Marriage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marriage (also called matrimony or wedlock) is a social union or legal contract between people called spouses that establishes rights and obligations between the spouses, between the spouses and their children, and between the spouses and their in-laws.[1] The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. In many cultures, marriage is formalized via a wedding ceremony. In terms of legal recognition, most sovereign states and other jurisdictions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples or two persons of opposite gender in the gender binary, and a diminishing number of these permit polygyny, child marriages, and forced marriages. In modern times, a growing number of countries and other jurisdictions have lifted bans on and have established legal recognition for same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and interfaith marriage. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity.
People marry for many reasons,
including: legal, social, libidinal, emotional, financial, spiritual, and religious. Marriages
can be performed in a secular civil ceremony
or in a religious setting. The act of marriage usually creates normative
or legal obligations between the individuals involved. Some cultures allow the
dissolution of marriage through divorce or annulment.
Polygamous marriages may also occur in spite of national laws.
Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization,
a religious authority, a tribal group, a local community
or peers. It is often viewed as a contract. Civil
marriage is the legal concept of marriage as a governmental institution irrespective
of religious affiliation, in accordance with marriage laws
of the jurisdiction. Forced marriages
are illegal in some jurisdictions.[2]
Definitions
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“
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Marriage
is the union of two different surnames, in friendship and in love, in order
to continue the posterity of the former sages, and to furnish those who shall
preside at the sacrifices to heaven and earth, at those in the ancestral
temple, and at those at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain.
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Anthropologists have proposed
several competing definitions of marriage so as to encompass the wide variety
of marital practices observed across cultures.[4]
In his book The History of Human Marriage (1921), Edvard Westermarck defined marriage as "a more or less durable connection
between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after
the birth of the offspring."[5]
In The Future of Marriage in Western Civilization (1936), he rejected
his earlier definition, instead provisionally defining marriage as "a
relation of one or more men to one or more women that is recognized by custom
or law".[6]
The anthropological handbook Notes
and Queries (1951) defined marriage as "a union between a man and a
woman such that children born to the woman are the recognized legitimate
offspring of both partners."[7]
In recognition of a practice by the Nuer of Sudan allowing women to act as a
husband in certain circumstances, Kathleen Gough
suggested modifying this to "a woman and one or more other persons."[8]
Edmund Leach criticized Gough's definition for being too restrictive in
terms of recognized legitimate offspring and suggested that marriage be viewed
in terms of the different types of rights it serves to establish. Leach
expanded the definition and proposed that "Marriage is a relationship
established between a woman and one or more other persons, which provides that
a child born to the woman under circumstances not prohibited by the rules of
the relationship, is accorded full birth-status rights common to normal members
of his society or social stratum"[9]
Leach argued that no one definition of marriage applied to all cultures. He
offered a list of ten rights associated with marriage, including sexual
monopoly and rights with respect to children, with specific rights differing
across cultures.[10]
Duran Bell also criticized the legitimacy-based definition on the
basis that some societies do not require marriage for legitimacy, arguing that
in societies where illegitimacy means only that the mother is unmarried and has
no other legal implications, a legitimacy-based definition of marriage is
circular. He proposed defining marriage in terms of sexual access rights.[4]
Etymology
The word "marriage"
derives from Middle English mariage, which first appears in 1250–1300 CE This in turn is derived from Old French
marier (to marry) and ultimately Latin marītāre meaning to provide with a husband or wife
and marītāri meaning to get married. The adjective marīt-us -a, -um
meaning matrimonial or nuptial could also be used in the masculine form as a
noun for "husband" and in the feminine form for "wife."[11]
The related word "matrimony" derives from the Old French word matremoine
which appears around 1300 CE and ultimately derives from Latin mātrimōnium
which combines the two concepts mater meaning "mother" and the suffix -monium signifying
"action, state, or condition." "[12]
History
of marriage
Anthropology
Monogamy, the predecessor of formal
marriage, may have evolved as recently as 20,000 years ago.[13][14]
There are estimates, based on sexual dimorphism,
that places monogamy four mya.[15]
Myths
and practices
While the institution of marriage
pre-dates recorded history, many cultures have legends concerning the origins of
marriage. The way in which a marriage is conducted and its rules and
ramifications has changed over time, as has the institution itself, depending
on the culture or demographic of the time.[16]
Various cultures have had their own theories on the origin of marriage. One
example may lie in a man's need for assurance as to paternity of his children.
He might therefore be willing to pay a bride price or provide for a woman in
exchange for exclusive sexual access.[4]
Legitimacy is the consequence of this transaction rather than its
motivation. In Comanche society, married women work harder, lose sexual freedom,
and do not seem to obtain any benefit from marriage.[4]
But nubile women are
a source of jealousy and strife in the tribe, so they are given little choice
other than to get married. "In almost all societies, access to women is
institutionalized in some way so as to moderate the intensity of this
competition."[4]
Forms of group marriage which involve more than one member of each sex, and
therefore are not either polygyny or polyandry, have existed in history. However, these forms of marriage
are extremely rare. Of the 250 societies reported by the American
anthropologist George P. Murdock in 1949, only the Caingang of Brazil
had any group marriages at all.[17]
Various marriage practices have existed throughout the world. In some societies an
individual is limited to being in one such couple at a time (monogamy),
while other cultures allow a male to have more than one wife (polygyny) or, less commonly, a female to have more than
one husband (polyandry).
Some societies also allow marriage between two males or two females. Societies
frequently have other restrictions on marriage based on the ages of the
participants, pre-existing kinship, and membership in religious or other social
groups.
Ancient
Israel
A wife was seen as being of high
value, and was therefore, usually, carefully looked after.[18][19]
Early nomadic communities practised a form of marriage known as beena,
in which a wife would own a tent of her own, within which she retains complete
independence from her husband;[20]
this principle appears to survive in parts of early Israelite society, as some
early passages of the Bible appear to portray certain wives as each owning a
tent as a personal possession[20]
(specifically, Jael,[21]
Sarah,[22]
and Jacob's wives[23]).
In later times, the Bible describes wives as being given the innermost room(s)
of the husband's house, as her own private area to which men were not
permitted;[24][25]
in the case of wealthy husbands, the Bible describes their wives as having each
been given an entire house for this purpose.[26][27]
It was not, however, a life of
complete freedom. The descriptions of the Bible suggest that a wife was
expected to perform certain household tasks: spinning, sewing, weaving,
manufacture of clothing, fetching of water, baking of bread, and animal husbandry.[28][29][30][31]
The Book of Proverbs contains an entire acrostic about the
duties which would be performed by a virtuous wife.[32]
The husband too, is indirectly
implied to have some responsibilities to his wife. The Covenant Code
orders men who have two wives (polygynously) to not deprive the first wife of food, of
clothing, nor of sexual activity;[33]
if the husband does not provide the first wife with these things, she is to be
divorced, without cost to her.[34]
The Talmud interprets this as a requirement for a man to provide food and
clothing to, and have sex with, each of his wives, even if he only has one.[35]
As a polygynous
society, the Israelites did not have any laws which imposed marital fidelity on
men.[36][37]
However, the prophet Malachi states that none should be faithless to the wive
of his youth and that God hates divorce.[38]
Adulterous
married women and adulterous betrothed women, however, were subject to the death penalty
by the biblical laws against adultery, as were their male accomplices.[39][40][41]
According to the Priestly Code of the Book of Numbers,
if a pregnant[42]
woman was suspected of adultery, she was to be subjected to the Ordeal of
Bitter Water,[43]
a form of trial by ordeal, but one that took a miracle to convict. The literary prophets
indicate that adultery was a frequent occurrence, despite their strong protests
against it,[44][45][46][47]
and these legal strictnesses.[36]
Europe
In Ancient Greece,
no specific civil ceremony was required for the creation of a marriage – only mutual agreement and the fact that the couple must
regard each other as husband and wife accordingly.[citation
needed] Men usually married when they were in their 20s[citation
needed] and women in their teens. It has been suggested that these
ages made sense for the Greeks because men were generally done with military
service or financially established by their late 20s, and marrying a young girl
ensured ample time for her to bear children, as life expectancies were
significantly lower during this period.[citation
needed] Married Greek women had few rights in ancient Greek society
and were expected to take care of the house and children.[citation
needed] Time was an important factor in Greek marriage. For
example, there were superstitions that being married during a full moon
was good luck and, according to Robert Flacelière, Greeks married in the winter.[citation
needed] Inheritance was more important than feelings: a woman whose
father dies without male heirs could be forced to marry her nearest male
relative—even if she had to divorce her husband first.[48]
There were several types of
marriages in ancient Roman society. The traditional ("conventional")
form called conventio in manum required a ceremony with witnesses and
was also dissolved with a ceremony.[49]
In this type of marriage, a woman lost her family rights of inheritance of her
old family and gained them with her new one. She now was subject to the
authority of her husband.[citation
needed] There was the free marriage known as sine manu. In
this arrangement, the wife remained a member of her original family; she stayed
under the authority of her father, kept her family rights of inheritance with
her old family and did not gain any with the new family.[50]
The minimum age of marriage for girls was 12.[51]
Among ancient Germanic tribes,
the bride and groom were roughly the same age and generally older than their
Roman counterparts, according to Tacitus:
The young men marry late and their
vigor is thereby unimpaired. The girls, too, are not hurried into marriage. As
old and full-grown as the men, they match their mates in age and strength, and
their children reproduce the might of their parents.
Where Aristotle
had set the prime of life at 37 years for men and 18 for women, the Visigothic Code of law
in the 7th century placed the prime of life at twenty years for both men and
women, after which both presumably married. It can be presumed that most
ancient Germanic women were at least twenty years of age when they married and
were roughly the same age as their husbands.[52]
From the early Christian
era (30 to 325 CE), marriage was thought of as primarily a private matter, with
no uniform religious or other ceremony being required.[53]
However, bishop Ignatius of Antioch writing around 110 to bishop Polycarp of Smyrna
exhorts, "[I]t becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union
with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God,
and not after their own lust."[54]
In the 12th century[where?], women were obligated to take the name of their husbands
and starting in the second half of the 16th century[where?] parental consent along with the church's consent was
required for marriage.[55]
With few local exceptions, until
1545, Christian marriages in Europe were by mutual consent, declaration of
intention to marry and upon the subsequent physical union of the parties.[56][57]
The couple would promise verbally to each other that they would be married to
each other; the presence of a priest or witnesses was not required.[58]
This promise was known as the "verbum." If freely given and made in
the present tense (e.g., "I marry you"), it was unquestionably
binding;[56]
if made in the future tense ("I will marry you"), it would constitute
a betrothal.
One of the functions of churches from the Middle Ages
was to register marriages, which was not obligatory. There was no state
involvement in marriage and personal status, with these issues being
adjudicated in ecclesiastical courts. During the Middle Ages marriages were arranged, sometimes
as early as birth, and these early pledges to marry were often used to ensure
treaties between different royal families, nobles, and heirs of fiefdoms. The church
resisted these imposed unions, and increased the number of causes for
nullification of these arrangements.[55]
As Christianity spread during the Roman period and the Middle Ages, the idea of
free choice in selecting marriage partners increased and spread with it.[55]
The average age of marriage for most
Northwestern Europeans from the late 14th century into the 19th century was around
25 years of age;[59][60][61]
as the Church dictated that both parties had to be at least 21 years of age to
marry without the consent of their parents, the bride and groom were roughly
the same age, with most brides in their early twenties and most grooms two or
three years older,[61]
and a substantial number of women married for the first time in their thirties
and forties, particularly in urban areas,[62]
with the average age at first marriage rising and falling as circumstances
dictated. In better times, more people could afford to marry earlier and thus
fertility rose and conversely marriages were delayed or foregone when times
were bad, thus restricting family size;[63]
after the Black Death, the greater availability of profitable jobs allowed more
people to marry young and have more children,[64]
but the stabilization of the population in the 16th century meant less job
opportunities and thus more people delaying marriages.[65]
As part of the Protestant Reformation, the role of recording marriages and setting the rules for
marriage passed to the state, reflecting Martin Luther's
view that marriage was a "worldly thing".[66]
By the 17th century, many of the Protestant
European countries had a state involvement in marriage. As of 2000, the average
marriage age range was 25–44 years for men and 22–39 years for women. In
England, under the Anglican Church, marriage by consent and cohabitation was
valid until the passage of Lord Hardwicke's Act in 1753. This act instituted certain requirements for
marriage, including the performance of a religious ceremony observed by
witnesses.[67]
As part of the Counter-Reformation, in 1563 the Council of Trent
decreed that a Roman Catholic marriage would be recognized only if the marriage ceremony
was officiated by a priest with two witnesses. The Council also authorized a Catechism,
issued in 1566, which defined marriage as, "The conjugal union of man and
woman, contracted between two qualified persons, which obliges them to live
together throughout life."[68]
In the early modern period, John Calvin and his Protestant
colleagues reformulated Christian marriage by enacting the Marriage Ordinance
of Geneva, which imposed "The dual requirements of state registration and
church consecration to constitute marriage"[68]
for recognition.
In England and Wales, Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753
required a formal ceremony of marriage, thereby curtailing the practice of Fleet Marriage.[69]
These were clandestine or irregular marriages performed at Fleet Prison, and at
hundreds of other places. From the 1690s until the Marriage Act of 1753 as many
as 300,000 clandestine marriages were performed at Fleet Prison alone.[70]
The Act required a marriage ceremony to be officiated by an Anglican priest in
the Anglican Church with two witnesses and registration. The Act did not apply to
Jewish marriages or those of Quakers, whose marriages continued to be governed
by their own customs.
In England and Wales, since 1837,
civil marriages have been recognized as a legal alternative to church marriages
under the Marriage Act 1836. In Germany, civil marriages were recognized in 1875. This
law permitted a declaration of the marriage before an official clerk of the
civil administration, when both spouses affirm their will to marry, to
constitute a legally recognized valid and effective marriage, and allowed an
optional private clerical marriage ceremony.
In contemporary English common law, a marriage is a voluntary contract by a man
and a woman, in which by agreement they choose to become husband and wife.[71]
Edvard Westermarck proposed that "the institution of marriage has probably
developed out of a primeval habit".[72]
China
The mythological origin of Chinese
marriage is a story about Nüwa and Fu
Xi who invented proper marriage
procedures after becoming married. In ancient Chinese society, people of the
same surname are supposed to consult with their family trees
prior marriage to reduce the potential risk of unintentional incest. Marriaging
to one's maternal relatives was generally not thought of as incest, families
sometimes intermarried from one generation to another. Over time, Chinese
people became more geographically mobile. Individuals remained members of their
biological families. When a couple died, the husband and the wife were buried
separately in the respective clans’ graveyard. In a maternal marriage, a male
would become a son-in-law who lived in the wife's home.
The New Marriage Law
of 1950 radically changed Chinese marriage traditions, enforcing monogamy, equality
of men and women, and choice in marriage; arranged marriages
were the most common type of marriage in China until then.
Many advocates of same-sex marriage,
such as this protester at a demonstration in New York City against California
Proposition 8, reject the notion of civil unions
as being an inferior alternative to legal recognition of same-sex marriage.[73]
Various types of same-sex marriages
have existed,[74]
ranging from informal, unsanctioned relationships to highly ritualized unions.[75]
While it is a relatively new
practice to grant same-sex couples the same form of legal marital recognition
as commonly granted to mixed-sex couples, there is some history of recorded
same-sex unions around the world.[76]
It is believed that same-sex unions were celebrated in Ancient Greece and Rome,[76]
some regions of China, such as Fujian, and at certain times in ancient European history.[77]
A law in the Theodosian Code (C. Th. 9.7.3) issued in 342 CE imposed severe penalties or death
on same-sex marriage in ancient Rome[78]
but the exact intent of the law and its relation to social practice is unclear,
as only a few examples of same-sex marriage in that culture exist.[79]
The first laws in modern times
recognizing same-sex marriage were enacted during the first decade of the 21st
century. As of March 2013, eleven countries (Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South
Africa, Sweden), and several sub-national jurisdictions (parts of Brazil, Mexico, and the United
States), allow same-sex couples to marry.
Bills allowing legal recognition of same-sex marriage have been proposed, are
pending, or have passed at least one legislative house in Andorra, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Nepal, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom,
and Uruguay as well
as in the legislatures of several sub-national jurisdictions (in Scotland as well
as parts of Australia, Mexico, and the United States).
Introduction of same-sex marriage
laws has varied by jurisdiction, being variously accomplished through a
legislative change to marriage laws, a court ruling based on constitutional
guarantees of equality, or by direct popular vote (via a ballot initiative
or a referendum).
The recognition of same-sex marriage is a political, social, civil rights and
religious issue in many nations, and debates continue to arise over whether
same-sex couples should be allowed marriage, be required to hold a different
status (a civil union), or be denied recognition of such rights. Allowing
same-gender couples to legally marry is considered to be one of the most
important of all LGBT rights.
Civil
unions
A civil union, also referred
to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership
similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been
established by law in several countries in order to provide same-sex couples
rights,
benefits, and responsibilities similar (in some countries, identical) to opposite-sex
civil marriage. In some jurisdictions,
such as Brazil, New
Zealand, Uruguay, France and the U.S. states of Hawaii and Illinois, civil unions are also open to opposite-sex couples.
Group
marriage
Group marriage also known as multi-lateral marriage, is a form of polyamory
in which more than two persons form a family unit, with all the members of the group marriage being
considered to be married to all the other members of the group marriage, and
all members of the marriage share parental responsibility for any children arising from the marriage.[80]
No country legally condones group marriages, neither under the law nor as a
common law marriage, but historically it has been practiced by some cultures of
Polynesia, Asia, Papua New Guinea and the Americas - as well as in some intentional communities and alternative subcultures.
Selection
of a partner
There is wide cross-cultural
variation in the social rules governing the selection of a partner for
marriage. There is variation in the degree to which partner selection is an
individual decision by the partners or a collective decision by the partners'
kin groups, and there is variation in the rules regulating which partners are
valid choices.
In many societies the choice of
partner is limited to suitable persons from specific social groups. In some
societies the rule is that a partner is selected from an individual's own social
group – endogamy, this is
the case in many class and caste based societies. But in other societies a
partner must be chosen from a different group than one's own – exogamy, this is
the case in many societies practicing totemic religion where society is divided into several exogamous
totemic clans, such as most Aboriginal Australian societies. In other societies a person is expected to marry
their cross-cousin, a woman must marry her father's sister's son and a man
must marry his mother's brother's daughter – this is often the case if either a
society has a rule of tracing kinship exclusively through patrilineal or
matrilineal descent groups as among the Akan people
of West Africa. Another kind of marriage selection is the levirate marriage
in which widows are obligated to marry their husband's brother, mostly found in
societies where kinship is based on endogamous clan groups.
In other cultures with less strict
rules governing the groups from which a partner can be chosen the selection of
a marriage partner may involve either the couple going through a selection
process of courtship or the marriage may be arranged by the
couple's parents or an outside party, a matchmaker.
A pragmatic (or 'arranged') marriage
is made easier by formal procedures of family or group politics. A responsible
authority sets up or encourages the marriage; they may, indeed, engage a
professional matchmaker to find a suitable spouse for an unmarried person. The
authority figure could be parents, family, a religious official, or a group
consensus. In some cases, the authority figure may choose a match for purposes
other than marital harmony.
In rural Indian villages, child marriage
is also practiced, with parents at times arranging the wedding, sometimes even
before the child is born.[81]
This practice was made illegal under the Child
Marriage Restraint Act of 1929.
In some societies ranging from Central Asia
to the Caucasus to
Africa, the custom of bride kidnapping
still exists, in which a woman is captured by a man and his friends. Sometimes
this covers an elopement, but sometimes it depends on sexual violence.
In previous times, raptio was a larger-scale version of this, with groups of women
captured by groups of men, sometimes in war; the most famous example is The Rape
of the Sabine Women, which provided the first citizens
of Rome with their wives.
Other marriage partners are more or
less imposed on an individual. For example, widow inheritance
provides a widow with another man from her late husband's brothers.
Marriage
ceremony
A marriage is usually formalized at
a wedding or marriage ceremony. The ceremony may be officiated either by a
religious official, by a government official or by a state approved celebrant.
In many European and some Latin American countries, any religious ceremony must
be held separately from the required civil ceremony. Some countries – such as
Belgium, Bulgaria, France,
the Netherlands, Romania and Turkey[82]
– require that a civil ceremony take place before any religious one. In some
countries – notably the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Norway and Spain – both ceremonies can be held together;
the officiant at the religious and civil ceremony also serving as agent of the
state to perform the civil ceremony. To avoid any implication that the state is
"recognizing" a religious marriage (which is prohibited in some
countries) – the "civil" ceremony is said to be taking place at the
same time as the religious ceremony. Often this involves simply signing a
register during the religious ceremony. If the civil element of the religious
ceremony is omitted, the marriage is not recognized by government under the
law.
While some countries, such as
Australia, permit marriages to be held in private and at any location, others,
including England and Wales, require that the civil ceremony be conducted in a place
open to the public and specially sanctioned by law. In England, the place of
marriage need no longer be a church or register office,
but could also be a hotel, historic building or other venue that has obtained
the necessary license. An exception can be made in the case of marriage by
special emergency license, which is normally granted only when one of the
parties is terminally ill. Rules about where and when persons can marry vary
from place to place. Some regulations require that one of the parties reside in
the locality of the registry office.
Within the parameters set by the law
of the jurisdiction in which a marriage or wedding takes place, each religious
authority has rules for the manner in which weddings are to be conducted by
their officials and members.
Cohabitation
Marriage is an institution which can
join together people's lives in a variety of emotional
and economic ways. In
many Western cultures, marriage usually leads to the formation of a new household
comprising the married couple, with the married couple living together in the
same home, often sharing the same bed, but in some other cultures this is not
the tradition.[83]
Among the Minangkabau of West Sumatra,
residency after marriage is matrilocal,
with the husband moving into the household of his wife's mother.[84]
Residency after marriage can also be patrilocal
or avunculocal. Such marriages have also been increasingly common in Beijing. Guo
Jianmei, director of the center for women's studies at Beijing University, told
a Newsday correspondent,
"Walking marriages reflect sweeping changes in Chinese society."[85]
A similar arrangement in Saudi Arabia,
called misyar marriage, also involves the husband and wife living separately but
meeting regularly.[86]
Conversely, marriage is not a
prerequisite for cohabitation. In some cases couples living together do not wish to be
recognized as married, such as when pension or alimony rights are adversely
affected, or because of taxation consideration, or because of immigration
issues, and for many other reasons. In western societies some couples
cohabitate before marriage to test whether such an arrangement might work in
the long term.
In some cases cohabitation may
constitute a common-law marriage, and in some countries the laws recognize
cohabitation in preference to the formality of marriage for taxation and social
security benefits. This is the case, for example, in Australia.[87]
Sex
and procreation
Many of the world's major religions
look with disfavor on sexual relations outside of marriage.[88]
Many non-secular states
sanction criminal penalties for sexual intercourse before marriage. Sexual relations by a married person with someone other
than his/her spouse is known as adultery and is
also frequently disapproved by the major world religions (some calling it a sin). Adultery is considered in many jurisdictions to be a
crime and grounds for divorce.
In some countries, such as Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan,[89]
Afghanistan,[90][91][92]
Iran,[92]
Kuwait,[93]
Maldives,[94]
Morocco,[95]
Oman,[96]
Mauritania,[97]
United Arab Emirates,[98][99]
Sudan,[100]
Yemen,[101]
any form of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal.
Historically, and still in many
countries, children born outside of marriage suffered severe social stigma and
discrimination. In England and Wales, such children were known as bastards
and whoresons.
In the European countries, as well
as in Latin America, the situation has changed. Children born outside marriage
have become more common, and in some countries, the majority. Recent data from Latin America
showed figures for non-marital childbearing to be 74% for Colombia, 69% for Peru, 68% for Chile, 58% for Argentina,
55% for Mexico[102]
In Europe, in 2011, the highest levels of extramarital births were found in
Northern Europe and some countries of the former Communist Bloc: Iceland (65%), Estonia (59.7%), Slovenia (56.8%), Bulgaria (56.1%), Norway (55%), Sweden (54.2%).[103]
Data from 2009 showed that in that year, in the European Union,
37.3% of births were to unmarried women.[103]
In the United States, births outside
marriage are not as socially accepted as in other Western countries, but their
prevalence has increased nevertheless. Social views have become more accepting.[citation
needed] In 1992, the National Center for Health Statistics reported
that 30.1% of births were to unmarried women.[104][105]
In 2010, 40.8% of births were to unmarried women.[106]
Some married couples choose not to
have children and so remain childfree.
Others are unable to have children because of infertility
or other factors preventing conception or the bearing of children. In some cultures, marriage
imposes an obligation on women to bear children. In northern Ghana, for example, payment of bridewealth
signifies a woman's requirement to bear children, and women using birth control
face substantial threats of physical abuse and reprisals.[107]
Marriage
law
Marriage laws refer to the legal requirements which determine the
validity of a marriage, which vary considerably between countries.
Common-law
marriage
In a small number of jurisdictions
marriage relationships may be created by the operation of the law alone. Unlike
the typical ceremonial marriage with legal contract, wedding ceremony, and other details, a
common-law marriage may be called "marriage by habit and repute
(cohabitation)." A de facto common-law marriage without a license or
ceremony is legally binding in some jurisdictions but has no legal consequence
in others.[108]
Rights
and obligations
A
marriage bestows rights and obligations on the married parties, and sometimes
on relatives
as well, being the sole mechanism for the creation of affinal ties
(in-laws). These may include, depending on jurisdiction:
- Giving a husband/wife or his/her family control over a
spouse's sexual services, labor, and property.
- Giving a husband/wife responsibility for a spouse's
debts.
- Giving a husband/wife visitation rights when his/her
spouse is incarcerated or hospitalized.
- Giving a husband/wife control over his/her spouse's
affairs when the spouse is incapacitated.
- Establishing the second legal guardian
of a parent's child.
- Establishing a joint fund of property for the benefit of children.
- Establishing a relationship between the families of the
spouses.
These rights and obligations vary
considerably between societies, and between groups within society.[109]
These might include arranged marriages, family obligations, the legal
establishment of a nuclear family unit, the legal protection of children and public
declaration of commitment.[110][111]
Marriage
restrictions
Marriage is an institution that is
historically filled with restrictions. From age, to race, to social status, to consanguinity,
to gender, restrictions are placed on marriage by society for reasons of
benefiting the children, passing on healthy genes, maintaining cultural values,
or because of prejudice and fear. Almost all cultures that recognize marriage also recognize
adultery as a
violation of the terms of marriage.[112]
Age
Most jurisdictions[citation
needed] set a minimum age for marriage,
that is, a person must attain a certain age to be legally allowed to marry.
This age may depend on circumstances, for instance exceptions from the general
rule may be permitted if the parents of a young person express their consent
and/or if a court decides that said marriage is in the best interest of the
young person (often this applies in cases where a girl is pregnant). Although
most age restrictions are in place in order to prevent children from being
forced into marriages, especially to much older partners, which lead to child sexual abuse,[citation
needed] such child marriages
remain common in parts of the world.
Race,
ethnicity, tribe, caste and social class
The United States has had a history
of marriage restriction laws. Many states enacted miscegenation
laws which were first introduced in the late 17th century in the slave-holding
colonies of Virginia (1691) and Maryland (1692) and lasted until 1967 (until it
was overturned via Loving v. Virginia). Many of these states restricted several minorities from
marrying whites. For example, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma banned
Blacks in particular. States such as Mississippi
and Missouri banned
Blacks and Asians. States such as North Carolina
and South Carolina banned Blacks and Native Americans, and some states such as
Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia banned
all non-whites.
Many societies have required a
person to marry within their own general social group, which anthropologists
refer to as endogamy. An example of such restrictions would be a requirement to
marry someone from the same tribe.
Gender
It is a relatively new practice that
same-sex couples are being granted the same form of legal marital recognition
available to mixed-sexed couples. In the United States, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) explicitly defines marriage for the purposes of
federal law as between a man and a woman and allows states to ignore same-sex
marriages from other states (though states arguably could do this already).[113][114]
Forty-one US states currently define marriage as between a man and a woman.
Three of those states have statutory language that pre-dates DOMA (enacted
before 1996) defining marriage as such. Thirty states have defined marriage in
their constitutions. Arizona is the only state that has ever defeated a constitutional
amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman (2006), but it
subsequently passed one in 2008.[115]
Consanguinity
Societies have often placed
restrictions on marriage to relatives, though the degree of prohibited
relationship varies widely. With few exceptions, marriages between parents and
children or between full siblings have been considered incest and forbidden. However, marriages between more distant relatives have been much more common, with one estimate being that
80% of all marriages in history have been between second cousins or closer.[116]
This proportion has fallen dramatically, but still more than 10% of all
marriages are believed to be between first and second cousins.[117]
In the United States, such marriages are now highly stigmatized, and laws ban
most or all first-cousin marriage in 30 states. Specifics vary: in South Korea,
historically it was illegal to marry someone with the same last name.[118]
Number
of spouses in a marriage
In the United States, opposition to
the recognition of Deseret as a
State by the Federal government was founded on opposition to the once-practiced
polygamous marriages of Mormons.
Richard Dawkins has pointed out that there is a slight biological tendency
towards polygamy among humans.[119][clarification
needed]
State
recognition
In many jurisdictions, a civil
marriage may take place as part of the religious marriage ceremony, although
they are theoretically distinct. Some jurisdictions allow civil marriages in
circumstances which are notably not allowed by particular religions, such as same-sex marriages
or civil unions.
Marriage
and religion
Among the precepts of mainstream
religions are found, as a rule, unequivocal prescriptions for marriage,
establishing both rituals and rules of conduct.
Abrahamic
religions
Bahá'í
In the Bahá'í Faith marriage is encouraged and viewed as a mutually
strengthening bond, but is not obligatory. A Bahá'í marriage requires the couple to choose each other, and then the
consent of all living parents.[120]
Christianity
Christians variously regard marriage
as a sacrament, a contract, a sacred institution, or a covenant.[121]
From the very beginning of the Christian Church, marriage law and theology have
been a major matter.[122]
The foundation of the Western tradition of Christian marriages have been the
teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul.[68]
Christians often marry for religious
reasons ranging from following the biblical injunction for a "man to leave
his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become
one,"[Gen. 2:24][123]
to obeying Canon Law stating marriage between baptized persons is a sacrament.[124]
Divorce and remarriage while generally not encouraged are regarded differently by
each Christian denomination. Most Protestant Churches allow people to marry
again after a divorce. The Eastern Orthodox Church allows divorce for a limited
number of reasons, and in theory, but usually not in practice, requires that a
marriage after divorce be celebrated with a penitential overtone. In the Roman
Catholic Church, marriage can only be ended by an annulment where the Church for special reasons regards it as never
having taken place.[125]
"'...So they are no longer two,
but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
"'To the married I give this
command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife."
But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife."
Catholics, Eastern Orthodox
Christians and many Anglicans consider marriage termed holy matrimony to be an
expression of divine grace, termed a sacrament
or mystery. In Western ritual, the ministers of the sacrament are the husband and wife
themselves, with a bishop, priest, or deacon merely witnessing the union on behalf of the church, and
adding a blessing. In Eastern ritual churches, the bishop or priest functions as the actual minister of
the Sacred Mystery (Eastern Orthodox deacons may not perform marriages).
Western Christians commonly refer to marriage as a vocation, while
Eastern Christians consider it an ordination
and a martyrdom,
though the theological emphases indicated by the various names are not excluded
by the teachings of either tradition.[dubious – discuss] Marriage is commonly celebrated in the context of a Eucharistic
service (a nuptial Mass or Divine Liturgy).
The sacrament of marriage is indicative of the relationship between Christ and the Church.[Eph. 5:29–32]
The Roman Catholic tradition of the
12th and 13th centuries defined marriage as a sacrament
ordained by God,[68]
signifying the mystical marriage of Christ to his Church.[126]
"The matrimonial covenant, by
which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole
of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the
procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons
has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."[127]
The mutual love between man and wife
becomes an image of the eternal love with which God loves humankind. The
celebration of marriage between two Catholics normally takes place during the
public liturgical celebration of the Holy Mass, because of its sacramental
connection with the unity of the Paschal mystery of Christ (Communion).
Sacramental marriage confers a perpetual and exclusive bond between the
spouses. By its nature, the institution of marriage and conjugal love is
ordered to the procreation and upbringing of offspring. Marriage creates rights
and duties in the Church between the spouses and towards their children:
"[e]ntering marriage with the intention of never having children is a
grave wrong and more than likely grounds for an annulment."[128]
According to current Catholic
legislation governing marriage, the essential properties of marriage are unity
and indissolubility; in Christian marriage they acquire a distinctive firmness
by reason of the sacrament.[129]
Divorce is not recognized, but annulments predicated upon previously existing
impediments may be granted. Offspring resulting from annulled relationships are
considered legitimate. Remarried persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse
are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic
communion.[130]
For Protestant
denominations, the purposes of marriage include intimate companionship, rearing
children and mutual support for both husband and wife to fulfill their life
callings. Protestants are generally not opposed to the use of birth control[citation
needed] and consider marital sexual pleasure to be a gift of God.
Most Reformed Christians
would deny the elevation of marriage to the status of a sacrament,
nevertheless it is considered a covenant between spouses before God.cf.[Ephesians 5:31–33]
Historically, five competing models
of marriage in Christianity have shaped Western marriage and legal tradition:
- The Protestant Reformationists replaced the Roman Catholic sacramental model.
- Martin Luther
saw it as a social "estate of the earthly kingdom...subject to the
prince, not the Pope."
- John Calvin
taught that marriage was a covenant of grace that required the
coercive power of the state to preserve its integrity.
- Anglicans regarded marriage as a domestic commonwealth
within England and the church. By the 17th century, Anglican theologians
had begun to develop a theology of marriage to replace the sacramental
model of marriage. These "regarded the interlocking commonwealths of
state, church, and family as something of an earthly form of heavenly
government."
- The secularism
of the Enlightenment emphasized marriage as a contract "to be
formed, maintained, and dissolved as the couple sees fit."[68]
Members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS) believe that "marriage between a
man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the
Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." The LDS belief is
that marriage between a man and a woman can last beyond death and into
eternity.[131]
|
Islam
|
Islam also
commends marriage, with the age of marriage being whenever the individuals feel
ready, financially and emotionally.
In Islam, polygyny is
allowed while polyandry is not, with the specific limitation
that men can only have no more than four wives at any one time, with the
requirement that they are able and willing to partition their time and wealth
equally among the respective wives.
For a Muslim wedding to take place,
the bride and her guardian must both agree on the marriage. Should either the
guardian or the girl disagree on the marriage, it may not legally take place.
In essence, while the guardian/father of the girl has no right to force her to
marry, he has the right to stop a marriage from taking place,[citation
needed] given that his reasons are valid. The professed purpose of
this practice is to ensure that a woman finds a suitable partner whom she has
chosen not out of sheer emotion.
From an Islamic (Sharia) law
perspective, the minimum requirements and responsibilities in a Muslim marriage
are that the groom provide living expenses (housing, clothing, food,
maintenance) to the bride, and in return, the bride's main responsibility is
raising children to be proper Muslims. All other rights and responsibilities
are to be decided between the husband and wife, and may even be included as
stipulations in the marriage contract before the marriage actually takes place,
so long as they do not go against the minimum requirements of the marriage.
In Sunni Islam
marriage must take place in the presence of at least two reliable
witnesses, with the consent of the guardian of the bride and the consent of
both the bride and the groom. Following the marriage, the couple may consummate
the marriage. To create a religious contract between them, it is sufficient
that a man and a woman indicate an intention to marry each other and recite the
requisite words in front of a suitable Muslim, nowadays priest will be asked to
officiate. The wedding party usually follows but can be held days, or months
later, whenever the couple and their families want to, however there can be no
concealment of the marriage as it is regarded as public notification due to the
requirement of witnesses.[132][133][134][135]
In Shia Islam,
marriage may take place without the presence of witnesses as is often the case
in temporary mutta marriage
(prohibited in Sunni Islam), but with the consent of both the bride and the
groom. Following the marriage they may consummate their marriage.[citation
needed]
Judaism
In Judaism, marriage
is viewed as a contractual bond commanded by God in which a man and a woman
come together to create a relationship in which God is directly involved.[Deut. 24:1] Though procreation is not the sole
purpose, a Jewish marriage is also expected to fulfill the commandment to have
children.[Gen. 1:28] The main focus centers around the
relationship between the husband and wife. Kabbalistically,
marriage is understood to mean that the husband and wife are merging into a
single soul. This is why a man is considered "incomplete" if he is
not married, as his soul is only one part of a larger whole that remains to be
unified.[136]
The Hebrew Bible
(Christian Old Testament) describes a number of marriages, including those of Isaac (Gen 24:49–67),
Jacob(Gen 29:27)
and Samson (Judges 14:7–12).
Polygyny, or men
having multiple wives at once, is one of the most common marital arrangements
represented in the Hebrew Bible.[18]
Betrothal (erusin), which
is merely a binding promise to get married, is distinct from marriage itself (nissu'in),
with the time between these events varying substantially.[18][19]
Since a wife was regarded as property in those days, the betrothal (erusin)
was effected simply by purchasing her from her father (or guardian);[18][19]
the girl’s consent is not explicitly required by any biblical law.[19]
Like the adjacent Arabic culture (in the pre-Islamic period),[137]
the act of marriage appears mainly to have consisted of the groom fetching the
bride, although among the Israelites
(unlike the Arabs) the procession was a festive occasion, accompanied by music,
dancing, and lights.[18][19]
To celebrate the marriage, week-long feasts were sometimes held.[18][19]
In biblical times, a wife was
regarded as chattel, belonging to her husband;[18][19]
the descriptions of the Bible suggest that she would be expected to perform
tasks such as spinning, sewing, weaving, manufacture of clothing, fetching of
water, baking of bread, and animal husbandry.[138]
However, wives were usually looked after with care, and men with more than one
wife were expected to ensure that they continue to give the first wife food,
clothing, and marital rights.[Ex 21:10]
Since a wife was regarded as
property, her husband was originally free to divorce her for any reason, at any
time.[19]
A divorced couple were permitted to get back together, unless the wife had
married someone else after her divorce.[Deut 24:2–4]
Hinduism
Hinduism sees marriage as a sacred duty that entails both religious
and social obligations. Old Hindu literature in Sanskrit gives
many different types of marriages and their categorization ranging from
"Gandharva Vivaha" (instant marriage by mutual consent of
participants only, without any need for even a single third person as witness)
to normal (present day) marriages, to "Rakshasa Vivaha"
("demoniac" marriage, performed by abduction of one participant by
the other participant, usually, but not always, with the help of other persons).
In India and generally in South Asia, arranged
marriages, the spouse's parents or an older
family member choose the partner, are still predominant in comparison with so
called love marriages until nowadays. The Hindu Widow's Remarriage Act 1856
empowers a Hindu widow to remarry. Though traditionally widow remarriages were
frowned upon and are still considered taboo in many parts of India,[139]
the society is changing and the incidence of widow remarriage is on a rise.[140]
Although sati, or the
practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre, was
officially outlawed by India's British rulers in 1829, the rite persists. The most
high-profile sati incident was in Rajasthan in 1987 when 18-year-old Roop Kanwar
was burned to death.[141]
Buddhism
The Buddhist view of marriage
considers marriage a secular affair and as such, it is not considered a sacrament.
Buddhists are expected to follow the civil laws regarding marriage laid out by
their respective governments.
Sikhism
In a Sikh marriage, the couple make
rounds around the holy book called Guru Granth Sahib
four times and the holy man speaks some words from the Guru Granth Sahib in the
form of kirtan. The ceremony is known as 'Anand Karaj'
and represents the holy union of between two souls that are united as one.
Wicca
Wiccan marriages are commonly known
as handfastings. Although handfastings vary for each Wiccan they often involve
honoring Wiccan gods. Sex is considered a pious and sacred activity.[142]
Same-sex
marriage
While some religious denominations
do not currently perform same-sex marriages,
several do, such as Unitarian Universalist, Metropolitan
Community Church, Quaker, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ and Reform Jewish
congregations, some Anglican dioceses, and various Neopagan faiths,
for example.[143][144]
Same-sex marriage is recognized by various jurisdictions[145]
and religious denominations.[146][147][148]
Polygyny
Religious groups have differing
views on the legitimacy of polygyny, the
practice of a man taking more than one wife. It is allowed in Islam and Confucianism,
though in most areas today it is uncommon.[149][150]
Judaism, Christianity
and Hinduism have
allowed polygyny in the past, but it is prohibited today.[149]
Close-kin
marriage
Religion has commonly weighed in on
the matter of which relatives, if any, are allowed to marry. Relations may be
by consanguinity or affinity, meaning
by blood or by marriage. On the marriage of cousins, Catholic policy
has evolved from initial acceptance, through a long period of general
prohibition, to the contemporary requirement for a dispensation.[151]
Islam has
always allowed it, while Hindu strictures vary widely.[152][153]
Financial
considerations
The financial aspects of marriage
vary between cultures and have changed over time.
In some cultures, dowries and bride
prices continue to be required today. In both cases, the financial arrangements
are usually made between the groom (or his family) and the bride's family; with
the bride in many cases not being involved in the arrangement, and often not
having a choice in whether to participate in the marriage.
In Early Modern Britain, the social status of the couple was supposed to be equal.
After the marriage, all the property (called "fortune") and expected
inheritances of the wife belonged to the husband.
Dowry
A dowry was not an unconditional gift,[clarification
needed] but was usually a part of a wider marriage settlement. For
example, if the groom had other children, they could not inherit the dowry,
which had to go to the bride's children. In the event of her childlessness, the
dowry had to be returned to her family, but sometimes not until the groom's
death or remarriage.
In some cultures, especially in South Asia,
in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, dowries continue to be expected. In India, nearly 7,000
women were killed in 2001 over dowries,[154]
and activists believe that figures represent only a third of the actual number
of such murders.[155]
Dowry related violence is a problem in several places (see dowry deaths),
and, in response to violent incidents regarding the practice, several
jurisdictions have enacted laws restricting or banning dowry (see Dowry law in India). In Nepal, dowry has been made illegal in 2009.[156]
Many authors believe that the giving and receiving of dowry reflects the status
and even the effort to climb high in social hierarchy.[157]
Bride
price and dower
In other cultures, the groom or his
family were expected to pay a bride price
to the bride's family for the right to marry the daughter, or dower, which was payable to the bride. This required the groom to
work for the bride's family for a set period of time.
In the Jewish tradition, the rabbis
in ancient times insisted on the marriage couple entering into a marriage
contact, called a ketubah. Besides other things, the ketubah provided for an
amount to be paid by the husband in the event of a divorce or his estate in the event of his death. This amount was a
replacement of the biblical dower or bride price, which was payable at the time of the marriage by the groom
to the father of the bride.[citation
needed] [Exodus 22:15–16] This innovation was put in place
because the biblical bride price created a major social problem: many young
prospective husbands could not raise the bride price at the time when they
would normally be expected to marry. So, to enable these young men to marry,
the rabbis, in effect, delayed the time that the amount would be payable, when
they would be more likely to have the sum. It may also be noted that both the
dower and the ketubah amounts served the same purpose: the protection
for the wife should her support cease, either by death or divorce. The only
difference between the two systems was the timing of the payment. It is the
predecessor to the wife's present-day entitlement to maintenance
in the event of the breakup of marriage, and family maintenance in the event of
the husband not providing adequately for the wife in his will. Another
function performed by the ketubah amount was to provide a disincentive
for the husband contemplating divorcing his wife: he would need to have the
amount to be able to pay to the wife.
Morning gifts, which might also be arranged by the bride's father rather
than the bride, are given to the bride herself; the name derives from the
Germanic tribal custom of giving them the morning after the wedding night. She
might have control of this morning gift during the lifetime of her husband, but
is entitled to it when widowed. If the amount of her inheritance is settled by
law rather than agreement, it may be called dower. Depending on legal systems and the exact arrangement, she
may not be entitled to dispose of it after her death, and may lose the property
if she remarries. Morning gifts were preserved for many centuries in morganatic marriage, a union where the wife's inferior social status was held
to prohibit her children from inheriting a noble's titles or estates. In this
case, the morning gift would support the wife and children. Another legal
provision for widowhood was jointure, in which
property, often land, would be held in joint tenancy, so that it would
automatically go to the widow on her husband's death.
Islamic tradition has similar
practices. A 'mahr',
either immediate or deferred, is the woman's portion of the groom's wealth
(divorce) or estate (death). These amounts are usually set on the basis of the
groom's own and family wealth and incomes, but in some parts these are set very
high so as to provide a disincentive for the groom exercising the divorce, or
the husband's family 'inheriting' a large portion of the estate, especially if
there are no male offspring from the marriage. In some countries, including
Iran, the mahr or
alimony can amount to more than a man can ever hope to earn, sometimes up to
US$1,000,000 (4000 official Iranian gold coins). If the husband cannot pay the mahr, either in case of a divorce or on demand, according to the
current laws in Iran, he will have to pay it by installments. Failure to pay
the mahr might
even lead to imprisonment.[158]
Bride price is a common practice in
parts of South-East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia), parts of Central Asia,
and in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Contemporary
customs
In many countries today, each
marriage partner has the choice of keeping his or her property separate or
combining properties. In the latter case, called community property, when the marriage ends by divorce each owns half. In many
legal jurisdictions, laws related to property and inheritance
provide by default for property to pass upon the death of one party in a
marriage firstly to the spouse and secondly to the children. Wills and trusts can make
alternative provisions for property succession.
In some legal systems, the partners
in a marriage are "jointly liable" for the debts of the marriage.
This has a basis in a traditional legal notion called the "Doctrine of
Necessities" whereby a husband was responsible to provide necessary things
for his wife. Where this is the case, one partner may be sued to collect a debt
for which they did not expressly contract. Critics of this practice note that
debt collection agencies can abuse this by claiming an unreasonably wide range
of debts to be expenses of the marriage. The cost of defense and the burden of
proof is then placed on the non-contracting party to prove that the expense is
not a debt of the family. The respective maintenance obligations, both during
and eventually after a marriage, are regulated in most jurisdictions;
alimony is one
such method.
Some have attempted to analyze the
institution of marriage using economic theory; for example, anarcho-capitalist economist David D. Friedman
has written a lengthy and controversial study of marriage as a market
transaction (the market for husbands and wives).[159]
In the past the economic status of women was enhanced through marriage;
however, as more women work nowadays, men gain more economically than women.[160]
Taxation
In some countries, spouses are
allowed to average their incomes; this is advantageous to a married couple with
disparate incomes. To compensate for this somewhat, many countries provide a higher
tax bracket
for the averaged income of a married couple. While income averaging might still
benefit a married couple with a stay-at-home spouse, such averaging would cause
a married couple with roughly equal personal incomes to pay more total tax than
they would as two single persons. This is commonly called the marriage penalty.
Moreover, when the rates applied by
the tax code are not based on averaging the incomes, but rather on the sum
of individuals' incomes, higher rates will definitely apply to each individual
in a two-earner households in progressive tax systems. This is most often the
case with high-income taxpayers and is another situation where some consider
there to be a marriage penalty.
Conversely, when progressive tax is
levied on the individual with no consideration for the partnership, dual-income
couples fare much better than single-income couples with similar household
incomes. The effect can be increased when the welfare system treats the same
income as a shared income thereby denying welfare access to the non-earning
spouse. Such systems apply in Australia and Canada, for example.
Other
considerations
Sometimes people marry for purely
pragmatic reasons, sometimes called a marriage of convenience or sham marriage. For example, according to one publisher
of information about "green card" marriages, "Every year over
450,000 United States citizens marry foreign-born individuals and petition for
them to obtain a permanent residency (Green Card) in the United States."
While this is likely an overestimate, in 2003 alone 184,741 immigrants were
admitted to the U.S. as spouses of U.S.
citizens.[161]
Many more were admitted as fiancés of US citizens for the purpose of being
married within 90 days. Regardless of the number of people entering the US to
marry a US citizen, it does not indicate the number of these marriages that are
convenience marriages, which number could include some of those with the motive
of obtaining permanent residency, but also include many people who are US
citizens. One example would be to obtain an inheritance that has a marriage
clause. Another example would be to save money on health insurance or to enter
a health plan with preexisting conditions offered by the new spouse's employer.
Many other situations exist, and, in fact, all marriages have a complex
combination of conveniences motivating the parties to marry. A marriage of
convenience is one that is devoid of normal reasons to marry.
Some people want to marry a person
with higher or lower status than them. Others want to marry people who have
similar status. Hypergyny refers to the act of seeking out those who are of
slightly higher social status. In most cases, hypergyny refers to women wanting
men of higher status. Isogyny refers to the act of seeking out those who
are of similar status.
Criticism
of marriage customs
In recent years, the customs of dowry and bride price
have received international criticism. In some countries, these practices have
been outlawed or restricted. Criticism of these traditions include that they
incite conflicts between families and clans, they contribute to violence against women, they promote materialism, they increase property crimes
(where men steal goods such as cattle in order to be able to pay the bride
price) and they make it difficult for poor people to marry. African women’s
rights campaigners advocate the abolishing of bride price, which they argue is
based on the idea that women are a form of property which can be bought, and
once the man has paid the price, the wife belongs to him and he gains the right
to control her life.[162]
Bride price has also been criticized for contributing to child trafficking,
where impoverished parents sell their young daughters to rich older men.[163]
A senior Papua New Guinea police officer has called for the abolishing of bride
price arguing that it is one of the main reasons for the mistreatment of women
in the country.[164]
The opposite practice of dowry has been linked to a high level of violence (see
dowry deaths)
and to crimes such as extortion.[165]
Termination
In most societies, the death of one
of the partners terminates the marriage, and in monogamous societies this
allows the other partner to remarry, though sometimes after a waiting or
mourning period.
In some societies, a marriages can
be annulled, when an
authority declares, that a marriage never happened.
A marriage may also be terminated
through divorce. As of
2012, the Philippines and the Vatican City
are the only jurisdictions which do not allow divorce (this is currently under
discussion in Philippines [166]).
After divorce, one spouse may have to pay alimony. Laws
concerning divorce and the ease with which a divorce
can be obtained vary widely around the world. After a divorce or an annulment,
the people concerned are free to remarry (or marry).
A statutory right of two married
partners to mutually consent to divorce was enacted in western nations in the
mid-20th century. In the United States no-fault divorce
was first enacted in California in 1969 and the final state to legalize it was
New York in 1989.[167]
About 45% of marriages in Britain[168]
and 46% of marriages in the U.S.,
according to a 2009 study,[169]
end in divorce.
Temporary
marriages
Several cultures have practiced
temporary and conditional marriages. Examples include the Celtic practice of handfasting
and fixed-term marriages in the Muslim community. Pre-Islamic Arabs practiced a
form of temporary marriage that carries on today in the practice of Nikah Mut'ah,
a fixed-term marriage contract. The prophet Muhammad
sanctioned a temporary marriage—sigheh in Iran and muta'a in Iraq— which can provide a legitimizing cover for sex workers.[170]
Muslim
controversies related to Nikah Mut'ah
have resulted in the practice being confined mostly to Shi'ite
communities.
Post-marital
residence
Early theories explaining the
determinants of postmarital residence—with or near the husband's or wife's
families, for example—(e.g., Lewis Henry Morgan, Edward Tylor, or George Peter Murdock) connected it with the sexual division of labor. However,
to date, cross-cultural tests of this hypothesis
using worldwide samples have failed to find any significant relationship
between these two variables. However, Korotayev's
tests show that the female contribution to subsistence does correlate
significantly with matrilocal residence in general; however, this correlation
is masked by a general polygyny factor. Although an increase in the female
contribution to subsistence tends to lead to matrilocal residence, it also
tends simultaneously to lead to general non-sororal polygyny which
effectively destroys matrilocality. If this polygyny factor is controlled (e.g., through a
multiple regression model), division of labor turns out to be a significant
predictor of postmarital residence. Thus, Murdock's hypotheses regarding the
relationships between the sexual division of labor and postmarital residence
were basically correct, though, as has been shown by Korotayev,
the actual relationships between those two groups of variables are more
complicated than he expected.[171][172]
Contemporary
views on marriage
Criticisms
Many people have proposed arguments
against marriage for various reasons. These include political, philosophical
and religious criticisms; concerns about the divorce rate,
individual liberty and gender equality, and questioning of the necessity to
have a personal relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities;
or the promotion of celibacy for religious or philosophical reasons.
Marriage
laws, human rights and the global situation of women
During the 21st century, the laws
surrounding marriage in many countries in the world have come to international
scrutiny, because in many parts of the world these laws have been held to
contradict international standards of human rights,
and to institutionalize violence against women. Things that continue to be legal in parts of the world
include: child marriage; forced marriage;
the requirement that a husband give permission for his wife to work in a paid
job, sign legal documents, file criminal charges against someone, sue in civil
court etc.; the wife's property being administered by the husband himself; the
use by husbands of violence to "discipline" their wives; marital rape;
discriminatory laws regarding divorce etc.[174][175][176]
Such things were legal even in many
Western countries until recently: for instance, in France, married women obtained the right to work without their
husband's permission only in 1965,[177][178][179]
and in West Germany women obtained this right only in 1977 (by comparison women
in East Germany had much more rights).[180][181]
In Spain, during
Franco's era, a married woman needed her husband's consent, referred to as the permiso
marital, for almost all economic activities, including employment,
ownership of property, and even traveling away from home; the permiso
marital was abolished in 1975.[182]
In England and Wales, marital rape was made illegal only in 1991. The views of
Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th century jurist, published in The History of the Pleas
of the Crown (1736), stated that a husband cannot be guilty of the rape of
his wife because the wife "hath given up herself in this kind to her
husband, which she cannot retract"; in England and Wales this would
remain law for more than 250 years, until it was abolished by the Appellate
Committee of the House of Lords,
in the case of R v R in 1991.[183][184]
An absolute submission of a wife to
her husband is accepted as natural in many parts of the world, for instance
surveys by UNICEF have shown that the percentage of women aged 15–49 who think
that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain
circumstances is as high as 90% in Afghanistan and Jordan, 87% in Mali, 86% in
Guinea and Timor-Leste, 81% in Laos, 80% in Central African Republic.[185]
Detailed results from Afghanistan show that 78.4% of women agree with a beating
if the wife "goes out without telling him [the husband]" and 76.2%
agree "if she argues with him".[186]
In some countries of the world the
laws go as far as allowing a husband to kill his wife, in certain
circumstances, such as in case of adultery. In Haiti for instance, a husband has such a right: the criminal code
excuses a husband who kills his wife or her lover if they are caught in his
home, but a wife who kills her husband under similar circumstances is subject
to criminal prosecution.[187]
Controversial
views
See also: Anti-miscegenation
laws, Interracial marriage, Same-sex marriage,
Transnational
marriage, Interfaith marriage, Mixed
marriage (disambiguation),
Divorce,
Polygamy,
Child marriage, and Arranged marriage
Many controversies have arisen over
the centuries in relation to marriage – including issues relating to the
suitability of partners of different denominations, faiths, tribes or races,
the acceptable number and minimum age of wives, the rights of partners,
especially wives, and wider family obligations. For example, a contemporary
controversy of particular significance in the USA concerns the exclusion of
homosexual relationships from legal and social recognition and the rights and
obligations it provides. Social conservatives opposed to same-sex marriage in some countries claim that
any attempt to define marriage to include anything other than the union of one
man and one woman would "deprive the term of its fundamental and defining
meaning."[188]
In other countries, polygamy is a "socially conservative" practice.[citation
needed] Advocates of same-faith marriage and same-race marriage may
criticize the legalization of interfaith marriage[189]
and interracial marriage,[190]
respectively.
Often, in developed countries,
opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and interfaith
marriage are all legally recognized, while arranged and child marriages are
illegal. On the other hand, often, in lesser-developed or developing countries,
same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and interfaith marriage may be illegal
while arranged and child marriages are permitted.
The state of Massachusetts has sued
the U.S. federal government over its definition of marriage. The lawsuit,
brought by the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, said the 1996 Defense
of Marriage Act (DOMA) infringed on a state's sovereign right to define marital
status. The lawsuit alleges that DOMA infringed on a state's sovereign right to
define marital status and is unconstitutional.[191]
Power
and gender roles
Feminist theory approaches opposite-sex marriage as an institution
traditionally rooted in patriarchy that promotes male superiority and power over women. This power dynamic
conceptualizes men as "the provider operating in the public sphere"
and women as "the caregivers operating within the private sphere".[192]
"Theoretically, women ... [were] defined as the property of their husbands
.... The adultery of a woman was always treated with more severity than that of
a man."[193]
"[F]eminist demands for a wife's control over her own property were not
met [in parts of Britain] until ... [laws were passed in the late 19th
century]."[194]
This patriarchal dynamic is contrasted with a conception of egalitarian
or Peer
Marriage in which power and labour are
divided equally, and not according to gender roles.[192]
The performance of dominant gender
roles by men and submissive gender roles by women influence the power dynamic
of a marriage.[195]
In some American households, women internalize gender role stereotypes and
often assimilate into the role of "wife", "mother", and
"caretaker" in conformity to societal norms and their male partner.
Author bell hooks states "within the family structure, individuals learn
to accept sexist oppression as 'natural' and are primed to support other forms
of oppression, including heterosexist domination."[196]
"[T]he cultural, economic, political and legal supremacy of the
husband" was "[t]raditional ... under English law".[197]
In the US, studies have shown that,
despite egalitarian ideals being common, less than half of respondents viewed
their opposite-sex relationships as equal in power, with unequal relationships
being more commonly dominated by the male partner.[198]
Studies also show that married couples find the highest level of satisfaction
in egalitarian relationships.[198]
In recent years, egalitarian or Peer
Marriages have been receiving increasing
focus and attention politically, economically and culturally in a number of
countries, including the United States.
The complete article, including
references and pictures, can be found at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage
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