UNIT 6 INSTITUTIONS I: KINSHIP, FAMILY AND MARRIAGE

 Introduction to Society, Kinship, Family, and Marriage

• Belonging to Society:

  • Every human being is a part of a society from birth.
  • Norms and values of society shape individual lives.

• Core Relationships:

  • Kinship
  • Family
  • Marriage
  • Each relationship is intertwined and shapes our lives.

Understanding Kinship

• Idea of Kinship:

  • Kinship involves relationships by birth and marriage.
  • Essential in determining who one can marry (in/out of bounds).
  • Influences descent, lineage, inheritance, power, and authority in a family.

• Example of a Wedding:

  • Bride and groom's families are present.
  • Attendees are connected to these families by birth or marriage (kinship relations).

• Acquiring Kinship Relations:

  • By Birth:
    • Family members related by blood.
  • By Marriage:
    • Family members connected through marriage.

Important Concepts and Terminologies in Kinship

• Genealogical Method:
• Helps in drawing family trees.
• Visual representation of relationships and lineage.

Real versus Fictive Kinship

Kinship Relations: Bride and Groom Example

• Relations by Birth (Consanguineal):

  • Bride's immediate family: father, mother, siblings (brothers and sisters).
  • Paternal and maternal relatives.
  • Groom's immediate family and relatives.

• Relations by Marriage (Affinal):

  • Bride's acquired relations: father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law.
  • Groom's acquired relations: wife's family members.

Real Kinship

• Consanguineal Relationships:

  • Blood or birth relations.
  • Examples: Immediate family, paternal and maternal relatives.

• Affinal Relationships:

  • Relations through marriage.
  • Examples: In-laws from both sides.

• Cultural Recognition:

  • Non-genetic but culturally recognized relations.
  • Examples: Adoption, fostering, step-relations.

Types of Parenthood

• Genetrix: Culturally recognized biological mother.
• Mater: Social mother.
• Genitor: Culturally recognized biological father.
• Pater: Social father.

Example: Nayar Society (Schneider and Gough, 1974)

• Nayar Women:
  • Free to begin a sambandham (relationship) after marriage.
  • Biological and social fathers can differ.
  • Paternity can be claimed by paying the midwife.

Fictive Kinship

• Definition:

  • Acquired relations not by blood or marriage but culturally significant.

• Examples:

• Friends, family friends attending a wedding.
• Godparents in Christian culture.
  • Spiritual responsibility for a friend's child.
  • Potential educational responsibility.
• Terms like 'sisters' in the feminist movement.
• Addressing friends' parents as 'uncles' and 'aunts.'

Incest Taboo

Basic Rule of Kinship

• Separation of Relations:
  • Consanguineal (blood relatives) and affinal (marriage relatives) must remain separate.
  • Blood relatives cannot marry.

Incest Taboo

• Definition:

  • The prohibition of marriage between close blood relatives.
  • Examples: Mother-son, father-daughter, brother-sister marriages are taboo.

• Historical Exceptions:

  • Egyptian and Hawaiian Royal Families:
    • Marriage between siblings was practiced.
    • Aim: Maintain purity of royal blood.

Variations in Incest Taboo Rules

• Hindu Society:

  • Marriage within the same gotra (lineage) is prohibited.
  • Gotra: Members claiming descent from a common male ancestor.
  • Husband and wife must have different gotras.

• Northern India:

• Marriage cannot take place between members of the same village.

Kinship Affiliations

Acquisition of Kinship

• By Blood
• By Marriage

Rules of Descent

• Descent: Affiliation to one's kin group.
• Kingroup: Based on whether the society is matrilineal or patrilineal.
  • Matrilineal Society: Descent traced through the mother.
  • Patrilineal Society: Descent traced through the father.
• Descent determines:
  • Inheritance of property
  • Authority and power
• Affiliation to Descent Group:
  • Based on societal norms: matriarchal or patriarchal.

Matriarchal Society

• Definition:
  • Matriarchy: Mother right (complete rule of the mother is rare today).
  • Matrilineal Society: Lineage and inheritance through the mother.
• Example: Khasi People of Meghalaya:
  • Lineage traced through the mother.
  • Inheritance of ancestral house follows matrilineal line.
  • Youngest daughter (KaKhatdduh) inherits the ancestral house (rule of ultimogeniture).
  • Authority in decision making lies with the mother's brother (maternal uncle).

Patriarchal Society

• Definition:
  • Patriarchy: Father right.
  • Patrilineal Society: Lineage, descent, inheritance, power, and authority traced through the father.
• Inheritance:
• Primogeniture: Eldest male child inherits property and becomes head of family after father's death.
• Ultimo Geniture: Youngest son inherits ancestral property (seen in some patriarchal societies like the Kachin of Burma).

Genealogy

Definition

• Genealogy: The study of family trees to establish relationships between individuals.
• Purpose: Tracing ancestors to understand the line of descent from either the father’s or mother’s side.

Symbols Used in Genealogy

1. Triangle: Man
2. Circle: Woman
3. Box/Diamond: Person whose sex is not known
4. Line Above Two Symbols: Sibling relationship
5. Equal Sign (=): Marriage
6. Horizontal Line from Marriage Sign: Parent/child relationship
7. Dotted/Dashed Line (--------): Sexual relationship other than marriage
8. Line Through Symbol: Deceased person
9. Horizontal Line Cutting Equal Sign (≠/): Severed relationship (e.g., divorce)
10. Arrow Near Symbol: Ego, the reference point of the genealogy

Common Terms and Abbreviations

• F: Father
• M: Mother
• P: Parent
• B: Brother
• Z: Sister
• S: Son
• D: Daughter
• G: Sibling
• H: Husband
• W: Wife
• E: Spouse
• e: Older (elder)
• y: Younger
• ss: Same sex
• os: Opposite sex
• gm: Grandmother
• gf: Grandfather
• zh: Sister’s husband
• zs: Sister’s son
• zd: Sister’s daughter
• sla: Son-in-law
• dla: Daughter-in-law

Family

Definition and Types

• Family: People living together related by blood (cognate) or marriage (agnate).
• Household: Residential unit where economic production, consumption, inheritance, child-rearing, and shelter are organized (Haviland, 2003).

Types of Families

• Nuclear Family: One married couple with their children (own or adopted).
• One-Parent Family: One parent (father or mother) with children, formed through separation, divorce, or death of a spouse.
• Compound Family: Central figure (typically a man) with spouses, sometimes concubines, and their children, common in polygamous societies.
• Joint Family: Brothers, their wives, children, and parents living together, authority with the father (common in agricultural societies like India and China).
• Extended Family: Group of closely-related nuclear families living together or keeping in touch.

Family Types Based on Residence After Marriage (Jha, 1995)

• Neolocal Residence: Newlyweds form a new nuclear family.
• Patrilocal/Virilocal Residence: Newlyweds reside in the groom’s father’s house.
• Matrilocal/Uxorilocal Residence: Newlyweds reside with the bride’s family.
• Avunculocal Residence: Newlyweds reside with the groom’s mother’s brother (common among the Ashanti of Ghana).
• Ambilocal/Bilocal Residence: Newlyweds can choose to live with either spouse’s relatives.
• Natolocal Residence: Newlyweds do not live together but stay with their families of orientation (formerly among the Garos of Meghalaya).

Family vs. Household

• Family: People related by blood or marriage living together.
• Household: Can include non-family members sharing a common hearth (e.g., students sharing accommodation).

Functions of a Family

1. Satisfaction of Biological Needs: Regularizes satisfaction of biological needs, channels sexual outlets, and defines norms (incest taboo).
2. Reproduction: Provides a child with social position, beliefs, language, and kin system.
3. Economic: Satisfies basic needs (food, clothes, shelter), with cooperation and work division among members.
4. Educational: Nurtures the child, inculcates societal norms through enculturation and socialization, and prepares the child for adulthood.

Modern Variations

• Live-in Relationships: Couples live together without marriage, considered legal by law, and children born are considered legitimate. Cases of domestic violence in live-in relationships are addressed in family courts in India.

Marriage

1. Understanding Marriage:

• Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, legitimizing offspring (Notes and Queries on Anthropology 1951: 111).
• Modern interpretation includes same-sex marriages and various customs across societies.

2. Types of Marriages:

• Monogamy: One partner.
  • Serial Monogamy: Multiple spouses one after another (e.g., high divorce rates in the U.S.).
  • Non-Serial Monogamy: Single spouse throughout life (e.g., Hindu society in India).
• Polygamy: Multiple partners.
  • Polygyny: One man, multiple women.
    • Sororal Polygyny: Wives are sisters.
    • Non-Sororal Polygyny: Wives are not related.
  • Polyandry: One woman, multiple men.
    • Fraternal Polyandry: Husbands are brothers.
    • Non-Fraternal Polyandry: Husbands are not related.
    • Familial Polyandry: Husbands are father and sons.
  • Polygynandry: Multiple men and women in one marriage.
• Same-Sex Marriages: Legal in some societies, with rights to adopt or have children through surrogacy.

3. Whom to Marry:

• Endogamy: Marrying within the same group (e.g., caste, tribe).
  • Anuloma (Hypergamy): Higher caste man marries lower caste woman.
  • Pratiloma (Hypogamy): Lower caste man marries higher caste woman.
• Exogamy: Marrying outside one's group.
  • Cross-Cousin Marriage: Children of opposite-sex siblings marry.
  • Parallel Cousin Marriage: Children of same-sex siblings marry.
• Preferential Marriages: Certain preferred relatives for marriage.
  • Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Man marries mother's brother's daughter.
  • Patrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Man marries father's sister's daughter.
• Levirate: Man marries brother's widow.
• Sororate: Man marries deceased wife's sister.

4. Ways of Acquiring a Mate:

• Arranged Marriage: Match fixed by parents or mediator; includes bride wealth or dowry.
• Marriage by Exchange: Daughters exchanged between families.
• Marriage by Service: Groom works for bride's family as bride wealth.
• Marriage by Capture: Either ceremonial or by force.
  • Ceremonial Capture: Proposing at community events.
  • Physical Capture: Abduction during raids.
• Marriage by Intrusion: Girl forces her way into boy's house.
• Marriage by Trial: Groom proves strength and valor.
• Marriage by Elopement: Couples run away due to high marriage costs or disapproval.
• Modern Ways: Love matches, live-in relationships, and same-sex couples.