Forming Family through Kinship - Marriage Compensation

Forming Family through Kinship ANTH 2301 Marriage Compensation Marriage has consequences for the adults getting married as well as for their families and the larger society in all cultures. In communities where inheritance is based on ancestry, a newlywed couple moves away from one family and towards another. The family that has "lost" a son or daughter is now at a disadvantage. In a patrilineal culture, for instance, the wife's children and labour will mostly benefit her husband's family, even if she will always be a part of her father's natal lineage. Because of this, there is a marriage compensation from one family to the other in communities that follow unilineal descent in order to make up for this supposed loss. The transfer of wealth, whether it be in cash, tangible commodities, or labour, from one family to another is known as marriage compensation and serves to validate the union as the establishment of a new social and economic household. It is regarded as acknowledgment that the marriage and any future offspring are a member of one lineage rather than another rather than as payment for a spouse (Stone 1998, 77). There are several types of marital compensation, and each is symbolically identified by certain cultural customs. The transfer of monetary and symbolic value from the groom's family to the bride's is known as bride riches, or bride price. This might entail giving or receiving money, livestock, household items, jewellery, or even objects used in symbolic rituals, depending on the cultural group. Across all civilizations, bride wealth is the most typical kind of marital recompense. Indian sociologist Hoineilhing Sitlhou (2018) has studied the Thadou Kukis of northeastern India, Burma, and Bangladesh. She looks at the evolution of bride wealth. In the past, cows, copper gongs, silver jewellery, and ceremonial apparel for the bride's parents were traded. More modern goods are available now, including gold jewellery, vehicles, furniture, appliances, and land. Paying a portion of the bride's fortune before the marriage ceremony and the remaining amount thereafter, so that the groom stays in debt to the bride's family out of respect, is one custom that hasn't altered. Other civilizations regard a marriage to be valid only once the bride's money has been paid in full. When bride wealth is used in a marriage that ends in divorce, the bride wealth, or its equivalent, is typically given to the groom's family as a symbol of the breakdown of the marriage. Bride service: Like bride wealth, bride service entails giving something valuable from the groom's family to the bride's family; however, in this instance, the groom's labour is hired, either before or after the marriage. Before getting married, prospective grooms would labour for months or years for the bride's family—typically her father's household—or spouses might work for months or years with the bride's family after being married. In the first example, the groom serves out his time in the military before being married, and after the marriage, he and the bride return to his family. In the second scenario, the recentlyweds live with the bride's family until the ceremony is over. One benefit of the second kind of services is that the woman usually moves home with her mother after the birth of her first kid, or children. Her parents are able to support the couple and their first kid or children for a while, even if her children are descended from and inherit from her husband's family. There are conflicts between the contractual requirements of bride riches and bride service. These duties lead to a considerable lot of conflict and turmoil in many unilineal civilizations, which can last for years. What if there are temperamental problems in the marriage? And if a child passes away or the woman becomes infertile? What happens if the husband's family experiences financial difficulties that make the difference between what he can provide for his family and what the children's mother's side of the family could provide? These circumstances all lead to conflict. Because marriage is viewed as a contract with the greater family, these disputes between lineages occasionally seep into society at large and widen societal divides. As a third type of marital remuneration, dower has a distinct purpose than bride riches and bride price. A dowry is a type of tangible value that the bride takes into her marriage to provide her access to her husband's riches through her family. Examples of this kind of value include cash, jewellery, household items, or family heirlooms. While women give their dowries to their husbands in certain communities, they still have rights to them as married women in other societies. When a father dies, boys in Nepalese Brahman families inherit land and belongings equally, and when a woman marries, she receives a dowry of clothes, jewellery, and domestic items from her own patriline (Stone 1998). They plan to utilise this riches to elevate their marital status. In some communities, women carry down their dowry through their daughters, creating a second legacy for their own daughters. In a patrilineal community, having boys is a woman's most reliable path to rising in rank, regardless of how the money is spent. Through the birth of their offspring, boys within the patriline will expand the size and importance of the patriline by bringing brides into their father's home. Women in patrilineal civilizations tend to be better off socially when they have a large number of boys. Even though patrilineal cultures are typically linked with marriage compensation, it's crucial to remember that practically all marriages include joint investments of some form. Due to the fact that marriage represents the formation of a new family, partners frequently bring social networks, customs, and skill sets into their union, all of which have cultural significance.