Category: Prelude to Family Marriage

Using the above concepts, let us briefly introduce the family in three Asian countries, namely the Philippines, Thailand and Japan, as they represent very distinct family systems to serve as a backdrop to understand family in India. The Philippines14 The Philippines is an archipelago that has Malay connections, but was significantly influenced by its colonizers—Spain…

If societies do not permit certain relations to marry (incest), they also at times have preferential marriages. One such preferential marriage is between cross-cousins; there are some religions (for example, Islam) which permit even parallel cousin marriages—in them, clan does not function as an exogamous unit. In many societies, cousins are lumped together and are regarded…

We may now explicate the rules of exogamy (Gr. exo= outside + gamos marriage) and endogamy (Gr. endo = within + gamos marriage). Exogamy implies marriage outside the group, while endogamy signifies rules permitting marriage within the group. The two concepts are not contradictory. An in-marrying group is called an endogamous group, and this group is divided into several exogamous groups. In simpler societies, one can mention…

In each society, there are rules that forbid marriage between close relatives. Who those relatives are differ from society to society. Marrying them is tantamount to incest. Incest taboos are almost universal. Incest taboo is a feature found in all societies. Murdock writes:   … with the exception of married parents, incest taboos apply universally…