to their mothers clan . Men would always have a home with their sisters and mother , in their own matrilineal Kinship charts can be useful when doing field research and particularly helpful when documenting Changes in families over time . In my own field research , it was easy to document changes that occurred in a relatively short time , likely linked to urbanization , such as changes in family size , in prevalence of divorce , and in increased numbers of unmarried adults . These patterns had emerged in the surveys and interviews I conducted , but they jumped off the pages when I reviewed the kinship charts . Creating kinship charts was a very helpful technique in my field research . I also used them as small gifts for the people who helped with my research and they were very much appreciated . KINSHIP TERMS Another way to compare ideas about family across cultures is to categorize them based on kinship terminology the terms used in a language to describe relatives . George Murdock was one of the first anthropologists to undertake this kind of comparison and he suggested that the kinship systems of the world could be placed in six categories based on the kinds of words a society used to describe In some kinship systems , brothers , sisters , and all first cousins call each other brother and sister . In such a system , not only ones biological father , but all one brothers would be called father , and all of ones mother sisters , along with one biological mother , would be called Murdock and subsequent anthropologists refer to this as the Hawaiian system because it was found historically in Hawaii . In Hawaiian kinship terminology there are a smaller number of kinship terms and they tend to generation and gender while merging nuclear families into a larger grouping . In other words , you , your brothers and sisters , and cousins would all be called child by your parents and your aunts and uncles . Other systems are more complicated with different terms for fathers elder brother , younger brother , grandparents on either side and so on . Each pattern was named for a cultural group in which this tern was found . The system that most Americans follow is referred to as the Eskimo system , a name that comes from the old way of referring to the , an indigenous people of the Arctic ( Figure ) Placing cultures into categories based on kinship terminology is no longer a primary focus of studies of kinship . Differences in kinship terminology do provide insight into differences in the way people think about families and the roles people play within them . Sometimes the differences in categorizing relatives and in terminology patrilineal and lineal systems of descent . For example , in a patrilineal system , your father brothers are members of your lineage or clan your mother brothers do not belong to the same lineage or clan and may or may not be counted as relatives . If they are counted , they likely are called something different from what you would call your brother . Similar differences would be present in a matrilineal society . An Example from In many families , any brother of your mother or father is called In other kinship systems , however , some uncles and aunts count as members of the family and others do not . In , which was historically a patrilineal society , all uncles are recognized by their nephews and nieces regardless of whether they are brothers of the mother or the father . But , the uncle is called by a specific name

that depends on which side of the family he is on different roles are associated with different types of uncles . A child born into a traditional Croatian family will call his aunts and uncles and if they are his father brothers and their wives . He will call his mother brothers and their wives and . The words or male can be used to refer to anyone who is a sister of either of his parents or a band of any of his parents sisters . The third category , or male , has no reference to side of the family all are either or male . These terms are not simply words . They reflect ideas about belonging and include expectations of behavior . Because of the , individuals are more likely to live with their father extended family and more likely to inherit from their fathers family , but mothers and children are very close . Fathers are perceived as authority figures and are owed deference and respect . A father brother is also an authority figure . Mothers , however , are supposed to be nurturing and a mother brother is regarded as having a role . This is someone who spoils his sister children in ways he may not spoil his own . A young person may turn to a maternal uncle , or mother brother in a difficult situation and expects that a maternal uncle will help him and maintain confidentiality . These concepts are so much a part of the culture that one may refer to a more distant relative or an adult friend as a mother brother if that person plays this kind of nurturing role in ones life . These terms harken back to an lier agricultural society in which a typical family , household , and economic unit was a joint patrilineal and extended family . Children saw their maternal uncles less frequently , usually only on special . Because brothers are also supposed to be very fond of sisters and protective of them , those associations are attached to the roles of maternal uncles . Both father sisters and mothers sisters move to their own husbands houses at marriage and are seen even less often . This probably the more generic , blended term for aunts and uncles in both these Similar differences are found in Croatian names for other relatives . Side of the family is important , at least for close relatives . Married couples have different names for if the is a husband parent or a wife parent . Becoming the mother of a married son is higher in social status than becoming the mother of a married daughter . A man mother gains authority over a new , who usually leaves her own family to live with her husband family and work side by side with her in a house . An Example from China In traditional Chinese society , families distinguished terminologically between mother side and fathers side with different names for grandparents as well as aunts , uncles , and . Siblings used terms that distinguished between siblings by gender , as we do in English with brother and sister , but also had terms to distinguish between older and younger siblings . Intriguingly , however , the Chinese word for is a single term , ta with no reference to gender or age . The traditional Chinese family was an extended patrilineal family , with women moving into the husbands family household . In most regions , typically brothers stayed together in adulthood . Children grew up knowing their fathers families , but not their mothers families . Some Chinese families still live this way , but urbanization and changes in housing and economic livelihood have made large extended families increasingly less tical .

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY A Navajo Example In Navajo ( or Dine ) society , children are born for their fathers families but born to their mothers families , the Clan to which they belong primarily . The term clan refers to a group of people who have a general notion of common descent that is not attached to a specific ancestor . Some clans trace their common ancestry to a common mythological ancestor . Because clan membership is so important to identity and to social expectations in Navajo culture , when people meet they exchange clan tion first to find out how they stand in relationship to each other . People are expected to marry outside the clans of their mothers or fathers . Individuals have responsibilities to both sides of the family , but especially to the matrilineal clan . Clans are so large that people may not know clan every individual member , and may not even live in the same vicinity as all clan members , but rights and obligations to any clan members remain strong in people thinking and in practical behavior . I recently had the at the community college where I work in Central Arizona of hearing a young Navajo woman introduce herself in a public setting . She began her address in Navajo , and then translated . Her duction included reference to her clan memberships , and she concluded by saying that these clan ties are part of what makes her a Navajo woman . An Example from the United States In many cases , cultures assign ownership of a child , or responsibilities for that child anyway , to some person or group other than the mother . In the United States , if one were to question people about who is in their families , they would probably start by naming both their parents , though increasingly single parent families are the norm . Typically , however , children consider themselves equally related to a mother and a father even if one or both are absent from their life . This makes sense because most American families organize themselves according to the principles of bilateral descent , as discussed above , and do not show a preference for one side of their family or the other . So , on further inquiry , we might discover that there are siblings ( distinguished with different words by gender , but not birth order ) and grandparents on either side of the family who count as family or extended family . Aunts , uncles , and cousins , along with , round out the typical list of family members . It is not uncommon for individuals to know more about one side of the family than the other , but given the nature of bilateral descent the idea that people on each side of the family are equally related is accepted . The notion of bilateral descent is built into legal understandings of family rights and responsibilities in the United States . In a divorce in most states , for example , parents are likely to share time somewhat equally with a minor child and to have joint and financial for that child needs as part of a parental agreement , unless one parent is unable or unwilling to participate as an equal . MARRIAGE AND FAMILY In a basic biological sense , women give birth and the minimal family unit in most , though not all , is mother and child . Cultures elaborate that basic relationship and build on it to create units that are culturally considered central to social life . Families grow through the birth or adoption of children and through new adult relationships often recognized as marriage . In our own society , it is only

191 ally acceptable to be married to one spouse at a time though we may practice what is sometimes called serial monogamy , or , marriage to a succession of spouses one after the other . This is reinforced by systems , and more importantly in society , by law . Plural marriages are not allowed they are illegal although they do exist because they are encouraged under some religions or ideologies . In the United States , couples are legally allowed to divorce and remarry , but not all religions cultural groups support this practice . When anthropologists talk of family structures , we distinguish among several standard family types any of which can be the typical or preferred family unit in a culture . First is the nuclear family parents who are in a relationship , such as marriage , along with their minor or dependent children . This family type is also known as a conjugal family . A nuclear family might be a single parent with dependent children , because of the death of one spouse or divorce or because a marriage never occurred . Next is the extended family a family of at least sharing a household . A stem family is a version of an extended family that includes an older couple and one of their adult children with a spouse ( or spouses ) and children . In situations where one child in a family is designated to inherit , it is more likely that only the inheriting child will remain with the parents when he or she becomes an adult and marries . While this is often an oldest male , it is sometimes a different child . In Burma or for example , the youngest daughter was considered the ideal caretaker of elderly parents , and was generally designated to The other children will marry out or find other means to support themselves . A joint family is a very large extended family that includes multiple generations . Adult children of one gender , often the males , remain in the household with their spouses and children and they have collective rights to family property . Unmarried adult children of both genders may also remain in the family group . For example , a household could include a set of grandparents , all of their adult sons with their wives and children , and unmarried adult daughters . A joint family in rare cases could have dozens of people , such as the traditional zadruga of , discussed in greater detail below . Polygamous families are based on plural marriages in which there are multiple wives or , in rarer cases , multiple husbands . These families may live in nuclear or extended family households and they may or may not be close to each other spatially ( see discussion of households below ) The terms step family or blended family are used to describe families that develop when adults who have been owed or divorced marry again and bring children from previous partnerships together . These families are common in many countries with high divorce rates . A wonderful fictional example was The Brady Bunch of television . Who Can You Marry ?

Cultural expectations define appropriate potential marriage partners . Cultural rules emphasizing the need to marry Within a cultural group are known as endogamy . People are sometimes expected to marry within religious communities , to marry someone who is ethnically or racially similar or who comes from a similar economic or educational background . These are endogamous marriages marriages within a group . Cultural expectations for marriage outside a particular group are called exogamy . Many cultures require that individuals marry only outside their own kinship groups , for instance . In the United States laws prevent marriage between close relatives such as first cousins . There was a time in the not so distant past , however , when it was culturally preferred for Europeans , and to marry first cousins . Royalty and aristocrats were known to betroth their children

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY to relatives , often cousins . Charles Darwin , who was British , married his first cousin Emma . This was often done to keep property and wealth in the family . In some societies , however , a cousin might be a preferred marriage partner . In some Middle Eastern societies , cousin marriage marrying a male or female cousin on your father side is preferred . Some cultures prohibit marriage with a cousin who is in your lineage but , prefer that you marry a cousin who is not in your lineage . For example , if you live in a society that traces kinship lineally , cousins from your father brothers or sisters would be forbidden as marriage partners , but cousins from your mother brothers or sisters might be considered excellent marriage partners . Arranged marriages were typical in many cultures around the world in the past including in the United States . Marriages are arranged by families for many reasons because the families have thing in common , for financial reasons , to match people with others from the correct social , economic or religious group , and for many other reasons . In India today , some people practice a kind of modified arranged marriage practice that allows the potential spouses to meet and spend time together before agreeing to a match . The meeting may take place through a mutual friend , a family member , community matchmaker , or even a Marriage Meet even in which members of the same community ( caste ) are invited to gather ( see Figure ) Although arranged marriages still exist in urban cities such as Mumbai , love matches are increasingly common . In general , as long as the social requirements are met , love matches may be accepted by the families involved . MARRIAGE MEET ! tram . mi . I Figure This advertisement for Marriage Meet in Mumbai , India welcomes boys and girls ' from the community to participate in a Marriage Meet , in which young people can mingle with and get to know potential spouses in a fun atmosphere Photo used with permission of Laura de

Polygamy refers to any marriage in which there are multiple partners . There are two kinds of polygamy polygyny and polyandry . Polygyny refers to marriages in which there is one husband and multiple wives . In some societies that practice polygyny , the preference is for sororal polygyny , or the marriage of one man to several sisters . In such cases , it is sometimes believed that sisters will get along better as . Polyandry describes marriages with one wife and multiple husbands . As with , fraternal polyandry is common and involves the marriage of a woman to a group of brothers . In some cultures , if a mans wife dies , especially if he has no children , or has young children , it is thought to be best for him to marry one of his deceased wife sisters . A sister , it is believed , is a sonable substitution for the lost wife and likely a more loving mother to any children left behind . This practice might also prevent the need to return property exchanged at marriage , such as dowry ( made to the groom family before marriage ) or ( payments made to the bride ily before marriage ) The practice of a man marrying the sister of his deceased wife is called sororate marriage . In the case of a husband death , some societies prefer that a woman marry one of her band brothers , and in some cases this might be preferred even if he already has a wife . This practice is called levirate marriage . This latter practice is described in the Old Family Size Cultural rules generally define not only who makes up a family but also how many people should be in it . In some cultures , larger families are considered ideal . In others , smaller families are preferred . These ideas are often linked to both practical and ideological considerations . Practical considerations might include the availability of housing , work patterns , childcare , the economic contribution children make to a family , or the cost of raising children . Ideological considerations include religious values related to families . In the , I carried out field research in , investigating ideas about lies . An overwhelming majority of the people I interviewed believed that the ideal family would include three children . Most of these families commented that in their own living memories people preferred as many children as possible so that there would be assistance for farm work . When I was there , however , large families were no longer regarded as practical . Within the same general region , families in urban settings overwhelmingly said that one child was ideal . A shortage of housing was the single most tant factor for limiting family size to one child in cities . In both the rural and urban settings in , most people were Roman Catholic and may have been ideologically predisposed to larger families , but practical considerations were more important to both groups when it came to matters of family size . During the same period in the , it was common for families in the United States to say that the ideal family included two children and preferably one of each gender ( anecdotal ) This of course varies based on factors which include , but are not limited to the ethnicity and religion of the family . In another example , the Peoples Republic of China , where I lived and worked , had an official policy ) A family that included only one child was not a widespread cultural ideal . Most families wished for more children , but had to settle for less . Families , Households and Domestic Groups A family can be defined as the smallest group of individuals who see themselves as connected to one another . They are usually part of larger kinship groups , but with whom they may not interact on a daily basis . Families tend to reside together and share economic opportunities and other rights and

194 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL . Family rights and responsibilities are a significant part of understanding families and how they work . In the United States , for example , minor children have a right to be supported materially by their parents or other legal guardians . Parents have a responsibility to support and nurture their children . Spouses have a right to mutual support from each other and property acquired during a marriage is considered common property in many states unless specified otherwise by a ment . Some family responsibilities are cultural and not legal . Many such responsibilities are reinforced by religious or other ideological notions . Family members who reside together are called households . A household may include larger kinship groups who think of themselves as separate but related families . Households may also include ily or kin members , or could even consist exclusively of people who think of themselves as family . Many studies of families have focused on household groups because it is holds that are the location for many of the activities of a society . Households are important social units in any community Sometimes families or households are spread across several residential units but think of themselves as a single group for many purposes . In , because of urban housing constraints , some extended family households operate across one or more residential spaces . An older couple and their married children might live in apartments near each other and cooperate on childcare and cooking as a single household unit . Domestic group is another term that can be used to describe a household . Domestic groups can describe any group of people who reside together and share activities pertaining to domestic life including but not limited to childcare , elder care , cooking and economic support , even if they might not describe themselves as Households may include nuclear families , extended families , joint extended families , or even of families that share a residence and other property as well as rights and responsibilities . In certain regions of large agricultural households were incredibly numerous . I carried out research in a region known as , which from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries was was near the border of the and Ottoman Empires . Families in portions of this region were referred to as ( plural ) or a zadruga ( singular ) They sometimes numbered up to 100 members , all related through blood and marriage . But these households were much more than a nuclear or even a joint extended family . They were more like small towns with specialists within the household group who did things such as shoe horses or sew . These very large households supported a military ture where men between sixteen and sixty years old had to be ready for military A Croatian anthropologist in the reported that one family was so large that an elderly woman died and this was not noticed for three days ! The local government in this case forced the family to divide , separating their property and residing in smaller Creating Families Patterns of Marriage As described above , families can be created in many different ways . A marriage is a cultural , social , and legal process that brings two or more individuals together to create a new family unit . Most cultures have ideas about how marriages should be arranged ( whether by families or by the individuals involved ) at what age this should occur , what the married partners should have in common ( including economic status , religion , ethnicity and so on ) and what cultural , religious and legal processes make a marriage valid . In the United States , strong cultural norms suggest that individuals should marry for love and not for other reasons . It is not unusual , however , for communities to teach children to follow certain group norms in choosing a marriage partner . Some religious communities , for example , will

not recognize marriages contracted across religious lines . Some families strongly prefer that their dren marry individuals with similar economic , cultural , or ethnic backgrounds . Because families tend to socialize with other families similar to themselves , young people are more likely to meet others to themselves . Marriage Exchanges Dowry and In many societies , marriages are affirmed with an exchange of property . This is usually the case in places where families have a hand in arranging a marriage . A property exchange recognizes the faced by a family that loses a member and by a family that takes on a new member . These also different notions about the value of the new family member . Dowry payments are known from and Western European history . A dowry is a gift given by a bride family to either the bride or to the groom family at the time of the marriage . In societies that practice dowry , families often spend many years accumulating the gift . In some villages in the former Yugoslavia , the dowry was meant to provide for a woman if she became a widow . The dowry was her share of her family property and reflected the tradition that land was usually inherited by a womans brothers . The dowry might include coins , often woven together in a kind of apron and worn on her wedding day . This form of dowry also represented a statement of wealth , prestige or high status for both families her family ability to give this kind of wealth , and the prestige of the family who was acquiring a desirable new bride . Her dowry also could include linens and other useful items to be used during her years as a wife . In more recent times , dowries have become extravagant , including things like refrigerators , cars , and houses . A dowry can also represent the higher status of the groom family and its ability to demand a ment for taking on the economic responsibility of a young wife . This was of thinking about dowry is more typical of societies in which women are less valued than men . A good dowry enables a womans family to marry into a better family . In parts of India , a dowry could sometimes be so large that it would be paid in installments . Bride burnings , killing a bride , could happen if her family did not continue to make the agreed upon payments ( though there may be other reasons for this awful crime in individual cases ) This of course is illegal , but does sometimes Historically , dowry was most common in agricultural societies . Land was the most valuable ity and usually land stayed in the hands of men . Women who did not marry were sometimes seen as a burden on their own families because they were not perceived as making an economic contribution and they represented another mouth to feed . A dowry was important for a woman to take with her into a marriage because the groom family had the upper economic hand . It helped ease the tension of her arrival in the household , especially if the dowry was substantial . by contrast , often represents a higher value placed on women and their ability to work and produce children . is an exchange of valuables given from a man family to the family of his new wife . is common in pastoralist societies in which people make their living by ing domesticated animals . The are example of one such group . A culture located in Kenya and , the pay based on the desirability of the woman . Culturally defined attributes such as her age , beauty , virginity , and her ability to work contribute to a womans Value . The economic value placed on women does not mean that women in such societies necessarily have much freedom , but it does sometimes give them some leverage in their new domestic situations . In rare cases , there might be simultaneous exchanges of dowry and . In such cases , often the gift was more of a token than a substantial economic contribution .

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Residence Every culture has ideas about where a newly married couple should live . In the United States and in Western Europe , it is usually expected that a new couple create a new domestic unit or household . Ideally they should live together in a place separate from either of their families of orientation the families in which they were raised . They are expected to create a new family of procreation a new household for raising children . The goal of most couples is to eventually live separately from their families so that they can focus on their new relationship and be independent . This kind of residence after marriage is called residence ( new location ) Increasingly , many couples establish a together before marriage or may skip the formal marriage altogether . Another common pattern around the world is patrilocal residence ( father location ) This means that a couple generally resides with the husbands father family after marriage . This is a practice . The new husband own mother likely moved into the household when she married his father . Patrilocal residence is common around the world . It creates larger households that can be ful in farming economies . Today , with increasing urbanization and with the very different kinds of jobs associated with industrial capitalism , patrilocal residence has become less common . A less common pattern worldwide is matrilocal residence . In matrilocal residence societies , men leave their matrilineal families at marriage and move in with their wives mothers families . Quite a few Native American groups practiced matrilocal residence , including the Hopi and the Navajo ( or Dine ) in the Southwest , and the ( or ) tribes in the Great Lakes region . A very ing residence pattern found within matrilineal societies is residence ( uncle location ) It means that a couple will live with the wife mother brother . In matrilineal societies , in which tant property , knowledge , or social position are linked with men , the preference is to keep wealth within the matrilineal household . Property and other cultural items are passed not from biological fathers to sons , but from maternal uncles to nephews . In doing so , property is kept within the ( see ure ) An excellent example of residence is found in the Islands in New Guinea . In families where there was position of authority or significant wealth it was common for a young man to go live with or near his mother brother at the time of his marriage . Islanders passed important magical knowledge and political positions through the mother lineage . The son of a chief would not become a chief . Instead , the chief maternal nephew would inherit the position . kinship and family life is rich and complicated . Anthropologist Annette Weiner describes men and women as carrying out complementary roles and both men and women are valued culturally . This is not a matriarchy , nor is it a true patriarchy . The arrangement is so important that a man or woman without a sibling will adopt one . A woman must have a brother to plant yam gardens for her husband when she marries . A man must have a sister to participate in exchanges of women wealth on his behalf to enhance his position , and also to ensure that his soul is eventually reborn , after death , into the . Family life and the passing of knowledge was changing rapidly in the Islands at the end of Weiner work more people were converting to Christianity , and while belief in magic was not yet ing , Christians could not inherit their uncles magic . This is an example of a culture in transition . At the same time , however , Islanders Valued their traditions , culture , and language , and were loathe to lose them Patrilocal residence is usually associated with patrilineal descent . Property , knowledge , and are inherited through the father family or the husbands father family . In the case of patrilocal

residence , it was sometimes difficult for a woman to return to her original family if her marriage ended due to death or divorce . The latter was often considered socially shaming and in patrilineal societies women were often blamed for ending the marriage regardless of the actual circumstances . cal residence is usually associated with matrilineal descent . Property , knowledge , and positions are inherited through the mothers family , or the wife mother family . Matrilineal and matrilocal societies tended to be less concerned with divorce . Men always had a home with their mothers , aunts , and sisters and might even come and go during a marriage , carrying out responsibilities to their maternal relatives and staying with them from time to time . Explaining the differences between patrilocal and matrilocal residences risks stereotyping . That said , it is likely that those cultures in which women marry out are less likely to value women while those in which men leave their families at marriage are more inclusive of women . This may have something to do with economics and ideologies , but must be examined in each cultural context . residence ( two locations ) or residence ( either location ) represent two additional and related residential patterns . They are essentially the same and mean that a couple may live with or near either the husbands or wife family after marriage . A striking example comes from the island of , a place that is not far from the Islands in New Guinea . In society , which was traditionally matrilineal and practiced village exogamy , a married couple would alternate years ing in the husbands village and in the wife In cases of or residence while a couple has the choice to live with either the husbands or wife family , a choice is made based on which location is best able to accommodate new members or which location needs the additional labor that comes from new members . Once the choice of residence is made , the married couple usually remains in one place . Inheritance The inheritance of family property is often a part of cultural values and roles for families . In 1991 , when was on the verge of war , I remember a woman speaking about her house going to her eldest son . Her young daughter was sitting with us at the time , and said to her mother in surprise , Mama , why not me ?

Her mother stroked her head and smiled at her , but was firm when she said Because you are It is typical worldwide , particularly in agricultural societies , for men to inherit family property . The pattern is inheritance by the oldest oint inheritance by ers , with the oldest brother nominally in charge of the family , is also fairly in joint and extended families . As mentioned above , however , other patterns are found , including property that passes from maternal uncle to maternal nephew in the Islands , and inheritance of the ily house and corresponding responsibility to care for the older generation by the youngest daughter in Burmese families . This is a further reminder that family organization and expectations are linked to economic systems and to the resources available to the family . Pattern of family life and marriage do not exist apart from the physical and economic environment , and other cultural practices . Marriage In the United States , Canada as well as other countries , two individuals of the same sex may be legally married , but in these countries as well as other places , couples have been creating holds and families for centuries , long before legal recognition . marriages are documented , for

198 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL instance , in the history of Native American groups from the Great Plains . On the Plains , men who to dress and take on the roles of women were allowed to marry other men . It was assumed that if one partner gathered plant food and prepared food , the other partner should have a complementary role like hunting . Androgynous individuals , males who preferred female roles or dress , and females who took on male roles , were not condemned but regarded as , a label that had positive . were considered embody a third gender combining elements of both male and female . The key to the gender identity was behavior what individuals did in their If a person who was born with a male biological sex felt his identity and chosen lifestyle best matched the social role recognized as female , he could move into a third gender category . Today , Native American groups set their own laws regarding marriage . Many recognize , and accept marriage of a person to a person of the same biological sex . Although some nations still do not permit marriage between tribal members , one of the largest tribal nations , the Cherokee legalized marriages in 2016 . Adoption Adoption is another way that people form family ties . In the United States , usually it is infants or minor children who are adopted by a family member like a grandparent , an aunt or uncle , or an older sibling , or by a member . This is usually done when a biological parent is unable or unwilling to raise a child . The decision to give up a child through adoption is a complicated one , and one that parents do not make easily . In other societies , adoption is viewed differently . In some Pacific Island societies , children who are adopted are considered fortunate because they have two sets of parents children are not given for tion because a parent is unwilling or unable to care for them , but rather to honor the adoptive parents . Martha Ward described a young woman in , who had a child for her grandmother , to keep her company in her older years . In another case she described a child who went to dinner at a relative house and stayed for a number of years in a kind of adoptive situation . In such cases , children retain relationships with biological and adoptive family members , and may even move between One of the more unusual forms of adoption is marriage , or Sim pua marriage . It is found in and described by anthropologist Wolf . Wolf worked in in the . At that time , Taiwanese families strongly preferred sons over daughters . Sons stayed with their families in adulthood , produced the next generation , cared for parents in old age , and carried on the tradition of ancestor veneration so that one would not become a wandering ghost after death . Daughters were regarded as expensive . People believed that they raised daughters for someone else . Dowries and weddings for grown daughters were expensive . Families worried that they would not be able to find suitable husbands for their grown daughters , who would remain a burden on their natal families in their later years , not producers of children or contributors in any other As a result a custom developed of giving up daughters to other families as future . Mothers would give up their own daughters as infants , only to take in very quickly an adopted ter from someone else . Sometimes the future wife was adopted before the family had a son . It was said that an adopted would lead in a Adopted daughters were reportedly not treated well . They had to do housework , help with childcare , and were not given any privileges such as education . They were often older than their eventual husbands , and had a lower status in the family

than their adoptive brothers . There were reports of an adopted daughter being treated badly by adopted siblings , and then being expected to later marry one of them . Wolf reports a very low birth rate among couples who were raised as siblings . Pressure to engage in these kinds of adoptions usually came from a , or the husbands mother , or a grandmother of the infant girl who had ing power in the family because she was the mother of an adult son . Grandmothers saw this kind of arrangement as advantageous to the family , according to Wolf , because birth mothers were more likely to be unhappy about losing a baby daughter , and because caring for another child brought in a future FAMILIES AND CULTURE CHANGE Families are adaptive groups that help address common societal concerns related to , sexual relationships between adults , and gender roles within the household . While there are norms and ideals , expectations and understandings regarding families in all cultures , there are also always that represent variations on that norm . Sometimes these are areas where we begin to see ture change . In the United States in the , young people began to live together openly outside of marriage as couples . Those relationships were often socially disapproved , but today it is much more socially acceptable and common for people to live together prior to marriage or even instead of . Often the couple will also have children before they decide to marry . An ideological variation that began nearly sixty years ago has led to a widespread culture change in attitudes toward marriage . In the Croatian Republic of Yugoslavia in the , shortly after the death of Tito , it was still expected that a young couple would live with a husband family at marriage . At that time , I was engaged in fieldwork that focused on social Change . The socialist government had implemented legislation and social programs to support women moving out of traditional roles , ing educated and productive members of the workforce , and participating in the professional class . There was daycare and liberal legislation regarding birth control and abortion among other efforts to improve or change the traditional roles of women . In reality , however , marriage and parenthood were still highly valued . Couples often married at a young age and women tended to still be responsible for all housework . Women themselves valued ing a clean house , cooking homemade food from scratch without using prepared foods , and caring for their families . Most young wives and mothers lived with their husbands families . Traditionally , ers of sons gained power and respect in the family from their married son and . In the past this relationship was sometimes described as a difficult one , with a having little say in family and household life . Some of that seemed to persist in the . Women living with did not have a great deal of freedom of choice and had to prove themselves at home , leaving less time to think about progressing in education or In an urban environment , however , housing was in short supply . If a family had two sons and one was already married and still living with his natal family , the second son might live with the wife family at marriage if that family had the space . In these situations , which were not considered ideal but still were in the range of acceptable alternatives , young married women found themselves living with their own mothers rather than a . A mother tended to make life easier for her own daughter rather than insisting that she do quite so much household work . Mothers and daughters were more often easy partners in a household . The of a young man tended not to make his life difficult , but rather to regard him fondly . Women who lived with their own families after marriage were more likely

200 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY to be able to continue their education , take promotions at work , make more of the opportunities that were provided under socialism . In , government engineered policies alone did not produce changes in family patterns or der roles . It was a variety of factors , including economic pressures and housing shortages , which to create an environment in which families changed . It became increasingly common for couples to live with the wife family and eventually to live on their own . Today in , Women have a great deal of freedom of choice , are likely to live alone with their husbands or , like in the United States , Canada , and European countries , to live with a partner outside of marriage . Change occurs in family life when social and cultural conditions also change . CONCLUSION The institutions of the family and marriage are found in all societies and are part of cultural standings of the way the world should work . In all cultures there are variations that are acceptable as well as situations in which people can not quite meet the ideal . How people construct families varies greatly from one society to another , but there are patterns across cultures that are linked to economics , religion , and other cultural and environmental factors . The study of families and marriage is an tant part of anthropology because family and household groups play a central role in defining ships between people and making society function . While there is nothing in biology that dictates that a family group be organized in a particular way , our cultural expectations leads to ideas about families that seem natural to us . As cultures change over time , ideas about family also adapt to new stances . Discussion Questions Why is it important for anthropologists to understand the kinship , descent , and family relationships that exist in the cultures they study ?

In what ways can family relationships structure the lives of individuals ?

Status and role define the position of people within the family as well as the behaviors they are expected to perform . What are some of the statuses and roles found in families in your community ?

How have these changed over time ?

In this chapter , describes several different patterns of family organization including nuclear families , extended families , and joint families . While small nuclear families are common in the United States , larger families are common in many other . What do you think are some of the practical effects of both small and large families on everyday life ?

GLOSSARY married individuals live with or near an uncle . Bilateral descent descent is recognized through both the father and the mothers sides of the family . payments made to the bride family by the groom family before marriage . Clan a group of people who have a general notion of common descent that is not attached to a specific biological ancestor . Descent groups relationships that provide members with a sense of identity and social support based on ties of shared ancestry . Domestic group a term that can be used to describe a group of people who live together even if do not consider themselves to be family .

201 payments made to the groom family by the bride family before marriage . Endogamy a term describing expectations that individuals must marry within a particular group . Exogamy a term describing expectations that individuals must marry outside a particular group . Extended family a family of at least sharing a household . Family the smallest group of individuals who see themselves as connected to one another . Family of orientation the family in which an individual is raised . Family of procreation a new household formed for the purpose of conceiving and raising children . Household family members who reside together . Joint family a very large extended family that includes multiple generations . Kinship term used to describe culturally recognized ties between members of a family , the social used to define family members , and the expected behaviors associated with these statuses . Kinship diagrams charts used by anthropologists to visually represent relationships between members of a kinship group . Kinship system the pattern of culturally recognized relationships between family members . Kinship terminology the terms used in a language to describe relatives . Levirate the practice of a woman marrying one of her deceased husband brothers . Lineage term used to describe any form of descent from a common ancestor . Matriarchal a society in which women have authority to make decisions . Matrilineal descent a kinship group created through the maternal line ( mothers and their children ) Matrilocal residence married individuals live with or near the wife mother family . residence newly married individuals establish a household separate from other family . Nuclear family a parent or parents who are in a relationship , such as marriage , along with minor or dependent children . cousin marriage the practice of marrying a male or female cousin on the fathers side of the family . Patrilineal descent a kinship group created through the paternal line ( fathers and their children ) Patrilocal residence married individuals live with or near the husbands father family . Polygamous families based on plural marriages in which there are multiple wives or , in rarer cases , multiple husbands . Polyandry marriages with one wife and multiple husbands . Polygyny marriages in which there is one husband and multiple wives . Role the set of behaviors expected of an individual who occupies a particular status . Serial monogamy marriage to a succession of spouses one after the other . Sororate marriage the practice of a man marrying the sister of his deceased wife . Status any position a person occupies in a particular setting . Stem family a version of an extended family that includes an older couple and one of their adult dren with a spouse ( or spouses ) and children . descent is recognized through only one line or side of the family .

202 AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ABOUT THE AUTHOR ary , also published as Mary Olsen ) earned a . from College , with Honors in Anthropology and . and degrees in from the University of California , San Diego . Her primary research took place in the former Yugoslavia ( 1993 , 1995 , and with displaced Bosnians , Croats and Serbs in the United States ( In , Mary Kay was affiliated with the in , the Ethnographic Museum in Brod ( and with the Institute for Anthropological Research ( both and ) Continuing affiliation as member of Editorial Board for the Collegium The of the logical Research , and named a Lifetime Member of the Croatian Anthropological Society . Mary Kay has also collaborated in projects in Asia , including Peoples Republic of China ( primarily , China ) and Vietnam . Her areas of research interest and publication include culture and social change , gender and ethnic identity , family , marriage and relationships . ily a teaching anthropologist , Mary Kay was faculty and Department Chair at College in Tucson , Arizona from . She maintains an ongoing relationship as Associate Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona . She has taught at San Diego Mesa , University of California , San Diego and the University of . Since 2006 she has held a of administrative positions including Academic Dean , Vice President of Instruction and is currently Vice President of Academic Affairs at Central Arizona College . Notes . Lewis Henry Morgan , Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human ( Smithsonian Institution , 1871 ) Ralph , The Study ( New York ) In a patrilineal society , children are members of their father . A mother belongs to her own father , while the children belong to their father . Kathleen , Variation in Matrilineal Systems , in Schneider and , Matrilineal Kinship , Part ( Berkeley University of California Press , 1961 ) See also Kathleen , The Traditional Kinship System of the of ( Cambridge , MA Harvard University Press , 1954 ) See for example Merlin Myers , Households and Families of the at Six Nations Reserve ( Lincoln , NE University of Nebraska Press , 2006 ) George Murdock , Social Structure ( New York MacMillan , 1949 ) Vera , Family in Transition A Study of 300 Yugoslav Villages . Princeton Princeton University Press , 1966 . See also , 1986 . The Maintenance of Family Values in a Yugoslav Town . Ann Arbor , Michigan UMI International . Spiro , Kinship and Marriage in Burma A Cultural and Psychodynamic Analysis ( Berkeley , CA University of California Press , 1977 )

20 . 203 Laura de , Modern Arranged Marriage in Mumbai Teaching Anthropology Notes 19 ( 2015 ) 191 . The policy was introduced in 1979 . It was phased out beginning in 2015 and was replaced by a child policy . see Vera , Family in Transition A Study of 300 Yugoslav Villages . Princeton Princeton University Press , 1966 . Luka , za i i . god . 24 , 1919 . There are many news reports about this practice . See for instance , Dowry Death One Bride Burnt Every Hour , The Times , january 27 , 2012 Annette Weiner , The of New Guinea ( New York Holt , and Winston , 1988 ) Fortune , Sorcerers ( New York . Dutton and , 1932 ) See for instance Will Roscoe , Changing Ones Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America ( New York grave Macmillan , 1998 ) Martha Ward , Next in the Wind Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island ( Long Grove , IL Press , 2005 ) Wolf , Women and the Family in Rural ( Palo Alto , CA Stanford University Press , 1972 ) Ibid . Olsen , Authority and in Households The Effects of Social Environment on Household Processes in The Household Economy Reconsidering the Domestic Mode of Production , Richard Wilk , Colorado Press , 1989 )