Learn about Exotic Marriage Systems (Part 1)

26.04.2011 | By: Robert S.

Today we’ll take you to the world of polygyny and polyandry and different marriage systems around the globe.

Polygyny is difficult to imagine in Europe. An important role is played by socio-cultural, economic and political factors. (PhotoXpress)

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You’ve surely heard of different marriage systems and practices that occur around the world. This diversity is a consequence of different understanding of sex roles as well as historical and traditional elements that today still have an important role. What might seem inconceivable to the Western world is somewhere far away a completely normal practice that isn’t questioned as marriage is in Western societies. Likewise, in those countries the rules on and practices of marriage include economic and symbolic aspects, material transactions and the aspect of after-marriage residency (the place where a couple will live after marriage).

Polygyny and polyandry

Polygyny and polyandry aren’t mutually exclusive. Both phenomena can exist in a society. Societies with several wives or husbands don’t tolerate unmarried people or celibacy. The problem with lack of women in polygyny is solved by a high rate of divorces. Polygyny is widespread in Muslim countries in Africa. However, most men in these countries are monogamous. Only very adept men have a large number of wives, which also means the largest number of children, more work force, and more wealth, prestige and power.

The basic problem is bride wealth (this is the opposite of dowry; the husband’s family group have to present goods or property to the wife’s family group; bride wealth is also a safeguard limiting the infinite number of wives). Thus, the husband’s father has to pay for the son’s bride. In East Africa, wealthy old men have the largest number of wives. These societies are patrilineal. Sons come into conflict with fathers and wives come into conflict with other wives. A hierarchy is established among them; namely, one wife enjoys more rights than others. Alliance can also be forged among wives, since they can control their husband more easily with collective action.

Laura Bohannan describes in detail a model polygynous marriage in West Africa. The first wife or ava is the most powerful. She has the right to choose other wives for her husband. Today polygyny is in decline in Africa – except in Muslim countries.

Polyandry

This is the opposite of polygyny. Polyandry refers to a situation where one wife has several husbands. Such a situation is a consequence of not a lack of women, but lack of property (land). Polyandry is a form of fight against the division of land by inheritance. It usually occurs in agricultural societies. An example of polyandry is Himalayan polyandry, which is also combined with polygyny and monogamy. Polyandry is almost always fraternal, which means that brothers share the same wife among them. However, this doesn’t exclude the possibility that any of them could re-marry. Radcliff-Brown speaks of the principle of unity of children of joint parents. Children who have the same parents belong to the same group, irrespective of gender. In principle, children are interchangeable: when their mother dies, she can be replaced by her sister. One woman can get married to four brothers at the most.

The principle of interchangeability of brothers or sisters

According to the “levirate” practice, levir (in Hebrew, husband’s brother) is the key person. The brother doesn’t marry the widow, but he only takes his brother’s place. Newborn children are still considered to be the children of the deceased brother. Such a form of exchangeability is known in Africa, among Aborigines in Australia and in some societies in North America. Modern anthropology explains the levirate marriage by the logic of bride wealth. A family group gains rights to children by bride wealth (thus exchangeability is allowed – to make use of bride wealth and to gain new group members). The levirate practice, however, shouldn’t be equated with the widow’s inheritance. Some societies are familiar with such exchangeability where a brother replaces the deceased brother and marries his bereaved wife, but the brother produces children in his name and no longer in his brother’s name as is the case in the levirate practice.

According to the “sororate“ practice, a man marries his deceased wife’s sister. If the wife dies before she bears a new group member, the husband’s group can demand compensation or replacement. We speak of the sororate polygyny if a man marries a woman and he later marries her sister. The amount of bride wealth for the sister is smaller.