The Nayar of India

Native Americans established principal relationships either through a clan system, descent from a common ancestor, or through a friendship system, much like tribal societies in other parts of the world. In the Choctaw nation, “Moieties were subdivided into several nontotemic, exogamous, matrilineal 'kindred' clans, called iksa" (Faiman-Silva, 1997, p.8). The Cheyenne tribe also traced their ancestry through the woman's lineage, Moore (1996, p. 154). shows this when he says "Such marriages, where the groom comes to live in the bride's band, are called 'matrilocal'." Leacock (1971, p. 21) reveals that "...prevailing opinion is that hunting societies would be patrilocal.... Matrilineality, it is assumed, followed the emergence of agriculture...." Leacock (p. 21) then stated that she had found the Montagnais-Naskapi, a hunting society, had been matrilocal until Europeans stepped in. "The Tanoan Pueblos kinship system is bilateral. The household either is of the nuclear type or is extended to include relatives of one or both parents...." (Dozier, 1971, p. 237).

na Nanda 's Neither Man Nor Woman is an ethnographic study about the lives of Indian men known as the hijras. Through interaction with the hijras and her study of Indian culture, Nanda provides a glimpse into a unique society and lifestyle. The author goes into detail about the lives of hijras, their treatment by Indian society, the economic and sexual implications of their existence and status within Indian culture. Nanda defines the hijras as “...the name given to a full-time female impersonator who is a member of a traditional social organization, part cult and part caste, of hijras, who worship the goddess Bahuchara Mata. Hijras may be eunuchs with partial surgical sex reassignment; their sexuoerotic role is as women with men.” (Nanda)

ReferencesAugust, P. (2005, October). Arranged Marriages in the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriageBowman, H. & Spanier, G. (1978). Modern Marriage. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Stephanie Coontz in “The Way We Weren’t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family” emphasizes that the traditional and ideal nuclear family widespread in media and textbooks are false and far from reality. In fact, it is common to see more similarities to the traditional family consistent of “male breadwinner and nurturing mother” (1) today than in the past.

Talcott Parsons’ (1956, pg. 309) believed that “the nuclear family is a social system” which consists of a straight married couple and around two to five children, “can be distinguished, and does function as a significant group” (1956, pg.308). Parsons believed that the family benefitted society in ways such as the teachings of gender roles and the overall structure of society: the male going to work and being the breadwinner, while the wife stays at home and cooks and nurtures the children. After the Second World War, the nuclear family was the most common type of family making the structure easily “distinguishable”. However, when we look at the postmodern society, we can see that there are many different types of families nowadays such

In traditional Aboriginal society inter-personal relationships are governed by a Complex system of rules, known as the classificatory system of kinship. The kinship system

As a result of these reviews, the ongoing reconstruction of the social status and roles of Hindu women has brought about many new changes in Hinduism. Some of these changes include changes in education, health measures, problems of early marriages, the positions of widows, and the representation of women in governing bodies (Desai, et al., 1995). For example, within Hinduism now,

Holism is a perspective in anthropology which is the philosophy that functional systems, like body or a country, cannot be understood by looking just at the individual pieces but rather by comparing each individual piece to another and the whole. This writing will discuss the Tiwi peoples of Australia, on how their traditional beliefs and economy influence the marriage system and politics, and vice versa. In addition, how the modern life of the Tiwi has undergone changes in relation to these matters will be provided as evidence to support the discussion.

Falicov, C.J., & Brudner-White, L. (1983). The shifting family triangle: The issue of cultural and

Although each culture views families and how they treat each other differently than other cultures, but when it comes to the traditional two-parent, nuclear family type, the relationship ties can be strained. Since the father would typically be out for the day working and the mother at home with the children, the mother spends the most time with the kids forming a stronger bond than the father might. Leading into the next function, economic cooperation, in which the work done at home is often not paid for resulting in the mother losing say or power over what occurs within their family. In addition, it compiles more tension and stress onto women due to 1950’s TV shows of how a family should be. In the article, “In Search Of A Golden Age,” Stephanie

n the upcoming page’s I will answer the following questions. Why is family the most important agent of socialization? What caused the dramatic changes to the American family? What are the changes? I will discuss the differences in marriage and family, I will discuss how they are linked to class, race, gender, and personal choices. The purpose of this study is to explore the many different family functions and the paths that people are now choosing. I will give my opinion on whether these changes have had a positive or negative affect. I will finally discuss the trend of the modern family, back to pre-World War II family structure, how would that effect the strides that have been made in the progression of women rights.

The Gbadi tribe settles in Lofa County, they practice both traditional and western marriage. I BENEDICT S. KPEHE belong to this tribe. Here in I will discuss the mate selection and marriage pattern of tribal group in Liberia taking the Gbandi tribe as case study.

The example is followed by some simple statistics and facts comparing marriage in Japan to the rest of the world. Japan’s divorce rate is less than half the divorce rate of the United States’ even though it is at a record high. It is shared that the traditional family structure is crumbling in the US and Europe while Japan’s is still going strong. Kristof also supports the strength of the family structure by offering the evidence of a study that was published by the Population Council declaring that the rate of two family traditional household is falling significantly worldwide with one

This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.

     This patriarchal role of males in the Indian family allows for all the power to be placed on the father of the household. This power can be abused which I would assume happens with the children in these families. The oldest male child has the authority to boss around his other siblings, and in the death of his father he then becomes the leader of the household. This could lead to many harsh or unfair ruling by older siblings or by other members of society. This would lead for the younger sibling to have to adjust greatly as they grow into adulthood. These rules that govern Indian household are often strict and are always final. This is accepted by all.