Lecture 7: Kinship, Descent and Marriage

Question 1

sexual dimorphism

Answer 1

marked differences in male and female biology besides the primary and secondary sexual features.

Question 2

gender

Answer 2

encompasses traits that a culture assigns to and inculcates in males and females – the cultural construction of whether one is female, male, non-binary or something else

Question 3

three societies on the same island - differences in male / female personalities

Answer 3

1. arapesh women
2. mundugumor men and women
3. tchambuli men

Question 4

arapesh women

Answer 4

mild, parental, responsive

Question 5

mundugumor men and women

Answer 5

fierce and agressive

Question 6

tchambuli men

Answer 6

catty

Question 7

feminism: first wave

Answer 7

focus on suffrage

Question 8

feminism: second wave

Answer 8

focus on contraceptives and equal pay

Question 9

feminism: third wave

Answer 9

focus on liberation and the body

Question 10

how many waves of feminism

Answer 10

3

Question 11

contributions of men and women

Answer 11

roughly equal cross-culturally

Question 12

domestic activities

Answer 12

female labour dominates

Question 13

extra domestic activities

Answer 13

male labor dominates

Question 14

primary caregivers

Answer 14

women

Question 15

gender stratification

Answer 15

the social ranking (men typically higher status than women)

Question 16

distribution gender stratification

Answer 16

Gender stratification relatively low when men and women made roughly equal contributions to subsistence.

Gender stratification is less developed among foragers or hunters and gatherers

Question 17

hunters and warriors - why men exclusive service?

Answer 17

Greater size, strength and mobility of men

Question 18

hunters and warriors - why women kept from being primary hunters

Answer 18

Pregnancy and lactation

Question 19

domestic-public dichotomy

Answer 19

strong differentiation between home and the outside world is called the domestic-public dichotomy, or the private-public contrast.

Question 20

domestic-public dichotomy and gender stratification

Answer 20

Domestic-public dichotomy influences gender stratification in industrial societies.

Gender roles changing rapidly in western societies.

The ‘traditional’ idea that a ‘woman’s place is in the home’ developed among middle- and upper-class citizens as industrialism spread after 1900.

Question 21

economic change and attitudes toward women

Answer 21

Gendered work, attitudes, and beliefs have varied in response to economic needs. Changes in economy led to changes in attitudes toward and about women.

Question 22

nuclear family

Answer 22

mother, father and biological children

Question 23

family of orientation

Answer 23

family in which one is born and grows up

Question 24

family of procreation

Answer 24

formed when one marries and has children

Question 25

is the nuclear family universal?

Answer 25

The nuclear family is widespread, but not universal: in many societies, extended families are the primary unit of social organization.

Question 26

neo locality

Answer 26

married couples may live hundreds of miles away from parents

Question 27

extended family household

Answer 27

expanded family household that includes three or more generations.

Question 28

family of procreation pattern

Answer 28

Family of procreation living neo locally most prevalent residence pattern in industrialized societies.

Question 29

descent group

Answer 29

a permanent social unit whose members say they have ancestors in common

Question 30

unlineal descent

Answer 30

decent rule uses one line only, either the male of the female

Question 31

matrilineal descent

Answer 31

individuals automatically join the mother’s descent group when they are born

Question 32

patrilineal descent

Answer 32

individuals automatically join the father’s descent group when they are born

Question 33

(am)bilineal descent

Answer 33

(one of) two lines of descent

Question 34

lineage

Answer 34

unilineal descent group based on demonstrated descent

Question 35

clan

Answer 35

descent group that claims common descent from an apical ancestor but cannot demonstrate it (stipulated descent).

Question 36

Patrilocality

Answer 36

married couple lives with husband’s family; associated with patrilineal descent and more common than matrilocality

Question 37

Matrilocality

Answer 37

married couple lives with wife’s family; associated with matrilineal descent and less common than patrilocality

Question 38

ambilineal descent

Answer 38

people choose the descent group to which they belong. Membership is achieved and fluid. People can change their descent-group membership or belong to two or more groups at the same time.

Question 39

kinship calculation

Answer 39

how people in a society describe their kin relationships.

Question 40

ego

Answer 40

the position from which one views an egocentric genealogy.

Question 41

genealogical kin types

Answer 41

relates to actual genealogical relationship (father’s brother) as opposed to kin term (uncle)

Question 42

bilateral kinship calculation

Answer 42

people tend to perceive kin links through males and females as being similar or equal

Question 43

Lineal kinship terminology

Answer 43

four parental kin terms

Question 44

lineal relative

Answer 44

ego's direct descendant

Question 45

Collateral relatives

Answer 45

relative outside ego’s direct line

Question 46

Affinals

Answer 46

relatives by marriage

Question 47

Kinship classification systems

Answer 47

Native taxonomies have been developed over generations by the people who live in a particular society. There are four ways of classifying kin on the parental generation:

Question 48

bifurcate merging

Answer 48

splits mother’s side from father’s side, but also merges same-sex siblings of each parent

Question 49

Generational

Answer 49

uses the same term for parents and their siblings, but lumping is more complete. Does not distinguish between mother’s and father’s side

Question 50

Bifurcate collateral

Answer 50

separate terms are used for each of six kin types of the parental generation; not as common

Question 51

bifurcate collateral mostly used in ...

Answer 51

north africa and the middle east

Question 52

genitor

Answer 52

biological father of a child

Question 53

pater

Answer 53

socially recognized father of a child

Question 54

exogamy

Answer 54

practice of seeking a spouse outside one’s own group

Question 55

incest

Answer 55

forbidden sexual relations with a close relative. What constitutes incest varies widely from culture to culture.

Question 56

parallel cousins

Answer 56

children of two brothers or two sisters

Question 57

cross-cousin

Answer 57

children of a brother and a sister

Question 58

endogamy

Answer 58

marriage of people from the same group. Classes and ethnic groups are frequently quasi-endogamous groups.

Question 59

homogamy

Answer 59

to marry someone similar.

Question 60

manifest function

Answer 60

reason given for a custom by the people themselves

Question 61

latent function

Answer 61

effects custom has that are not explicitly recognized by the people themselves, like reproduction of political hierarchy and economic function

Question 62

mater

Answer 62

mater = socially recognized mother of a child

Question 63

dowry

Answer 63

marital exchange in which wife’s group provides substantial gifts to husband’s family

Question 64

bride wealth / bride prize

Answer 64

substantial marital gift from husband and his kin to the wife and her kin

Question 65

gifts at marriage

Answer 65

- bride wealth or bride prize - dowry

Question 66

Sororate

Answer 66

husband may marry the wife’s sister if the wife dies

Question 67

Levirate

Answer 67

right to marry husband’s brother if husband dies