The Marriage Expectations Of Maya Marriages

​Many of the cultures that we have today have evolved from past events. Such as language it was something that became known throughout the years. Some of the languages that came from that were English, Spanish, German, and Latin to name a few. These languages were derived more past civilizations. One important civilization that is known for having great success is the Mayan civilization. The Mayan civilization is known for many things like they fully developed written language, art, architecture, math and some other factors. Historians have said that they don’t know an exact date of when this civilization rose up but they do mention that it flourished for about 2000 years. Although staring in 250 AD it is said that it was the start of their high point and it continued until the arrival of the Spanish in 1524. The Maya area covers southern Mexico and northwestern Central America. According to Sharer the area is divided into three regions: the Pacific coastal plain to the south, the highlands in the center, and the lowlands to the north. Even though these three regions were under the same civilization they all practiced different religious rituals. Religion plays a big role in every civilization. Some civilizations tend to praise more than one god and they always mention that what they have is thanks to their god. When they see things going wrong they often say that their god is punishing them because they did something that the god/s did not like. This tends to be the same

At this time, marriage was still somewhat based on the economic standing of one’s partner. Marriage was viewed by some as “a means of increasing one’s credit and one’s fortune and of insuring one’s success in this world” (Zeldin 288). However, marrying for love became much more important. Prior to the 1800s, couples were typically much farther apart in age, with the husband being much older than the wife. However, after the increase in marriages of love, couples were nearly the same age. Love and attraction eventually became the primary

Mesoamerican Mayan women were very strong women, but completed typical duties of a typical woman in Ancient society. Their Indian culture influenced their diet, their duties, and they actions in society, but it led them to being strong, independent and trustworthy. The roles they took on I such as cooking, cleaning, child bearing, and mothering in society led them to be well respected and valued in the small Mayan society.

Marriages in El Nahra were, for the large majority, predetermined. This practice in America would be seriously questioned and generally disregarded, based on the cultural ethos of individualism. Americans put a large emphasis on courting their own spouse. However, based on El Nahra?s cultural ethos of family honor, the people trusted their family to make quality decisions for them. Obviously, from an American perspective, women?s freedom of choice in this aspect of El Nahran culture is absent. However, viewing marriage cross-culturally, their priorities as a culture are different and we cannot view them through ?American'; eyes. We must realize that family is the most important aspect of each of their lives, and the preservation of the family line is of utmost priority to them.

Mary Anne Fitzpatrick is the developer of the three original types of marriage. The three types include; Traditional marriage, Independent marriage, and Separate Marriage. When she was studying, she noticed that not every couple was the same, and that age played a factor in it as well when it came to categorizing couples in what type of marriage they are. “Couples can be differentiated on the basis of their “independence,” the extent to which they share their feelings with one another. Some couples are highly interdependent, depending on their partners for comfort, expressions of love, and fun. Other couples are more reserved and do not depend on their partners for emotional sharing and support,”(345). This shows Fitzpatrick’s theory of different types of marriage is true and each couple is different form another and that they should be put into different categories and not just one.

The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late civilizations, between 1300-1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC-AD 1542. Many aspects of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing.

Marriage practices vary across cultures. Every culture has its own way of conducting marriage according to their traditions and customs. Most cultures share common customs and practices, while some cultures have unique practices. Marriage refers to a social union agreed upon by the couples to unit as spouses. The union of couples implies sexual relations, permanence in union, and procreation. This research paper focuses on comparing marriage practices in American and Indian culture. There is significant difference between the two cultures in marriage practices.

When one pictures the societies that spanned throughout our Mesoamerica and South America the images of warriors, conquests, gold and great feats of architecture, spawn in the mind. Missing from not only there, but the focus of many studies are the crucial roles that women played in these societies. Between each society; the Mayan, Aztec and Inca, each has their own unique culture and role for women within it. One wonders the roles of women in society, where does she fit in; politics, religious practices, and within the home. These roles are dictated by the characteristics of the society in which they live. It is crucial to begin uncovering for each of these societies, the roles of which the women took on, through exploring three subject matters, the role of women concerning government and law, politics, the role of women in day-to-day life and lastly, religious roles of women.

The complex societies and civilizations that the world is made up of today, were formed and shaped by groups of smaller traditional societies of the past. These small traditional civilizations that popped up and evolved all around the world in all sorts of different areas and locations laid the stepping stones for life as we know it today. While the civilizations did not necessarily press their values on others, other societies saw valuable practices and took them on themselves. One unique traditional society that has had a lasting impact on the world is the ancient Maya civilization. What makes the Mayans and their society a unique civilization were their economic activities, social arrangements, and political organizations which all helped their society develop over time, thus helped future civilizations to come to flourish using their ideas and traditions.

In some cultures, people didn’t marry for love and those who did were looked down upon; whereas in modern times, it’s the opposite in many parts of the world. Coontz tells of a culture where,“A Taita man normally marries a love wife only after he has accumulated a few more practical wives” (255). This shows the different perceptions of marriage between the Taita peoples, who let men remarry several times in loveless marriages, and those of certain religions that forbade divorce, as well as today’s society where people often marry for love the first time around. The perceptions differed in that some societies believed in remarrying and marrying without love, while others didn’t. Coontz explains some very different marriage traditions than what Bennett says is normal and right-A man and a woman who fit traditional gender roles- as shown in his essay, “Complementary nature of men and women-and how they refine, support, encourage, and complete one another” (272).

|Evolving role within marriage in the last 30 years |An increasing number of women have remained single for a |The average marrying age of young adults is higher compared|

A survey of 14000 adults states in ‘A Guide to Family Issues: The Marriage Advantage’ that marriage was a pertinent factor contributing to happiness and satisfaction with forty percent of the married individuals being happy as opposed to 25 percent of either single or cohabiting individuals. The same study shows that ninety eight percent of never married respondents wished to marry and out of those 88% believed that it should be a lifelong commitment. Even though, divorce rates are rising numerous researches show that young people aspire to have a lasting marriage.

The ancient Maya were a group of American Indian peoples who lived in Southern Mexico. Their descendants, the modern Maya,live in the same regions today.

The Mayans had a large variety of jobs and roles that kept their society together. One exciting example is the High Priest, located on the Sacrifice Pyramid. He is vital to Mayan culture because he is the head of their religion, from which their society is based: if you omit the high priest, there would be no sacrifices or rituals. Another great example of Mayan jobs/roles would be their leaders (King [city center], governors [village], and lords/army [city center]) Their Government is somewhat of a theocracy because the Mayan religion believed that their kings were actually holy and/or gods; however, governors were not considered holy, and their power was similar to that of the king but over a smaller area; also, the lords were the heads

Almost every aspect of Maya life was centered on religion. These ancient Mesoamerican peoples worshipped many gods and goddesses; this was part of their daily lives, despite class differences in their sophisticated society. Religion served as a basis for the government and social life. Priests and shamans played an important role in their government, conducted religious ceremonies, and made sacrifices to the gods. The Maya believed in the supernatural, and used this belief to explain life and their universe. Every object, whether it is part of nature or man made, was considered sacred and worshipped.