SOCL 2001 : Sociology Final Exam Notes
Document Summary
Several themes commonly run through marriage and family: all use family to establish patterns of mate selection, descent, The ideas of family and marriage are not universal. We use a bilineal system for descent. Marriage and family are also used to determine rights of inheritance: no system is natural, but each matches a group"s ideas of justice and. Even sexual relationships don"t universally characterize marriage. Some aren"t even allowed to have sex: some brides and grooms aren"t even alive aka the chinese tribe. Although families are more egalitarian, some of today"s customs still reflect their patriarchial origin ie: the bride taking the groom"s name. Marriage: a group"s approved mating arrangements, usually marked by a ritual of some sort, the wedding, to indicate the couple"s new public status. Bilineal system: we think of ourselves as related to both our mother"s and our father"s sides of the family. Patrilineal system: tracing descent only on the father"s side.
