AAS 17 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Age Disparity In Sexual Relationships, Infertility, Eocene
30 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
1/29/18
Matrilineal Society
• Married woman, her children, her blood relatives.
• Some matrilineal societies allowed the husband to live with her and her blood relatives.
• Other matrilineal societies where husband stays with his blood relatives.
Patrilineal Society
• Married man and wife, children of husband/wife, blood relatives of husband.
• Sisters in husbands home move out with their husbands once they get married.
Matrilineal Societies
• Why did men bother to get married in matrilineal societies if the children aren’t theirs?
o Could be a debate about who the father is, but never the mother.
o Marriage saves the men from constant courtship. Could be intimate with wife anytime.
▪ Saves them a lot of trouble in terms of relationships.
• Patriarchal societies where the most powerful men were the brothers, not the husbands.
• Can men in matrilineal societies be compared to the American concept of deadbeat dads?
o No, every child has a father figure. A male or two who is responsible for the child.
▪ Always maternal uncle, never biological father.
▪ Male blood relatives of mother responsible of her children.
o Men in charge of matrilineal household. They are brothers. Even if not wife’s brother, it
is her mother’s brothers or her cousins.
Agrarian societies w/ low population density
• Women are valued for giving birth.
o Societies still patriarchal.
• Very high rates of polygyny (man has more than one wife).
• Higher rates of matrilineal family organization.
• Woman to woman marriage.
o Women marry wives in order to become wealthy, just as men do. End up with
interesting feature of female-husband.
Changes that might affect marriage
• Supposing population density increases?
• Supposing people lose access to good quality land?
• Supposing people are no longer farmers?
• Supposing people move to the cities and no longer need many wives and many children?
Female Conduct
• Hypergyny: Marrying up/dating up
Document Summary
Matrilineal society: married woman, her children, her blood relatives, some matrilineal societies allowed the husband to live with her and her blood relatives, other matrilineal societies where husband stays with his blood relatives. Patrilineal society: married man and wife, children of husband/wife, blood relatives of husband, sisters in husbands home move out with their husbands once they get married. Matrilineal societies: why did men bother to get married in matrilineal societies if the (cid:272)hildre(cid:374) are(cid:374)(cid:859)t theirs, could be a debate about who the father is, but never the mother, marriage saves the men from constant courtship. A male or two who is responsible for the child: always maternal uncle, never biological father, male blood relatives of mother responsible of her children, me(cid:374) i(cid:374) (cid:272)harge of (cid:373)atrili(cid:374)eal household. E(cid:448)e(cid:374) if (cid:374)ot (cid:449)ife(cid:859)s (cid:271)rother, it is her (cid:373)other(cid:859)s (cid:271)rothers or her (cid:272)ousi(cid:374)s.
