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Marriage

Marriage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwoRMAC461A. Overview of Marriage. socially recognized union of two or more people acceptance of an agreement that often includes four categories of privileges, rights, and obligations agreeing to exclusive sexual access

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Marriage

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  1. Marriage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwoRMAC461A

  2. Overview of Marriage • socially recognized union of two or more people • acceptance of an agreement that often includes four categories of privileges, rights, and obligations • agreeing to exclusive sexual access • having and caring for children • accepting a sexual division of labor • agreeing to extend kinship bonds to your spouse's relatives

  3. functions as a glue in the organization of society • can be an important tool for creating economically and politically valuable links between families • many cultures do NOT base marriage on the notion of romantic love • often a double standard

  4. Types of Marriage • monogamy • polygamy • group marriage • everyone married to everyone else • VERY RARE • will not discuss further

  5. Monogamy… • true monogamy • one partner for life, no divorce, no remarriage • serial monogamy • one partner at a time, divorce and/or remarriage after death possible • dominant American pattern

  6. Polygamy • multiple spouses at the same time • polygyny multiple women married to a single male • increases the male’s social prestige and political power • polyandry means multiple men married to a single women • over 50% of the world’s societies are polygamous • of those 98% are polygynous • less than 2% are polyandrous

  7. Partner Selection • very much a culturally defined process • rules governing selection vary widely • physical beauty is sometimes a key factor • what is considered to be attractive varies considerably • ideals of beauty change over time Comparison of traditional Chineseand European concepts of beauty 19th century European preferencefor heavier female bodies(sketch by Renoir) Padaung woman(Thailand) 

  8. some psychologists have suggested that in all societies the essence of beauty is a symmetrical face and body • suggested that body asymmetry can indicate other hidden genetic abnormalities • if that is the case, preference for symmetry could have evolutionary advantages • personality, education, and wealth are important mate selection criteria in many societies • may be far more important than physical beauty

  9. arranged marriages • it unites two families, not just two people • mate selection is seen as being too important a decision to be left up to inexperienced young people • useful to suspend our own ethnocentric views to understand why they are so popular in some societies

  10. Restrictions to Sexual Access • no society allows a person to have complete sexual access to everyone who might be a potential sexual partner • all societies have incest taboos- prohibiting sexual intercourse with close relatives

  11. Limiting the Number of Births • most societies try to limit or at least space births to allow those babies that are here to survive and have economic advantages • common methods of preventing pregnancy • not allowing adolescents to marry (especially boys) • using magic (ritual acts, protective jewelry, etc.) • practicing abortion (chemical or surgical) • adhering to a post partum sex taboo (prohibition against husbands and wives having sexual intercourse for a period of time following the birth of a child)

  12. Residence • in most societies, newly married couples do not establish their own residence but instead become part of an existing household or compound occupied by relatives • Patrilocal residence (69% ): home near or in the groom's father's house • Matrilocal residence (13%): home near or in the bride's mother's house • Avunculocal residence (4%): home near or in the groom's maternal uncle's house • Ambilocal residence (9%): the choice of living with or near the groom's or the bride's family • Neolocal residence (5%): home independent of both sets of relatives

  13. Homosexuality • is found widely among the societies of the world • the social acceptance of it varies dramatically (even from state to state in USA) • double standard • sodomy sometimes defined in law as non-reproductive sex • little enforcement, life in prison, or death U. S. States With Anti-Sodomy Laws Severe Penalties for Homosexuality

  14. 1991, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality as an illness from their classification of diseases

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