Marriage

Dr. Sasmita Mishra

KSOM, Bhubaneswar
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Marriage
• Is a socially approved mating relationship
that people expect to be stable and enduring,
is also universal.

• Countries vary in their specific norms and

laws dictating who can marry whom and at
what age, but marriage everywhere is an
i m p o r ta n t ri t e o f p a s s a ge t h at m a rk s
adulthood and its related responsibilities.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Endogamy & Exogamy
• Endogamy- is a cultural practice of marrying
within one’s g roup. (even marrying own
relative)
• Exogamy- is a cultural practice of marrying
outside one’s group. (not marrying one’s
relative)
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Endogamy & Exogamy
States high ointercaste marriage:
• Goa (26.67%) followed by Punjab (22.36%), Meghalaya (25%), and
Kerala (21.35%)
States Low on intercaste Marriage:
• Jammu and Kashmir (1.67%), Rajasthan (2.36%), Chhattisgarh
(3.38%), Madhya Pradesh (3.57%), Bihar (4.60%) and Tamil Nadu
(2.59%).
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Endogamy & Exogamy
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
The Dark Side: Honour Killing
• Honour killing is a killing of a person
on the name of Honour.
• Some of the main reasons are
marriage out of caste, divorce,
marriage by choice, homosexuality,
pregnancy before marriage,
inappropriate dressing etc.

This is the second case of

dishonour killing that has been
reported from Haryana in three
days.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
The Dark Side: Honour Killing
Theoretical persepectives
• John Austin’s ‘Theory of positive law’, which puts forward the concept of the
right to marry with legal recognition by law. He stated that, “the couple who
perform their natural right of marriage even if it is a ‘run-away’ marriage their
rights are secured by the law.
• On the idea of marriage, Rex Martin put forward ‘Natural Right Theory’.
According to this theory, each and every human being has some natural rights
such as right to life, liber ty, health, work, dignity, where even the
administration and state can’t interfere.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Courtship and mate selection
• US dating: A marriage market, a courtship
process through which prospective spouses
compare the assets and liabilities of eligible
partners, and choose the best available mate.
• Dating sites, social media datings, love marriage
• Ar ranged mar riage: in which parents or
relatives choose the children’s spouses.
• Marriage sites
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Monogamy and Poligamy
• Monogamy: one person is married exclusively to another person.
• In US people engage in serial monogamy
• Polygamy: a man or woman has two or more spouses.
• Polyandry: one woman is married to two or more men (remote,
isolated parts of India, Tanzania, Africa).
• Polygyny: one man married to two or more women. (1,000
cultures around the world).
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
How Families are changing
• Marriage and divorce
• By 65, 95% of US people get married.
• About half of first marriage end in divorce.
• 85% of the divorced remarry
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
How Families are changing

https://economictimes.in
diatimes.com/magazines
/panache/happily-
divorced-indian-women-
are-breaking-the-stigma-
around-separation-like-
never-
The age at marriage, 2011-17 before/articleshow/6770
From: Bharti Jain, Sharp dip in U-18 girls getting married, July 17, 2019: The Times of India 4287.cms
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
How Families are changing
• Cohabitation-is an arrangement in which two unrelated people
aren’t married but live together and are in a sexual relationship.
• Dating cohabitation-a living arrangement in which a couple that
spends a great deal of time together decides to move in together.
• Premarital cohabitation-the couple lives together before getting
married.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Social Evils of Marriage
• Dowry system: In spite of passing the legislation on Dowry
Prohibition Act, it continues to exist, particularly in north India.
• Practice of Child Marriages: The incidence of child marriages in
rural socie­ties is very high. Although the minimum legal age of
marriage is 21 (males) and 18 (females), child marriages still occur
in rural areas.
• Sati and Jauhar: Sati is when a widow committed suicide by
burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre, while Jauhar was
collective suicide by women to escape being taken into slavery by
invaders, when they expected certain defeat.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Marital Trends in India
• Communal: Marriages are festive occasions in India, and in most cases celebrated with
extensive decorations, color, music, dance and rituals that depend on the community, region
and religion of the bride and the groom, as well as their preferences. India celebrates about 10
million weddings per year, of which about 80% are Hindu weddings.
• Arranged Marriages: Marriages in the Indian society is mostly arranged. The bride and groom
are not allowed to meet before marriage. Inter-caste and love marriages are not approved or
allowed in rural settings. It is the responsibility of parents to arrange the marriage of their
children.
• Lesser Divorce Frequency: As compared to US and other western countries, the divorce rates in
India are relatively low. As of 2017, divorce rates in India were as low as 1%, while that of US
stood at 3%.
• Pomp and Luxury: Nowadays celebration of marriage on a grand scale with lot of pomp and
luxury has become a common feature.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Marital Trends in India
• Inter-religion marriage: Marriage between the members of
different communities has become a common occurrence.
• Decline in parental control: Traditionally, it was the
responsibility of parents to arrange marriages. But nowadays
people choose their life partner as per their own wishes.
• Increase in the age of marriage: Late marriages have become
common since there is a desire of for higher education, and
economic independence both among boys and girls.
• Widow Remarriage: In the pre independent period there was
absolutely no provision for remarriage of a widowed woman.
But in the modern days, a broad view is taken and this has
become a reality, thanks to the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act
1950.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Marital Trends in India
Same sex Marriages
• The Supreme Court has recently come to the
conclusion of decriminalizing homosexuality.
Now having a homosexual relationship is not a
crime.

• However, this is a battle half won, as there have

not yet been any civil rights that gay couples can
enjoy. A person in homosexual relationship can
also go for the court marriage if both of them
fulfill the requirements required in court
marriage procedure
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Marital Trends in India
Actions against Child Marrige
• An estimated 1.5 million underage girls in
India and 12 million underage girls
worldwide get married each year, according
to the United Nations.
• It is sometimes difficult to handle as the
child brides face lot of taboos whose
marriage has been halted.
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Wedding Industry in India
• Weddings are a major business in India. The rise in affluence
has transformed the Indian wedding into a lavish affair. Every
little thing from the venue, to the decorations, to the food, has
to be the best.
• The Indian wedding industry is recession-proof— around
30,000 weddings take place in India per day on an average,
with the estimated cost of a wedding ranging anywhere
between INR 5 lakhs-5 crores. An average Indian spends more
than one-fifth of their lifetime’s earnings on a wedding!
Dr. Sasmita Mishra
Wedding Industry in India
• India Matchmaking Market: Its comprised of major online matrimony players that meet the
requirements of the unmarried population. Bharat Matrimony has emerged as a leading player in
the market. Shaadi.com has captured the second position, followed by Jeevansathi.com.

• India Wedding Planner Market: Indian wedding planners such as Fern N Petals, Elite Wedding
Planners, and Regal Wedding Planners and others have been popular due to their tailor-made
services and due to the support that they provide in making the entire wedding celebration
smooth and efficient.

• Travel Planning: The Indian destination wedding industry is expected to reach a market size of
Rs 45,000 crore by 2020, with a projected annual growth rate of 25-30 per cent.

• Catering: The importance of good food at a marriage cannot be overstated. The Indian catering
industry is worth Rs. 15,000 Crore, with a lot of scope for young talented professionals in the
field.

• Fashion Designing, Videography and Event Management are a few other business rapidly growing
under the Indian wedding market.