In Conjunction with Cultural Anthropology - Touro Institute

1. Husbands and wives do not share a common residence in some of the
societies anthropologists have studied.
2. Sexual fidelity is always a cultural expectation in marriage.
3. More societies require marital fidelity of wives than do of husbands.
4. Monogamy is the preferred form of marriage in most of the societies that
anthropologists have studied.
5. The Nayar of southern India placed no restrictions on a woman’s sexual
freedoms.
6. Sororal polygyny is typically viewed as one way a man demonstrates his
success.
7. Male-stratified polygyny is associated with subsistence economies in which
male labor is the major source of income.
8. Group marriages are uncommon where polyandry is preferred.
9. Repeated cross-cousin marriage over generations reinforces economic and
political ties among in-law families.
10. The primary economic function of the North American family is
consumption.
Short Essay Questions - Chapter 10: Marriage, Family, and Household
1. Why is it difficult to define marriage in any simple way that would include the Nayar of India
as a group that has marriages?
2. Under what conditions is sororal polygyny the common form of polygyny?
3. In what kinds of environments might polyandry be advantageous?
4. What was the social benefit of co marriage among the northern Alaskan Inuit?
5. What is meant by atypical marriage types?
6. What benefit might fictive marriages have in a society in which kinship is the major economic
and political institution?
7. Describe the economic benefits that woman marriage has for the Nuer.
8. What are the four main historical types of theories that have attempted to explain the
universality or near universality of the incest taboo.
9. How does the dowry differ from the indirect dowry?
10. How does the household differ from the family?
Reading Assignment: Chapter 11: Politics and Culture