Forms of Marriage

Forming Family through Kinship ANTH 2301 Forms of Marriage Anthropologists categorise marriage practices into two main groups: monogamy, or marriage between just two couples, and polygamy, or marriage between several spouses. The socially acceptable pairing of two adults is known as monogamy. This kind of union can involve two adults of either gender in certain countries, but it can only involve a man and a woman in others. Because it results in a smaller family unit overall, monogamy is particularly well suited to postindustrial civilizations and cultures with highly mobile family units (like nomadic foragers). Same-sex marriage is a kind of monogamy. Following prior legal recognitions in several other Western nations, the US Supreme Court made same-sex marriage lawful in the country in June 2015 with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Today, thirty nations allow same-sex unions. Although the process of legalising same-sex unions and weddings has been drawn out and turbulent in many of these nations, same-sex unions and marriages have long played important roles in Indigenous and Western civilizations. Monogamy in serial form: Adults who engage in a pattern of consecutive two-person monogamous marriages over the course of a lifetime are said to practise serial monogamy. Although it is becoming more widespread in Western civilizations, some smaller communities—like bands—also engage in it. Remarriage and divorce are frequent occurrences in serial monogamy. The socially accepted union of more than two people at the same time is known as polygamy. Families in polygamous civilizations often start with a man and a woman being married. Due to financial difficulties or a lack of compatible companions, a married couple may choose to live as a single unit for the length of their life. In polygamous communities, adding partners is often seen as a status symbol and is great for families. Polygamy is also often utilised as a means of coping with acute societal stress brought on by events like war or unequal population distributions brought on by starvation and high death rates. Cultural anthropologist Miriam Zeitzen (2008) observed that there is a great deal of variation within polygamy in her crosscultural study. These variations range from de jure unions, which are formal, legal contracts (like those found in Gambia) to de facto polygamy, which can be just as enduring, stable, and acceptable within a society (like those found in Ivory Coast). Depending on the parties involved, there are two main types of polygamy. Group marriages, which are marriages between numerous men and women, are uncommon. One male marrying more than one woman is known as polygyny, the most popular type of polygamy. In these unions, there is frequently a noticeable age gap, with the men being significantly older than the ladies. While each wife in a polygynous household typically resides in her own home with her own biological children, the family works together to share resources and take care of the kids. Typically, a husband "visits" his wives one after the other, staying in each of their homes for varying periods of time (or living separately in his own). Additionally, it is typical for spouses to be arranged in a seniority-based order. Worldwide, polygyny is common and has several advantages. In addition to maximising the labour force inside the family and the possibilities and shared resources available to them, it forges strong familial bonds across society. Larger families are often granted a greater social standing and have stronger political and economic links in polygynous civilizations. As many as one in four Thai men between the ages of 30 and 50 have a second wife, known as a mia noi (minor wife). Polygyny is common in Thailand nowadays. Cultural anthropologist Jiemin Bao (2008) investigated polygyny among a group of lukchin Thai (Thai of Chinese heritage) in her research in Thailand. She discovered that the lukchin engaged in polygynous marriages as a combined husband-and-wives business, frequently remitting money to relatives who were still residing in China. Bao discovered that, generally speaking, families view polygyny as a way to increase economic chances for all members as having many wives creates a pool of steady labourers with different skill sets and that men typically ask their wives for permission before taking on another wife. Nevertheless, Bao saw discord and strife even in prosperous polygynous households and noted that many weddings were carried out like "cutting a business deal" (151). Women in polygynous marriages among the Lukchin were frequently forced to labour for their husbands' families because to gender politics. It was widely believed that the male head of the household, not his women, was responsible for the family's financial prosperity. Polyandry is a variant of polygamy. One woman and many husbands coexist in polyandry, which is a rather uncommon situation. When there is a temporary surplus of males and a shortage of females or resources, polyandrous marriages can arise, slowing down population increase. Brothers who practise fraternal polyandry wed a single woman. This is the most prevalent in Nepal, where a small percentage of primarily rural families engage in it. For heavily populated, resourceconstrained countries like Nepal, fraternal polyandry has several advantages. In areas where land is extremely scarce, brothers might share rather than divide an inheritance of land. Because the family may now live together as a unit on the property, it lessens inequality within the home. Additionally, it permits brothers to alternate living away from home to care for fields or herds of animals before returning home to spend time with their shared bride in regions where land is dispersed across great distances. Because the wife can only bear one pregnancy at a time, it also reduces reproduction and population increase in a culture with a very dense population (Goldstein 1987).