Sex and Marriage

1
Sex and Marriage
2
Sexual 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.

3
Marriage Partner Selection
Padaung woman(Thailand) 
4
Marriage Partner Selection
  Common North American and European Cultural
ideal of beauty
5
Marriage Partner Selection
19th century European preference for heavier
female bodies(sketch by Auguste Renoir)
6
Marriage Partner Selection
Comparison of traditional Chineseand European
concepts of beauty
7
Personality, education, wealth, and other
individual characteristics also are important
mate selection criteria in many societies.  -
Caste- Dowry
8
Arranged marriages
Padaung woman(Thailand) 
9
Restrictions to Sexual Access

• incest taboos

10
Marriage 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

11
Marriage Rules

• Endogamy is marriage within a group of
  individuals.
• Exogamy is marriage outside the group.

12
Forms 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

14
Marriage

• 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.

15
Serial 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.

16
Second 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.

17
Marriage 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.

18
Divorce

• 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.