Sex, Marriage, and

Family
CHAPTER OUTLINE

 Control of Sexual Relations

 Forms of Marriage
 Choice of Spouse

 Marriage and Economic Exchange

 Divorce
 Family and Household
 Residence Patters
 Marriage, Family, and Household in Our Globalized
and Technologized World
MARRIAGE

 A culturally sanctioned union between two or more people

that establishes certain rights and obligations between the
people, between them and their children, and between them
and their in-laws.
MARRIAGE

 Such marriage rights and obligations often include, but are

not limited to, sex, labor, property, child rearing, exchange,
and status.
INCEST TABOO

 Like marriage, the incest taboo is found in all cultures.

 The incest taboo is the absolute forbiddance of sexual

contact between certain close relatives.
INCEST TABOO

 The scope and details of the taboo vary across cultures

and time, but almost all societies past and present strongly
forbid sexual relations between parents and children and
between siblings.
ENDOGAMY AND EXOGAMY

 Endogamy is marrying within a group of individuals.

 Exogamy is marrying outside a group.

MARRIAGE AND MATING

 All animals, including humans, mate—some for life and

some not, some with a single individual and some with
several.