Marriage rules

Marriage rules or regulations are social norms with which ( ethnic ) communities or societies determine between which groups of people a marriage is desired. Together with marriage practice, they are researched by ethnosociology , a department of ethnology (ethnology). Marriage rules are always linked to social ancestry rules (descent) and matrimonial rules of residence (residence); together they form the essential basis of the social organization of many societies.

features

Rules of marriage are generally traditional, moral, religious or anchored in law. They can have a positive (as commandments) as well as negative (as prohibitions) effect, with the commandments affecting groups of people desired or recommended as spouses ( e.g. cross-cousin marriage ), while prohibitions affect the groups of people with whom marriage is excluded ( e.g. marriage prohibitions due to the Incest taboos ).

Additional possible distinctions are preferential (recommending) and prescriptive (prescriptive) regulations or also “inward” (rules or prohibitions for one's own social group) and “outward” rules (“marrying” members of other social groups into the own).

to form

Agamy

In agamy ( ancient Greek a "without / not", gamos "wedding") there are no special marriage rules in a community and it does not matter which social group the spouses belong to. The basic exogamous marrying out of one's own nuclear family according to the incest barrier towards biological parents and siblings does not, however, constitute an independent marriage rule.

Endo- / exogamy

When endogamy ( "inner marriage") spouse should preferably inside to search one's own social group or community, in addition, it is possible that an Exo Gamie is explicitly prohibited. In contrast, when should exogamy ( "outside marriage") spouse similar to Endo Gamie preferably outside to search one's own group or community, also analogously an explicit prohibition on endogamy is possible here.

In general, in most societies with marriage rules, endogamous and exogamous rules exist at different levels at the same time , for example a spouse should generally come from the same linguistic, religious or ethnic community, but not from the same ancestry group ( extended family , clan , lineage ).

Iso- / anisogamy

Isogamy is a "marriage among equals"; H. the spouses should have the same social status and belong to the same class, class or caste. On the other hand, in anisogamy ("marriage among unequal") there is a requirement that spouses can / should belong to a higher or lower stratum, class or caste.

Two common forms of anisogamy are hyper- or Hypogamie : When Hypergamie usually has the man a higher social status and the woman married into his group "up". On the other hand, in hypogamy, the social status of women is higher. In this context, women in patrilineal societies usually marry “down” and thus often lose their originally higher social position; in matrilineal societies the man marries “up” and children achieve the higher social status of women.

Functions of marriage

Marriage relationships basically fulfill several different tasks, above all they serve:

the legitimacy of a sexual relationship
the legitimation of the offspring , also in the line of succession
the "keeping clean" and continuation of lineages
the preservation and increase of property and social prestige
the right to sexuality and fertility of women
the consolidation of the connections between social groups, for example by swapping women

Web links

Lukas, Schindler, Stockinger: Regulation of marriage. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Vienna, 1997 (detailed notes, with references).; accessed on March 12, 2020
Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Affinal relatives and marriage relationships. (PDF: 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 97–111 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 (52 pages; documents relating to your lecture in the 2011 summer semester).; accessed on March 12, 2020
Brian Schwimmer: Marriage Systems. In: Tutorial: Kinship and Social Organization. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Canada, 2003 (English, extensive kinship tutorial).; accessed on March 12, 2020
Dennis O'Neil: Sex and Marriage. Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marcos California, 2009 (English, extensive study tutorial on marriage and its regulation, with clear illustrations).

Individual evidence

^ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Marriage rules. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 99 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; Retrieved on March 12, 2020 : "In this context, LEVI-STRAUSS also speaks of positive (stipulates exactly who has to be married) and negative rules (stipulates who cannot be married)."
↑ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Preferential marriage order. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 100 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; Retrieved on March 12, 2020 : “A preferential marriage order is understood to be a marriage regulation in which the rules specify which category or categories of people an individual should marry, i. H. which is given preference. (VIVELO 1981: p.239, FN 5) […] In a prescriptive marriage system, the rules determine who an individual has to marry. (cf. VIVELO 1981: p.238f, FN 5) " . See also the in-depth remarks on the preferential marriage rule and the prescriptive marriage rule. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997.
↑ Lukas, Schindler, Stockinger: Agamie. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997, accessed on March 12, 2020 : “Agamie - Definition: The absence of a marriage rule. So it is a system that is neither endogamous nor exogamous. ” As well as: Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 100: “If there are no marriage rules that would determine how marriage must or should be married (e.g. endogamous or exogamous), one speaks of agamy. (see SEYMOUR-SMITH 1986: p.6 and BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.594) “.
↑ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Endogamy and exogamy must be precisely specified. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 105 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; retrieved on March 12, 2020 : “In many cases, endogamy and exogamy regulations exist in a society and each individual belongs to a number of endogamous and exogamous groups at the same time. (cf. HARRIS 1971: p.284 and BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.350) "
^ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Hypergamy, Hypogamy. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 101 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 : “Hypergamy is [...] a form of marriage in which a woman should or must marry a man of higher status. The woman marries "up here", so to speak. […] With hypergamy, a woman is therefore prohibited from entering into a marriage with a partner from a lower social class (caste, class). Instead, she must marry a man of higher social rank. The children who come from such a connection receive the status of the father and increase the reputation of the group to which the woman belongs. For the man, hypergamy does not represent a loss of prestige because the descendants of his social class are counted. "
^ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Hypergamy, Hypogamy. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 102 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 : "In contrast to hypergamy, where the husband belongs to a higher class than the wife, hypogamy is a marriage relationship where the woman belongs to a higher class or status group than the husband [...] . Here the woman marries "downwards", so to speak, or vice versa, from the point of view of a man of lower status, the hypogamy now marries the man up into the higher status group of his wife. "
↑ Lukas, Schindler, Stockinger: Ehe. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997, accessed on March 12, 2020 (extensive description of the various aspects of marriage relationships).
^ Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Attempts at defining marriage and marriage in ethnosociology. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 97–99 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 .

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011:99-1] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Marriage rules. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 99 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; Retrieved on March 12, 2020 : "In this context, LEVI-STRAUSS also speaks of positive (stipulates exactly who has to be married) and negative rules (stipulates who cannot be married)."

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011:100-2] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Preferential marriage order. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 100 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; Retrieved on March 12, 2020 : “A preferential marriage order is understood to be a marriage regulation in which the rules specify which category or categories of people an individual should marry, i. H. which is given preference. (VIVELO 1981: p.239, FN 5) […] In a prescriptive marriage system, the rules determine who an individual has to marry. (cf. VIVELO 1981: p.238f, FN 5) " . See also the in-depth remarks on the preferential marriage rule and the prescriptive marriage rule. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997.

[Glossar-Agamie-3] Lukas, Schindler, Stockinger: Agamie. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997, accessed on March 12, 2020 : “Agamie - Definition: The absence of a marriage rule. So it is a system that is neither endogamous nor exogamous. ” As well as: Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 100: “If there are no marriage rules that would determine how marriage must or should be married (e.g. endogamous or exogamous), one speaks of agamy. (see SEYMOUR-SMITH 1986: p.6 and BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.594) “.

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011:105-4] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Endogamy and exogamy must be precisely specified. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 105 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; retrieved on March 12, 2020 : “In many cases, endogamy and exogamy regulations exist in a society and each individual belongs to a number of endogamous and exogamous groups at the same time. (cf. HARRIS 1971: p.284 and BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.350) "

[R-P_Hypergamie-5] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Hypergamy, Hypogamy. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 101 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 : “Hypergamy is [...] a form of marriage in which a woman should or must marry a man of higher status. The woman marries "up here", so to speak. […] With hypergamy, a woman is therefore prohibited from entering into a marriage with a partner from a lower social class (caste, class). Instead, she must marry a man of higher social rank. The children who come from such a connection receive the status of the father and increase the reputation of the group to which the woman belongs. For the man, hypergamy does not represent a loss of prestige because the descendants of his social class are counted. "

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011:102-6] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Hypergamy, Hypogamy. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, p. 102 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 : "In contrast to hypergamy, where the husband belongs to a higher class than the wife, hypogamy is a marriage relationship where the woman belongs to a higher class or status group than the husband [...] . Here the woman marries "downwards", so to speak, or vice versa, from the point of view of a man of lower status, the hypogamy now marries the man up into the higher status group of his wife. "

[Glossar-Ehe-7] Lukas, Schindler, Stockinger: Ehe. In: Online Interactive Glossary: Marriage, Marriage, and Family. University of Vienna, 1997, accessed on March 12, 2020 (extensive description of the various aspects of marriage relationships).

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011:97-99-8] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Attempts at defining marriage and marriage in ethnosociology. (PDF; 853 kB) (No longer available online.) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 3/5, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 97–99 , archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on March 12, 2020 .