Title: Sex and Marriage
1Sex and Marriage
2Sexual Relations
- Among primates, the human female is unusual in
her ability to engage in sexual activity whether
she is fertile or not. - Every society has rules that govern sexual access.
3Marriage Partner Selection
Padaung woman(Thailand)
4Marriage Partner Selection
Common North American and European Cultural
ideal of beauty
5Marriage Partner Selection
19th century European preference for heavier
female bodies(sketch by Auguste Renoir)
6Marriage Partner Selection
Comparison of traditional Chineseand European
concepts of beauty
7Personality, education, wealth, and other
individual characteristics also are important
mate selection criteria in many societies. -
Caste- Dowry
8Arranged marriages
Padaung woman(Thailand)
9Restrictions to Sexual Access
10Marriage in all societies involves acceptance of
an agreement, either written or verbal. Most
often, this includes four categories of
privileges, rights, and obligations of the
marrying couple1. agreeing to exclusive
sexual access 2. having and caring for children
3. accepting a sexual division of labor 4.
agreeing to extend kinship bonds to your spouse's
relatives
11Marriage Rules
- Endogamy is marriage within a group of
individuals. - Exogamy is marriage outside the group.
12Forms of Marriage
- Monogamy
- Polygyny
- Polyandry
- Group marriage
13 - monogamy
- serial monogamy
- polygamy
- - polygyny a man has two or more wives at the
same time - - sororal polygyny - cowives are sisters
- polyandry- a woman has two or more husbands at
the same time - fraternal polyandry a woman is married to two
or more brothers - Polygynous family in Nigeria
14Marriage
- Marriage is backed by social, legal, and economic
forces. - Monogamy is the most common form of marriage,
primarily for economic reasons. - In most of the world, marriage is not based on
romantic love, but on economic considerations.
15Serial Monogamy
- A form of marriage in which a man or woman
marries a series of partners. - Increasingly common among middle-class North
Americans as individuals divorce and remarry.
16Second Marriage Preferences
- Many societies have specific kinds of second
marriage rules that anthropologists refer to as
the levirate and the sororate. - The levirate specifies that a widow should marry
the brother of her deceased husband - A mirror image of the levirate is the sororate.
It is a rule that a widower should marry the
sister of his deceased wife.
17Marriage Exchanges
- Bride-price - payment of money from the grooms
to the brides kin. - Bride service - the groom is expected to work
for a period for the brides family. - Dowry - payment of a womans inheritance at the
time of marriage to her or her husband.
18Divorce
- Factors contributing to divorce
- Many marriages are based on ideals of romantic
love or the idealization of youth. - Establishing an intimate bond in a society in
which people are taught to seek individual
gratification is difficult.