Introduction to Cultural

Anthropology
3. Family, Marriage and Kinship
Discuss the Following
 1. What is a mother?
 2. What is a father ?
 3. What is a family?
 4. What kind of families exist in Singapore?
 5. How have family structures changed over the past
20 years or more?
What kind’s of Nuclear Family
challenges and
problems do you The ‘ideal’ for many
perceive arising western societies (and
from changing Singapore) is to be born
norms concerning into a nuclear family of
the nuclear family orientation, and then later
norm, or ideal? leaving to establish a
nuclear family of
procreation.

Increasingly in the west,

however, we are seeing a
slight rise in nuclear families
comprising same sex
parents.

What are challenges,
advantages and disadvantages of
multi-generational and
extended family households
and networks?
Multigenerational
and Extended
Family
Singapore has seen a slight
rise in the number of multi-
generational households.
This could rise further
because of an ageing
population.
Although not living under
one roof, many Singaporean
families have large extended
family networks that they
are able to keep track of.
 Extended Families:
the Bosnian Muslim
zadruga
The zadruga is a patrilocal
family unit in which married
sons and their wives (as
well as unmarried children)
live with the male
household head, who has
authority over them and
their children.

Can Muslim Bosnian Property is owned in

refugees fleeing common, and the patriarch
persecution maintain has the right to make
their traditional family decisions on behalf of
structures in new everyone in the zadruga.
homelands with
different values?

What kinds of pressures do
you think contemporary
Indian society has on a caste
that was once perceived as
sexually promiscuous? Can
such systems survive in the
21st century?
Extended Families:
the Kerala Nayar
talawad
The Nayar caste are
matrilineal, meaning that
descent is traced through
the mother and maternal
grandmother. Men had no
right over the children, who
might not know who he
was, being brought up by
their mother and her
sisters and brothers.
As a warrior caste, young
Nayer men were
traditionally away fighting
and women had to manage
the affairs of talawad.
 Band societies like the
Bushmen, Mbuti and Inuit Family and Kinship
are among those who still in Band Societies
hunt and forage for most
These small scale societies
of their food.
usually consist of related
nuclear families that have
the flexibility to divide into
smaller groups depending
on the carrying capacity of
the land at different times,
and join into larger bands.

Traditional Hunter-gatherer
societies such as the Shoshone
have been forced onto
reservations and the land they
once hunted is controlled.
Children in Band
Societies
The carrying capacity of the
land determines how may
children a couple may have.
Bands can split (fission) and
move away, but even so the
need for mobility means
that a couple cannot be
encumbered by too many
small children.

Fertility rates may be

controlled by prolonged
breast-feeding, abstainance,
and infanticide.
 Family and Kinship
in Tribal Societies
Tribal societies have more
complex organisational
structures, of which the
lineage is the most
important. An individual will
Horticulture is practiced
trace his/her descent
among the Yanomami,
Tsembaga and Dayak, while through either the
the Nuer and Bedouin are patrilineage, the male line,
pastoralists which is more common, or
the matrilineage, the
female line.
 Children in Tribal
Societies
Tribal cultures are more
likely to have larger families,
and children are greatly
valued as they ensure the
future of the lineage, and
from and early age learn
their productive roles by
spending time with parents,
herding, driving cattle, or
caring for the horticultural
plots.

Children in tribal societies

are valued for their
productive roles in food
production.
 Family and Kinship
in Chieftainships
Chieftainships emerged in
ecological environments
where it was possible to
produce large food
surpluses. Individuals who
could command and control
the production and
distribution of resources,
keeping the most
prestigious items for
themselves, evolved into
hierarchical chieftainships.
Chieftainships tend to have
a developed artistic culture,
with prestigious items
produced to support the
hierarchical structure.
The status of chiefs Marriage and
is such in some Children in
societies that they Chieftainships
mat be compared
to European royalty.
Chiefs seek to control
resources, and by creating
ranked societies they
prevent their children
marrying down, they are
able to retain control of
and access to wealth and
prestigious goods over
many generations.
 Family and Kinship
in Agricultural
States

Agricultural State societies

use improved technologies
to produce large surpluses
Today agricultural state
that support non
societies have become
productive society
rationalised with food
members. Large numbers of
production taking place on
children were needed to
an industrial scale controlled
help with farm work, but
by huge companies.
However, whole families may increased urban living also
still take part in agricultural led to higher infant and
activities in China, and up child mortality rates, which
until the early 20th century, remained a challenge well
the family was responsible into the 20th century.
for food production in the
Russian Steppes (above),
American Midwest (centre)
and rural France (below).
Recap so far…
 1. We are most familiar with the nuclear, multi-generational and extended
family structures.
 These are now being challenged in a rapidly evolving global context.
 2. Extended family structures operate in different ways depending on the
culture; they are not everywhere the same.
 Are these kinds of family structures increasingly untenable in the 21st century?
 3. Different kinds of society have family and marriage structures that are
related to the kind of environment they depend on for survival.
 These societies should not be interpreted in an evolutionary manner.
 Family and Kinship
in the Modern
Industrialized
State.

The Industrial Revolution –

still taking place in some
countries – led to people
leaving the land to gain
waged employment in
factories and offices.

Women gained more

economic and social
freedom, and it is arguably
How does factory
the changing economic and
manufacturing
political position of women
work impact on the
that has had the most
modern family?
impact on the 21st century
How has it affected
family.
women in
particular?
Women in the
Workplace
The position of working
women in industrialised
societies reflects gendered
discrimination and
inequalities. The underlying
norm that women stayed
home and raised their
children is reflected in
lower pay, and prejudice
regarding their right to
work. In the Great
Depression, married
women were barred from
earning a living.

Consumer ads throughout
the late 1940s and 50s were
aimed at selling the idea that
a woman is always happiest
staying at home and caring
for the family. Yet during the
war they proved their ability
to do ‘a man’s work.’
A Woman’s Place
The idea that a woman’s
‘natural’ role is as carer for
her husband and children
has increasingly been
revised.
Woman are now
increasingly taking roles in
important positions
alongside men and have
demonstrated that they are
every bit as capable as the
men.
 Nine cabinet members
are women. Women in the
Workplace
In the last decade of the
20th and throughout the
21st century, rising levels of
higher education among
women in the developed
world has enabled more
Kamala Harris Vice President of women to take up higher
the United States. level and higher waged jobs.
Many still have to juggle
career with raising children
and running a household.
Women running and
working in businesses
are among those
pushing for important
changes in society.
 The 21st Century
Family
In Singapore the family is
held up as one of the Pillars
of society and it is regarded
as being in the country’s
(economy’s?) best interest
The ideal image of a Singapore family is a couple with two
to have a stable family that
children – preferably one of each sex.
can raise healthy offspring
who will eventually become
the mainstay of the
economy, further enhancing
Singapore’s development
plans.
Questions for Discussion
 1. How has a changing economy impacted on family life and structure in Asian
societies (Singapore, India, Indonesia, China)?
 2. How are Singaporean families adapted to the society that has developed here
since the colonial period?
 3. How reasonable is it to expect women to have more children in an increasingly
uncertain economic environment?
 4. In what way have changing women’s roles had an impact of family life and
structure in these cultures?
 5. How have men had to adapt their masculine roles within the family?
 6. How have children adapted to increasing contact with non-family groups and
individuals, and how do you think these influences will either benefit them or
disadvantage them in the long term?