Course title: Readings in Culture

Semester: II
Instructors: Dr. Ouafae BOUZEKRI & Dr. Malika Khandagui

Spring 2021
Course description:

This course aims at exposing students to an extensive and heterogeneous selection of topics related to
the world of culture in general. By being exposed to the broad meaning of culture and cultural studies. The
student will be trained to shift her/his attention from the text itself to the broader socio-cultural context of its
production, distribution and consumption in a critical way.

Course objectives:

To stimulate students’ curiosity and strengthen their knowledge about culture and cultural
diversity.
To encourage students to enhance their cultural knowledge and get familiar with values and
aspects of cultures to become more tolerant to other cultures.

Course materials and requirements:

The course includes a variety of texts and articles

Evaluation:

Students will have to sit for an end-of-term written exam and to write two paragraph about a
cultural value, a concept or an idea discussed and presented in the texts or articles provided in the booklet.
The exam is graded out of /20. Students must have at least 10/20 in the total score to be able to pass.
Students who get a grade lower than 10 will be required to sit for the make-up assessment to validate the
module.

Course content:

 General Introduction
 Culture and Nature
 Culture and Human Biology
 Cultural Diversity
 Ethnocentrism …
 Proxemics
 Touching …
 Eating Habits
 Marriage: A Cultural Icon
Introduction
We all consider ourselves to be unique individuals, each with a set of personal opinions, preferences
and habits. Indeed, all of us are unique individuals, and yet most of us share a surprising number of feelings,
behaviors and habits with other members of our society. It is in fact just these shared characteristics that
constitute culture.

When we compare ourselves with people in other societies, we become especially aware of cultural
differences and similarities. For instance, Hindus in India would consider our custom of eating beef both
primitive and disgusting. In their culture, the cow is a sacred animal and may not be slaughtered for food.
Or in most Muslim societies, it is considered legal for a man to have more than one wife, an act that shocks
most western societies. As a result of this and since the creation of human kind, many separate societies
have emerged around the globe that differ markedly from each other, and many of these differences persist
to this day. The point is that most of the customs of different societies probably are, or were, appropriate to
their environment, just as most of our customs are, or were, appropriate. The most obvious cultural
differences that exist between people are language, dress and traditions. There are also significant
variations in the way societies organize themselves, in their shared conception of morality, and in the ways
they interact with their environment.

Definition of culture

Culture refers to innumerable aspects of life. To most anthropologists, culture encompasses the
behaviors, beliefs and attitudes that are characteristics of a particular society or population. Each of us is
born into a complex culture that will strongly influence how we live and behave.

Culture is shared

For a thought or an action to be considered cultural, it must be generally shared by some population
or group of individuals. For instance, we share some values, beliefs and behaviors with our family and
friends. We share cultural characteristics with segments of our population whose ethnic or regional origins,
religious affiliation, and occupation are the same as our own. We also share certain characteristics with
people beyond our national borders that have similar interests (such as rules for international sporting
events).

Culture is learned

Not all things shared generally by a population are cultural. Eating is not cultural. Humans eat
because they must; but when, what and how they eat is learned and varies from culture to culture. Most of
the behavior of humans appears to be culturally patterned. Although humans acquire much learned behavior
by imitation, most human learned behavior is probably acquired with the aid of a unique mechanism –
language.

The role of language

All people known to anthropologists, regardless of their kind of society, have had a highly complex
system of spoken, symbolic communication that we call language. Language is symbolic in that a word or
phrase can represent what it stands for whether that thing is present or not. This symbolic quality of
language has tremendous implications for the transmission of culture. Without language we could not
transmit or receive information symbolically, and thus we would not be heir to such rich and varied culture.
So, culture has then come to refer to that whole complex of meanings, values and beliefs that determine
how we do think and how we structure our ways of thinking.
 Culture and Nature
Culture takes the natural biological urges we share with other animals and teaches us how to express them
in particular ways. People have to eat, but culture teaches us what, when, and how. In many cultures people
have their main meal at noon, but most North Americans prefer a large dinner. English people may eat fish
for breakfast, while North Americans may prefer hot cakes and cold cereals. Brazilians put hot milk into
strong coffee, whereas North Americans pour cold milk into a weaker brew. Midwesterners dine at 5 or 6
pm, Spaniards at 10 pm.
Cultural habits, perceptions, and inventions mould "human nature" in many directions. Our culture –
and cultural changes – affect the ways in which we perceive nature, human nature, and "the natural".
Through science, invention, and discovery, cultural advances have overcome many "natural" limitations.
We prevent and cure diseases such as polio and small-pox that felled our ancestors. Culture, of course, has
not freed us from natural threats. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other natural forces regularly
challenge our wishes to modify the environment through building, development, and expansion.

Culture is all encompassing

For anthropologists, culture includes much more than refinement, taste, sophistication, education, and
appreciation of the fine arts. Not only college graduates but all people are "cultured". The most interesting
and significant cultural forces are those that affect people every day of their lives, particularly those that
influence children during enculturation. Culture, as defined anthropologically, encompasses feature that are
sometimes regarded as trivial or unworthy of serious study, such as "popular" culture. To understand
contemporary North American culture, we must consider television, fast-food restaurants, sports, and
games. As a cultural manifestation, a rock star may be as interesting as a symphony conductor, a comic
book as significant as a book-award winner.

Culture is integrated

Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs and beliefs. Cultures are integrated, patterned systems.
If one part of the system (e.g. the economy) changes, other parts change as well. For example, during the
1950s, most American women planned domestic careers as home-makers and mothers. Most of today’s
college women, by contrast, expect to get paid jobs when they graduate.
What are some of the social repercussions of the economic change? Attitudes and behavior regarding
marriage, family, and children have changed. Late marriage, "living together", and divorce have become
more common. The average age at first marriage for American women rose from 20 in 1955 to almost 25
in 1966. The comparable figures for men were 23 and 27. The number of currently divorced Americans
quadrupled from 4 million in 1970 to more than 19 million in 1998. Work competes with marriage and
family responsibilities and reduces the time available to invest in child care.
Cultures are integrated not simply by their dominant economic activities and related social patterns but
also by sets of values, ideas, symbols, and judgments. Cultures train their individual members to share
certain personality traits. A set of characteristic central or core values integrates each culture and helps
distinguish it from others.
 Culture and Human Biology

Cultural forces constantly mold human biology. For example, culture is a key environmental force
determining how human bodies will grow and develop. Cultural traditions promote certain activities and
abilities, discourage others, and set standards of physical well-being and attractiveness. Physical activities,
including sports, which are influenced by culture, help build the body. For example, North American girls
are encouraged to pursue, and therefore do well in, competitive track and field, swimming, diving, and
many other sports. Brazilian girls, by contrast, have not fared nearly as well in international athletic
competition involving individual sports as have their American and Canadian counterparts. Why are girls
encouraged to excel as athletes in some nations but discouraged from physical activities in others? Why
don’t Brazilian women, and Latin women generally, do better in most athletic categories? Does it have to
do with "racial" differences or cultural training?

Cultural standards of attractiveness and propriety influence participation and achievement in sports.
Americans run or swim not just to compete but to keep trim and fit. Brazil’s beauty international success
in swimming and running, but Brazil rarely sends female swimmers or runners to the Olympics. One reason
Brazilian women avoid competitive swimming in particular is that sport has effects on the body. Years of
swimming sculpt a distinctive physique: an enlarged upper torso, a massive neck, and powerful shoulders
and back. Successful female swimmers tend to be big, strong, and bulky. The countries that produce them
most consistently are the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and the
former Soviet Union, where this body type isn’t as stigmatized as it is in Latin countries. Swimmers develop
hard bodies, but Brazilian culture says that women should be soft, with big hips and buttocks, not big
shoulders. Many young female swimmers in Latin America choose to abandon the sport rather than the
"feminine" body ideal.

Culture, not "race", also helps us understand many or most of the differences in the sports success of
blacks and whites. Cultural factors help explain why blacks excel in certain sports and whites in others. A
key factor is degree of public access to sports facilities. In our public schools, parks, sandlots, and city
playgrounds, African-Americans have access to baseball diamonds, basketball courts, football fields, and
tracks. However, because of restricted economic opportunities, many black families can’t afford to buy
hockey gear or ski equipment, take ski vacations, pay for tennis lessons, or belong to golf courses. In the
United States, mainly white suburban boys (and, increasingly, girls) play soccer, the most popular sport in
the world. In Brazil, however, soccer is the national pastime for all males – black and white, rich and poor.
There is wide public access. Brazilians play soccer on the beach and in streets, squares, parks, and
playgrounds. Many of Brazil’s best soccer players, including the world-famous Pelé, have dark skins. When
blacks have opportunities to do well in soccer, tennis, golf, or any other sport, they are physically capable
of doing as well as whites.

Why does the United States have so many black football and basketball players and so few black
swimmers and hockey players? The answer lies mainly in cultural factors, including variable access and
opportunities. Many Brazilians practice soccer, hoping to play for money for a professional club. Similarly,
American blacks are aware that certain sports have provided career opportunities for African-Americans.
They start developing skills in those sports in childhood. The better they do, the more likely they are to
persist, and the pattern continues. Culture – specifically differential access to sports resources – has more
to do with sports success than "race" does.

Another area in which anthropology’s cultural and biological perspectives meet is in examining the
purported relation between "race" and IQ. We know of no evidence for biologically based contrasts in
intelligence between races, classes, or sexes. Environmental variables, such as educational, economic, and
social backgrounds, provide much better explanations for performance on intelligence tests by such groups.
Standard tests reflect the backgrounds of those who develop and administer them. All tests are to some
extent culture-bound and biased.
 Prejudice and ignorance guide the mistaken belief that misfortune and poverty result from innate lack
of ability. Occasionally, doctrines of inborn superiority are even set forth by scientists, who, after all, often
come from privileged backgrounds.

Environmental explanations for test scores do not deny that some people may be smarter than others. In
any society, for many reasons, genetic and environmental explanation does deny, however, that these
differences can be generalized to whole populations or social groups. Also, even when talking about
individuals, we have to decide which of several abilities is the best measure of intelligence.
 Cultural Diversity

According to Alain Kiyindou in Enjeux de mots (C & F edition, Nov 2005), the term “cultural
diversity” was first used, in reference to diversity within a given cultural system, to designate the
multiplicity of variously sized sub-cultures and sub-populations sharing a set of basic values and ideas.
Subsequently, it was used, in a context of social mixing, to describe the cohabitation of different cultural
systems, or at least the existence of other significant social groups within the same geopolitical borders. In
the countries of the Third World in the era of decolonization, the diversity of cultural identities rapidly
became a political argument in favor of the liberation and independence of the colonized countries. It was
then from the 1960s the impetus behind a new vision of development, endogenous development, and was,
moreover, followed by the highlighting of a new link, the link between culture and democracy which would
lead to “the promotion of the cultural expressions of minorities in the context of cultural pluralism” being
made a priority.

In other words, Cultural diversity is the variation of human societies or cultures in a specific
region, or in the world as a whole. By analogy with biodiversity, which is thought to be essential to the
long-term survival of life on earth, it can be argued that cultural diversity may be vital for the long-term
survival of humanity; and that the conservation of indigenous cultures may be as important to humankind
as the conservation of species and ecosystems is to life in general. The General Conference of UNESCO
took this position in 2001, asserting in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that
"...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature".

This position is rejected by some people, however, on several grounds. One of these is that it can be
argued that it is unethical deliberately to conserve "less developed" societies, because this will deny people
within those societies the benefits of technological and medical advances enjoyed by those of us in the
"developed" world. Others, particularly those with strong religious beliefs, maintain that it is in the best
interests of individuals and of humanity as a whole that all people adhere to a specific model for society or
specific aspects of such a model. For example, evangelical missionary organizations such as the New Tribes
Mission actively work to reduce religious diversity by seeking out remote tribal societies to convert them
to Christianity.

Cultural diversity is tricky to quantify, but a good indication is thought to be a count of the number
of languages spoken in a region or in the world as a whole. By this measure, there are signs that we may be
going through a period of precipitous decline in the world's cultural diversity. Research carried out in the
1990s by David Crystal suggested that at that time, on average, one language was falling into disuse every
two weeks. He calculated that if that rate of language death were to continue, then by the year 2100 more
than 90% of the languages currently spoken in the world will have gone extinct.

Among the several reasons that have been suggested to explain such decline are overpopulation,
immigration and imperialism. Factors that are basically economic, cultural, political, military and even
religious.

Nowadays, there are several international organizations that work towards protecting threatened
societies and cultures, including Survival International and UNESCO. The UNESCO Universal Declaration
on Cultural Diversity, adopted by 185 Member States in 2001, represents the first international standard-
setting instrument aimed at preserving and promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and Human Rights

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in
judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures. Ethnocentrism is a cultural universal. It
contributes to social solidarity, a sense of value and community, among people who share a cultural
tradition. People everywhere think that their familiar explanations, opinions, and customs are true, right,
proper, and moral. They regard different behavior as strange, immoral, or savage.

Opposing ethnocentrism is Cultural Relativism, the argument that behavior in one culture should not be
judged by the standards of another culture. This position also can present problems. At its most extreme,
cultural relativism argues that there is no superior, international, or universal morality, that the moral and
ethical rules of all cultures deserve equal respect. In the extreme relativist view, Nazi Germany would be
evaluated as nonjudgmentally as Athenian Greece.

In today’s world, human rights advocates challenge many of the tenets of cultural relativism. For
example, several cultures in Africa and the Middle East have traditions of female genital modification.
Clitoridectomy is the removal of a girl’s clitoris. It reduces female sexual pleasure, and, it is believed in
some cultures, the likelihood of adultery. The procedure has been traditional in several societies, but such
practices, characterized as female genital mutilation, have been opposed by human rights advocates,
especially women’s rights groups. The ideas that the tradition infringes on a basic human right: disposition
over one’s body and one’s sexuality. Although such practices continue in certain areas, they are fading as
a result of worldwide attention to the problem and changing sex-gender roles. Some African countries have
banned or otherwise discourage the procedure, as have Western nations that receive immigration from such
cultures. Similar issues arise with circumcision and other male genital operations. Is it right for a baby boy
to be circumcised without his knowledge and permission, as have been routinely done in the United States?
Is it proper to require adolescent boys to undergo collective circumcision to fulfil cultural traditions, as is
done traditionally in parts of Africa and Australia?

The idea of Human Rights challenges cultural relativism by invoking a realm of justice and morality
beyond and superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions. Human rights, usually seen as vested in
individuals, include the right to speak freely, to hold religious beliefs without persecution, and to not be
murdered, injured, enslaved, or imprisoned without charge. These rights are not ordinary laws that
particular governments make and enforce. Human rights are seen as inalienable (nations cannot abridge or
terminate them) and international (larger than individual nations and cultures). Four United Nations
documents describe nearly all the human rights that have been internationally recognized. Those documents
are the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Alongside the human rights movement has arisen an awareness of the need to preserve cultural rights.
Unlike human rights, Cultural Rights are vested in individuals but in groups, such as religious and ethnic
minorities and indigenous societies. Cultural rights include a group’s ability to preserve its culture, to raise
its children in the ways of its forebears, to continue its language, and not to be deprived of its economic
base by the nation in which it is located. Many countries have signed pacts endorsing, for cultural minorities
within nations, such rights as self-determination, some degree of home rule, and the right to practice the
group’s religion, culture, and language. The related notion of indigenous Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
has arisen in an attempt to conserve each society’s cultural base – its core beliefs and principles. IPR are
claimed as a cultural right, allowing indigenous groups to control who may know and use their collective
knowledge and its applications. Much traditional cultural knowledge has commercial value. Examples
include ethno medicine (traditional medical knowledge and techniques), cosmetics, cultivated plants, foods,
folklore, arts, crafts, songs, dances, costumes, and rituals. According to the IPR concept, a particular group
may determine how indigenous knowledge and its products may be used and distributed, and the level of
compensation required.
 The notion of cultural rights is related to the idea of cultural relativism, and the problem discussed
previously arises again. What does one do about cultural rights that interfere with human rights?
Anthropology’s main job is to present accurate accounts and explanations of cultural phenomena. The
anthropologist doesn’t have to approve customs such as infanticide, cannibalism, and torture to record their
existence and determine their causes. However, each anthropologist has a choice about where he or she will
do field work. Some anthropologists choose not to study a particular culture because they discover in
advance or early in field work that a behavior they consider morally repugnant is practiced there.
Anthropologists respect human diversity. Most ethnographers try to be objective, accurate, and sensitive in
their accounts of other cultures. However, objectivity, sensitivity, and a cross-cultural perspective don’t
mean that anthropologists have to ignore international standards of justice and morality.
 Proxemics
Man’s use of space, the study of which is called ‘proxemics’ is another silent language about which we all
need to know more if we are to achieve clear communicative and harmonious relations with people of
varying cultural backgrounds. We need to be sensitive to auxiliary communication techniques that are
highly culture bound such as distance, space and time.

Proxemics

When we speak to another individual or group, the distance our bodies are physically apart also
communicates a message. Proxemics is the study of such interaction distances and other culturally defined
uses of space. Most of us are unaware of the importance of space in communication until we are confronted
with someone who uses it differently. For instance, we all have a sense of what is a comfortable interaction
distance to a person with whom we are speaking. If that person gets closer than the distance at which we
are comfortable, we usually automatically back up to reestablish our comfort zone. Similarly, if we feel
that we are too far away from the person we are talking to, we are likely to close the distance between us. If
two speakers have different comfortable interaction distances, a ballet of shifting positions usually occurs
until one of the individuals is backed into a corner and feels threatened by what may be perceived as hostile
or sexual overtures. As a result, the verbal message may not be listened to or understood as it was intended.

Comfort in interaction distance mostly has to do with the distance between faces that are looking directly
at each other. Most people do not have the same feeling about physical closeness if they do not have eye
contact. In a crowd or an elevator, people usually choose not to look at anyone in order to avoid feeling
uncomfortably close.

Whispering and shouting generally get your attention more than speaking with a normal voice. Children
learn this important fact at a very early age.

In addition to specifying comfortable interaction distances, culture tells us when and how it is acceptable
to touch other individuals. In North America, culture generally discourages touching by adults except in
moments of intimacy or formal greeting (hand shaking or hugging). This informal rule is most rigidly
applied to men. If they hold hands or kiss in public, they run the risk of being labeled homosexual and
subsequently marginalized socially. Similar culturally defined patterns of physical contact avoidance are
found in most of the cultures of Asia and Northern Europe. In Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin
America, much more physical contact usually is expected and desired.

Cultural Use of Space

Culture also tells us how to organize space in such a way as to control the nature of interaction. In North
American corporate offices, for instance, the boss is usually physically isolated in a very separate private
room. This tends to minimize his or her personal contact with ordinary workers. In contrast, Japanese
offices commonly are set up with the boss's desk at the end of a row of pushed together desks used by
subordinate employees. This maximizes his interaction with them.

A court room similarly alters behavior. In the United States, the judge usually wears a black robe and sits
behind an elevated desk. The other desks and chairs in court are positioned so that all attention is focused on
the judge. This intentional setting makes those present feel respectful and subservience to the judge,
thereby making it easier for him or her to control the proceedings.

Culture also guides our perception of space by defining units of it. In the industrial world, space is divided
into standardized segments with sides and position. Acres and city lots with uniform dimensions are
examples of this in the United States. There, property boundaries are referenced to such segments of
space. As the density of population increases, the importance of defined spatial boundaries grows. Land
owners in densely occupied neighborhoods have been known to get angry enough to kill each other over
disputed fence lines between their properties. In less dense rural areas of the American West, for example,
where people own ranches of hundreds and even thousands of acres, the movement of a fence three feet
one way or another is rarely of consequence.

Cultural Use of Time

Culture tells us how to manipulate time in order to communicate different messages. When people appear
for an appointment varies with the custom, social situation, and their relative status. In North America or
England, if you have a business meeting scheduled, the time you should arrive largely depends on the power
relationship between you and the person who you are meeting. People who are lower in status are expected
to arrive on time, if not early. Higher status individuals can expect that others will wait for them if they are
late. For instance, most people who have medical appointments are expected to arrive early and to wait
patiently for their doctor to see them rather than the other way around. An invitation to a party is an entirely
different matter. It is often expected that most guests will arrive "fashionably late."

When people come together with very different cultural expectations about time, there is a potential for
misunderstanding, frustration, and hurt feelings. This could occur, for instance, if an Arab businessman
does not arrive "on time" for a meeting with a potential North American customer in New York and fails
to give an apology when he arrives. For the Arab person, time may be relatively "elastic" and the pace-of-
life a bit slower. He believes that he was sufficiently prompt for the scheduled business meeting, having
arrived within a half hour of the appointment. It is not surprising that he is astonished and offended when
he is treated coldly by the North American who also feels slighted by what he perceives as
rudeness. Compounding the situation is likely to be differences in their comfortable physical interaction
distances. This dismal scenario can be avoided, of course, by foreknowledge about the other culture and a
willingness to adopt a cultural relativity approach. The old saying "when in Rome do as the Romans do"
is still good advice.

Communicating with clothes

Throughout the world, clothing has multiple functions. It is used to provide protection from the
elements. It also is worn for modesty, usually to prevent others from seeing specific parts of one's
body. However, the parts of the body that must be covered vary widely throughout the world. For
instance, the man from New Guinea shown in the picture would feel undressed in public if he did not
have the narrow gourd sheath over his penis tied in an erect position. Throughout most of the rest of the
world, this would be viewed as a highly inappropriate style of dress to say the least. Some clothing is
worn to provide supernatural protection. Wearing a Christian cross or a St. Christopher medal often are
thought to have just this effect. Wearing a lucky shirt to take an exam is also relying on supernatural
assistance.

People in all cultures use clothing and other forms of bodily adornment to communicate status, intentions,
and other messages. In North America, we dress differently for business and various recreational
activities. Likewise there are styles of clothes that are worn to sexually attract others. There can be great
subtlety, especially in women's clothing. It can communicate that a woman wants to be considered
sexually neutral. On the other hand, it may be meant to be seductive, innocent but alluring, etc. Women
in the Western World usually are much more knowledgeable of and concerned with subtle nuances in
messages communicated by clothes than are men. At times, this leads to awkward errors of interpretation
of female intentions on the part of men. Of course, clothing styles also are intended to communicate
messages to members of the same gender.

Long before we are physically near enough to talk to people, their appearance announces their gender,
age, economic class, and often even intentions. We begin to recognize the important cultural clues for
this at an early age. The vocabulary of dress that we learn includes not only items of clothing but also
hair styles, jewelry, makeup, and other body decoration such as tattoos. In most cultures, however, the
same style of dress communicates different messages depending on the age, gender, and physical
appearance of the individual wearing it.

Putting on certain types of clothing can change your behavior and the behavior of others towards
you. This can be the case with a military uniform, doctor's white lab coat, or a clown's costume. For
instance, it is likely that the Spanish policemen in the photo are more assertive and aggressive when they
wear their uniforms. Likewise, others are more likely to follow their directions.

Most uniforms are consciously symbolic so that they can rapidly and conclusively communicate
status. For instance, the ribbon, crown, and scepter leave little doubt that the young woman in the photo
on the left below is a beauty queen. The ribbons and other insignias on the U.S. sailor's uniform can tell
even a stranger about his status, authority, and military experience. Similarly, the unconventional hair
styles and clothing of the English "punkers" are essential aspects of their uniforms. In all three cases, it is
necessary to know what these culturally defined symbols mean in the context that they are used in order
to understand what is being communicated.

There are many forms of body decoration other than clothes that are used around the world to send
messages. These include body and hair paint, tattoos, decorative scaring and branding, perfumes, and
even body deformation.

When children are very young, their bodies are still physically moldable to a degree. Some cultures have
taken advantage of this fact to bind their head or feet. The result can be elongated heads and tiny stunted
feet. When orthodontists put braces on teeth, they are essentially doing the same thing--deforming or
reforming a part of the body to make it more attractive. Soft tissue can be altered as well. Holes in ears
for decorative rings can be progressively enlarged over years with thicker and thicker posts so that
ultimately huge spools, plugs, or heavy rings can be inserted. This has been a sign of beauty among some
indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, South America, and Southeast Asia. The same thing was done to the
lip in a few cultures of Africa and the Amazon Basin of South America.

Gender Differences in paralanguage

When traveling to other societies, it is important to understand that there are likely to be significant
gender differences in paralanguage in addition to distinctions in clothes and adornment. In North
America, for instance, men generally prefer face to face conversations and maintain direct eye contact
longer. In contrast, women often converse standing side by side but closer together than is typical of
men. Male handshakes tend to be firmer. North American women usually are more restrained in their
use of bold gestures but use more facial expressions (especially smiles) and are more skilled in
interpreting them.

In Japan, women most often speak with an artificially high pitch, especially when conversing with men in
a business or official setting. This is part of the general deference traditionally shown to men. However,
recent research indicates that the pitch of female voices has begun to lower. It has been suggested that
this change is connected with the increased economic and political clout of Japanese women.

As a conclusion, the human communication process is more complex than it initially seems. Much, if not
most, of our messages in face to face contact are transmitted through paralanguage. These auxiliary
communication techniques are highly culture bound. Communication with people from other societies or
ethnic groups is fraught with the danger of misunderstanding if their culture and paralanguage is unknown
to you or ignored.
 Touching, Affection and Love

Comparing the United States and Brazil – or virtually any Latin nation – we can see a striking cultural
contrast between a culture that tends to discourage physical contact and demonstrations of affection and
one in which the contrary is true.

"Don’t touch me." "Take your hands off me." Such statements are not uncommon in North America, but
they are virtually never heard in Brazil, the Western Hemisphere’s second most populous country.
Brazilians like to be touched (and kissed) more than North Americans do. The world’s cultures have
strikingly different notions about displays of affection and about matters of personal space. When North
Americans talk, walk, and dance, they maintain a certain distance from others – their personal space.
Brazilians, who maintain less physical distance, interpret this as a sign of coldness. When conversing with
a North American, the Brazilian characteristically moves in as the North American "instinctively" retreats.
In these body movements, neither Brazilian nor North American is trying consciously to be especially
friendly or unfriendly. Each is merely executing a program written on the self by years of exposure to a
particular cultural tradition. Because of different ideas about proper social space, cocktail parties in
international meeting places such as the United Nations can resemble an elaborate insect mating ritual as
diplomats from different cultures advance, withdraw, and sidestep.

One easily evident difference between Brazil and the United States involves kissing, hugging, and
touching. Middle-class Brazilians teach their kids – both boys and girls – to kiss (on the cheek, two or three
times, coming and going) every adult relative they ever see. Given the size of Brazilian extended families,
this can mean hundreds of people. Females continue kissing throughout their lives. They kiss male and
female kin, friends, relatives of friends, friends of relatives, friends of friends, and, when it seems
appropriate, more casual acquaintances. Males go on kissing their female relatives and friends. Until they
are adolescents, boys also kiss adult male relatives. Brazilian men typically greet each other with hearty
handshakes and a traditional male hug (abraco). The closer the relationship, the tighter and longer-lasting
the embrace. These comments apply to brothers, cousins, uncles, and friends. Many Brazilian men keep on
kissing their fathers and uncles throughout their lives.

Like other North Americans who spend time in a Latin culture, I miss the numerous kisses and
handshakes when I get back to the United States. After several months in Brazil, I find North Americans
rather cold and impersonal. Many Brazilians share this opinion. I have heard similar feeling expressed by
Italian-Americans as they describe North Americans with different ethnic backgrounds.
 Eating Habits
Food is very much a part of popular culture, and the beliefs, practices, and trends in a culture affect
its eating practices. Popular culture includes the ideas and objects generated by a society, including
commercial, political, media, and other systems, as well as the impact of these ideas and objects on society.

Current Trends

There has been an increasing trend in the United States toward consumerism, a trend that is reflected
in more people eating away from home; the use of dietary and herbal supplements; foods for specific groups
(e.g., dieters, women, athletes, older adults); the use of convenience and functional foods; and ethnic
diversity in diets. Mainstream populations in developed countries want low-calorie, low-fat foods, as well
as simple, natural, and fresh ingredients.

Internationally, there has been an "Americanization" of diets through the growth and use of fast-
food restaurants and convenience foods. In developing countries there is still a need for some basic foods,
and governments and the food industry are working to develop products that can reduce international food
shortages and nutrient deficiency problems.

Eating Away from Home

Internationally, the proportion of money spent on food eaten away from home, as well as the number
of restaurants, has been steadily increasing since the second half of the twentieth century. People may dine
at formal, sit-down restaurants, at fast-food eateries, at cafes, or they may purchase food from street
vendors.

Fast-food restaurants have become very common, and are visited by all types of people. The growth
and popularity of fast food has come to be known as the "McDonaldization" of America. In the United
States, eating in these restaurants has decreased slightly among heavy users in the 18–34 age group, but has
increased among other groups. Their popularity has also increased internationally.

A simple meal demonstrates, sometimes, the complicated relationship between a culture and its
food. In the twentieth century, Americans' preference for quick, portable meals popularized the fast-food
burger. Over time the popularity of fast foods in America has contributed to an epidemic of obesity.

Many eateries now offer the option of larger serving (portion) sizes for a nominal additional fee (a
"super-size"). Eating away from home, and the shift to a more sedentary lifestyle, has been linked to the
increasing rates of obesity in the United States.

Obesity and Malnutrition

Obesity, a form of malnutrition, is commonly defined as a body mass index over 30. Being
overweight is defined as a body mass index of 25–30. There has been an increasing rate of obesity in the
United States, especially among children. Obesity is now considered a national epidemic in many developed
countries (such as the United States), but some persons feel that this concern has also caused a
stigmatization of the obese.

Eating disorders can result in malnutrition. Bulimia is a condition marked by periods of binge eating
followed by purging. This differs from compulsive overeating, or binge eating, which occurs when an
individual eats compulsively but does not purge and becomes overweight. Starvation, either from the lack
of available food or from self-imposed starvation, as in anorexia nervosa, will also cause malnutrition.

Despite a growing rate of obesity in developed countries, under nutrition remains the most common
nutritional problem in developing nations. The combination of protein deficiency and energy deficiency is
commonly known as protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). This form of malnutrition is most common in
underdeveloped and developing countries, but also appears in geographic pockets of developed countries.

Dieting

About half of all Americans try to lose weight, or maintain their weight, every year. In an effort to
lose weight people purchase weight loss pills; special herbal supplements; and formulated weight loss
drinks, foods, and diet bars. People also join health clubs or spas, or buy special weight loss and exercise
equipment, in an effort to lose weight and improve their health.

Among the common types of diets people follow are food-focused, celebrity, exchange, and
supplement-based diets. Food-focused plans, such as the grapefruit diet, the banana diet, or a wine drinker's
diet, emphasize consumption of only one, or a few, foods. Celebrity plans generally have the backing of a
celebrity, and exchange plans lump together into food groups items with similar calories, carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats. Some diets incorporate a commercial meal, snack bar, food, or beverage that must be
purchased.

Supplements

Pills, liquids, or powders that contain nutrients and other ingredients are now readily available in
stores. Supplements that contain herbs (or some herbal components) are growing in popularity. However,
supplement production and use is not always well regulated, so consumers must be careful about what they
purchase and consume.

Convenience Foods

To satisfy individuals who want to eat well at home but are short on time or do not want to prepare
elaborate meals, many eateries also offer take-out meals or items. Fully or partially prepared "TOTE" (take-
out-to-eat) foods, including home-delivered meals, are generally referred to as convenience foods. As more
women (the traditional preparers of family meals) enter the labor force, people's desire to save time
increases along with the use of convenience foods.

The TV Dinner

The "TV Dinner," a registered trademark of the Swanson Company, first appeared in the early 1950s
as women began leaving the kitchen for work outside the home, changing the way America ate. According
to company lore, the product was invented by a sales representative who was left with 270 tons of unsold
Thanksgiving turkey after the holiday. Inspired by a food tray with compartments he had seen on an airline,
the representative proposed a frozen, prepared dinner for retail sale. The first frozen dinners—featuring
turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and peas—went into production in 1954. The following year,
Swanson sold 25 million of them.

Functional Foods

The term functional food is often used in reference to foods that have nutrients (or non-nutrients)
that might protect against disease. The term is used when referring to foods that have been fortified, have
specific phytochemical or active microorganisms added, or have been developed using genetic engineering
techniques. However, all foods can support health in some way, and there is no legal definition of functional
food. In addition, the actual benefit of these foods, if any, can vary and is open to interpretation. For
example, both a candy bar and orange juice may have additional calcium added, and can therefore be called
functional foods. The consumer must determine the benefit of such items.
Ethnic Foods

People now eat foods with origins in cultures other than their own, especially in the United States,
where almost all dishes originated elsewhere but have been modified to suit the tastes and popularity of the
mainstream population. Since the late twentieth century, however, there has been an increased incorporation
of ethnic cuisines into the American diet, including foods from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
This trend is part of a larger movement toward diversity in all aspects of life.

Although all humans need food to survive, people's food habits (how they obtain, prepare, and
consume food) are the result of learned behaviors. These collective behaviors, as well as the values and
attitudes they reflect, come to represent a group's popular culture.
 Marriage: A Cultural Icon
Marriage, socially recognized and approved union between individuals, who commit to one another with
the expectation of a stable and lasting intimate relationship. It begins with a ceremony known as a
wedding, which formally unites the marriage partners. A marital relationship usually involves some kind
of contract, either written or specified by tradition, which defines the partners’ rights and obligations to
each other, to any children they may have, and to their relatives. In most contemporary industrialized
societies, marriage is certified by the government.

In addition to being a personal relationship between two people, marriage is one of society’s most
important and basic institutions. Marriage and family serve as tools for ensuring social reproduction.
Social reproduction includes providing food, clothing, and shelter for family members; raising and
socializing children; and caring for the sick and elderly. In families and societies in which wealth,
property, or a hereditary title is to be passed on from one generation to the next, inheritance and the
production of legitimate heirs are a prime concern in marriage. However, in contemporary industrialized
societies, marriage functions less as a social institution and more as a source of intimacy for the
individuals involved.

Marriage is commonly defined as a partnership between two members of opposite sex known as husband
and wife. However, scholars who study human culture and society disagree on whether marriage can be
universally defined. The usual roles and responsibilities of the husband and wife include living together,
having sexual relations only with one another, sharing economic resources, and being recognized as the
parents of their children. However, unconventional forms of marriage that do not include these elements
do exist. For example, scholars have studied several cultural groups in Africa and India in which
husbands and wives do not live together. Instead, each spouse remains in his or her original home, and the
husband is a “visitor” with sexual rights. Committed relationships between homosexuals (individuals with
a sexual orientation toward people of the same sex) also challenge conventional definitions of marriage.

Debates over the definition of marriage illustrate its dual nature as both a public institution and a private,
personal relationship. On the one hand, marriage involves an emotional and sexual relationship between
particular human beings. At the same time, marriage is an institution that transcends the particular
individuals involved in it and unites two families. In some cultures, marriage connects two families in a
complicated set of property exchanges involving land, labor, and other resources. The extended family
and society also share an interest in any children the couple may have. Furthermore, the legal and
religious definitions of marriage and the laws that surround it usually represent the symbolic expression
of core cultural norms (informal behavioral guidelines) and values.

Selecting a partner

Although practices vary from one culture to another, all societies have rules about who is eligible to
marry whom, which individuals are forbidden to marry one another, and the process of selecting a mate.
In most societies, the mate-selection process involves what social scientists call a marriage market. The
husband and wife come together out of a wide range of possible partners. In many non-Western societies
the parents, not the prospective marriage partners, do the “shopping.” In Western societies social rules
have gradually changed to permit more freedom of choice for the couple and a greater emphasis on love
as the basis for marriage.

Dating, Courtship, and Engagement

In societies in which individuals choose their own partners, young people typically date prior to marriage.
Dating is the process of spending time with prospective partners to become acquainted. Dates may take
place in groups or between just two individuals. When dating becomes more serious it may be referred to
as courtship. Courtship implies a deeper level of commitment than dating does. During courtship the
individuals specifically contemplate marriage, rather than merely enjoy one another’s company for the
time being.

Courtship may lead to engagement, also known as betrothal—the formal agreement to marry. Couples
usually spend some period of time engaged before they actually marry. A woman who is engaged is
known as the man’s fiancée, and the man is known as the woman’s fiancé. Men typically give an
engagement ring to their fiancée as a symbol of the agreement to marry.

In the past, dating, courtship, and engagement were distinct stages in the selection of a marital partner.
Each stage represented an increasing level of commitment and intimacy. Although this remains true to
some degree, since the 1960s these stages have tended to blend into one another. For example, modern
dating and courtship often involve sexual relations. Studies indicate that more than three-quarters of
young people in the United States have had sexual intercourse by the age of 19. Furthermore, the
contemporary mate-selection process frequently includes the practice of cohabitation—living together in
an unmarried sexual relationship. Cohabitation has a long history among poor people, but has become
popular among young, middle-class adults only since the 1960s. Cohabitation often precedes marriage,
but in some cases, people continue to cohabit without marrying.

In general, people tend to date and marry people with whom they have characteristics in common. Thus,
mate selection typically results in homogamous marriage, in which the partners are similar in a variety of
ways. Characteristics that couples tend to share include race, ethnicity, religion, economic status, age, and
the level of prestige of their parents.

In the United States, marital similarity has increased for some traits and decreased for others in recent
years. People seek partners who are similar in attributes that result from individual achievement. For
example, an individual is more likely to marry someone who has a similar amount of education. At the
same time, Americans are less likely to require similarity of factors present at a person’s birth, such as
religion and social class. However, the tendency to marry someone of the same race persists. For instance,
marriages between African Americans and whites make up less than 1 percent of all marriages in the
United States. Until the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the practice unconstitutional in the late
1960s, laws in some states prohibited certain types of interracial marriage, also known as miscegenation.

Arranged Marriage

Historically parents have played a major role in choosing marriage partners for their children, and the
custom continues in the world’s developing countries today. Parental influence is greatest when the
parents have a large stake in whom their child marries. Traditionally, marriage has been regarded as an
alliance between two families, rather than just between the two individuals. Aristocratic families could
enhance their wealth or acquire royal titles through a child’s marriage. Marriage was also used as a way
of sealing peace between former enemies, whether they were kings or feuding villagers.

The most extreme form of parental influence is an arranged marriage in which the bride and groom have
no say at all. For instance, in traditional Chinese practice, the bride and groom meet for the first time on
their wedding day. In some upper-caste Hindu marriages, children are betrothed at a very young age and
have no voice in the decision. In a less extreme form of arranged marriage, parents may do the
matchmaking, but the young people can veto the choice. Some small cultures scattered around the world
have what social scientists call preferential marriage. In this system, the bride or groom is supposed to
marry a particular kind of person—for example, a cousin on the mother’s or father’s side of the family.

In many traditional societies, marriage typically involved transfers of property from the parents to their
marrying children or from one set of parents to the other. These customs persist in some places today and
are part of the tradition of arranged marriages. For example, in some cultures the bride’s parents may give
property (known as a dowry) to the new couple. The practice of giving dowries has been common in
countries such as Greece, Egypt, India, and China from ancient times until the present. It was also typical
in European societies in the past. Although the giving of dowries has been part of the norms of marriage
in these cultures, often only those people with property could afford to give a dowry to the young couple.

Families use dowries to attract a son-in-law with desirable qualities, such as a particularly bright man
from a poor but respectable family or a man with higher status but with less money than the bride’s
family has. In societies in which the giving of dowries is customary, families with many daughters can
become impoverished by the costs of marriage. For this reason, in Europe in earlier times some families
sent “extra” daughters to convents. In India and China, where it is expected that every woman will marry,
families have sometimes tried to limit the number of daughters born to them through infanticide (the
killing of infants).

In some societies, the groom’s family gives property (known as bride-wealth or bride-price) not to the
new couple but to the bride’s relatives. Particularly in places where bride-wealth payments are high, the
practice tends to maintain the authority of fathers over sons. Because fathers control the resources of the
family, sons must keep the favor of their fathers in order to secure the property necessary to obtain a
bride. The custom of giving bride wealth occurs primarily in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Anthropologists characterize bride wealth as compensation to the bride’s family for the transfer to the
groom’s family of the bride’s reproductive capacities or her ability to work. They debate whether the
practice should be seen as the actual sale of a daughter or whether it is a ritual—that is, a symbolic act—
rather than an economic transaction.

Although arranged marriage persists in many cultures today, as modernization proceeds and many areas
become part of the global economy, parental influences on marriage continue to decline. Young people
who work for wages rather than on the family’s land no longer depend as highly on their parents’
resources. As Western popular culture—including motion pictures, television, music, and fashion—
spreads around the world, many young people are drawn to Western notions of love, romance, and
individual choice. In some places, such as Japan, people combine modern Western and older cultural
practices. For instance, parents and computer matchmaking services help find prospective mates, and the
individuals can accept or reject the proposed match.

Conventions and Taboos

Marriage is part of a society’s kinship system, which defines the bonds and linkages between people. The
kinship system also dictates who may or may not marry depending on those bonds. In some cultures
people may only marry partners who are members of the same clan—that is, people who trace their
ancestry back to a common ancestor. This practice of marrying within one’s group is called endogamy.
Exogamy, on the other hand, refers to the practice of marrying outside of one’s group—for example,
marrying outside one’s clan or religion.

One rule shared by virtually all societies is the taboo (social prohibition) against incest—sexual relations
between two closely related individuals. Definitions of which relationships are close enough to trigger
this taboo vary a great deal, depending on the society. In most cases the prohibition applies to
relationships within the biological nuclear family: mother and son, father and daughter, or brother and
sister. In many cultures, the taboo applies to relationships created by divorce and remarriage (step
relationships) as well as to those based on biology. The prohibitions on incest and the rules for marriage
do not necessarily coincide. In Britain, for example, step relatives are not allowed to marry one another,
but sexual relations between them are not legally forbidden. A few societies constitute exceptions to the
general rule against incest. In ancient Egypt brother-sister marriage and sexual intimacy was permitted in
the royal family, probably to maintain the “purity” of the royal bloodlines.

As we said above, marriage refers to the customs, rules, and obligations that establish a special
relationship between an adult male and female who have a sexual union, between the adult couple and
any children they produce, and between the kinship groups of the husband and wife. Both marriage and
the family are cultural patterns.

Monogamy and Polygamy

In the United States and in other Western societies, both law and longstanding tradition dictate that
marriages are monogamous—that is, an individual is married to only one other person. This form of
marriage exists in all cultures and is the most common form, even in places where other arrangements are
recognized. People in monogamous cultures may not have more than one marriage partner at a time.
However, if a marriage ends due to the death of a partner or divorce (legal termination of marriage),
remarriage is acceptable. Thus, people in monogamous cultures may have more than one spouse during
their lifetimes.

Where polygamy exists, in almost all cases it means polygyny is practiced. The Old Testament of the
Bible describes the practice of polygyny among the ancient Hebrews. The early Christians outlawed
polygyny, which had existed among the pre-Christian tribes of Europe as well as among Hebrews. During
the 19th century in the United States, members of the Mormon religion practiced polygyny. Although the
church officially rejected the practice of polygyny in 1890, some Mormons still engage in plural
relationships. Under Islamic law today, a man may legally have as many as four wives. Polygyny is also
practiced in some African nations. Even where polygyny is an approved form of marriage, it is a
relatively rare occurrence. In reality, most men cannot afford more than one wife. Anthropologists believe
that polygyny reflects the male desire for prestige and paternity rather than the sex drive. It is generally
practiced in societies in which wealth, status, and even immortality depend on having many children.

Polyandry is extremely rare. Where it does exist, it seems to be associated with groups who live in
extremely impoverished environments. Polyandry is also associated with areas in which there is a
shortage of women in comparison to men. In certain areas of Tibet, a woman may marry the eldest son of
a family and take his brothers as husbands also. This practice reduces competition among heirs and
ensures transmission of land with minimal fragmentation.

Wedding Ceremonies and customs

The ceremony that signifies the beginning of a marriage is known as a wedding. Weddings may be simple
or elaborate, but they occur in virtually all societies.

Ritual Aspects

Anthropologists characterize wedding ceremonies as rituals of transition, or rites of passage. These rites
occur when people cross boundaries of age or social status. Any social transition, such as the birth of a
child or the death of a person, sets off changes in the lives of all those connected with the individual.
Weddings and other rites of passage dramatize these changes for all involved and also allow for the
expression of emotions brought on by the events. Weddings announce to the community the union of the
individuals marrying and allow the community to express its approval of and support for that union.

Wedding rituals throughout the world share several common features. An essential element of nearly all
wedding ceremonies is the symbolic expression of the union between the individuals marrying. This
union may be signified by the exchange of rings, the tying of the bride and groom’s garments together, or
simply the joining of hands. Other rituals emphasize the function of the marriage as the foundation of the
family. For instance, in Hindu wedding ceremonies the bride and groom circle a sacred fire to promote
the fertility of the union. Feasting and dancing at weddings by family and friends signifies the
community’s blessing on the marriage.
In the United States and Canada

Until the middle of the 19th century, weddings in Western society were modest events that took place in
homes. By 1900 formal weddings and their attendant rituals had become major events in middle-class
families. The white wedding—a formal affair with the bride dressed in white—is now the standard
throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, and its practice has spread to Asia and Africa as well.

Many weddings involve a religious ceremony. These ceremonies vary depending on the religion of the
bride and groom. Various religions or denominations have distinctive wedding customs. Roman Catholic
ceremonies involve a nuptial mass, during which many scriptural texts concerning marriage are read. The
presence of a priest and at least two witnesses is essential, as is the expression of consent by the bride and
groom. In Orthodox Jewish celebrations, the bride and groom stand under a chuppah—a canopy that
symbolizes the home the couple will establish. Following the ceremony the groom smashes a wineglass.
Most scholars believe this act commemorates the destruction of the first Jewish temple (the Temple of
Solomon in Jerusalem) by the Babylonians in 586 BC. In ceremonies governed by the Greek Orthodox
Church, the “best man” places crowns attached by ribbon on the heads of the bride and groom, signifying
divine sanction of their marriage.

Some American and Canadian couples prefer a nonreligious, or civil, wedding ceremony. Such weddings
typically occur in commercial wedding chapels or reception halls, courthouses or other governmental
offices, or outdoors. These events tend to be smaller and less formal affairs than traditional religious
ceremonies. A government-certified, secular official administers the ceremony in the presence of at least
two witnesses. Other couples elope—that is, they have a private wedding ceremony that does not involve
a gathering of family and friends.

Most couples exchange some sort of marriage vows (promises). Vows may be prescribed by the church or
written by the couple. Traditional Protestant vows include the promise to love and to cherish, for better
and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until parted by death. The minister asks
the bride and the groom if they each make this promise to the other and each responds “I do.”

Following the wedding ceremony, religious or civil, many couples hold a reception. At the reception
friends and family gather to eat, drink, listen to music and dance, make toasts, and give gifts to the bride
and groom. During the reception, the couple typically cut a special, large cake that is shared with all the
guests. The bride and groom may also conduct a receiving line where they greet and thank each guest for
attending their wedding.

Many newlyweds take a honeymoon trip after their wedding. During the honeymoon, the couple can
spend time by themselves exploring their new status as husband and wife. Popular honeymoon
destinations for U.S. and Canadian couples include Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

In addition to that, marriage patterns throughout the world vary according to custom, tradition, religion,
and economic factors. The age at which people marry for the first time, the proportion of adults who
marry at some point in their lives, and the likelihood that marriages will end in divorce differ among
cultures.

In the United States and Canada: Marital status by age and sex

The dominant patterns of marriage in the United States and Canada are based on those of the countries in
northwestern Europe that were the main sources of immigration until the beginning of the 20th century.
Historically this European marriage pattern has included a relatively late age of marriage, a relatively
large proportion of people remaining single, and an emphasis on the nuclear family (husband, wife, and
children) rather than the kin group or clan. During the 20th century, however, marriage and family
arrangements have become increasingly diverse.
The United States has historically had higher rates of marriage than those of other industrialized
countries, as well as higher rates of divorce. The annual marriage rate in the United States—about 9 new
marriages for every 1,000 people—is substantially higher than it is in other industrialized democracies.
However, marriage is no longer as widespread as it was several decades ago. The proportion of American
adults who are married declined from 72 percent in 1970 to 60 percent in 1998. This does not mean that
large numbers of people will remain unmarried throughout their lives. About 90 percent of Americans
marry at some point in their lives. Marriage rates in Canada have also declined during the past few
decades. In the mid-1940s the annual marriage rate in Canada was 11 new marriages for every 1,000
people. Today 5 new marriages take place each year for every 1,000 people. About half of the current
adult population of Canada is married.

Age at first marriage

The timing of marriage has fluctuated over the past century. In 1995 the median age of women in the
United States at the time of their first marriage was 25. The median age of men was about 27. Men and
women in the United States marry for the first time an average of five years later than people did in the
1950s. However, young adults of the 1950s married younger than did any previous generation in U.S.
history. Today’s later age of marriage is in line with the age of marriage between 1890 and 1940.
Moreover, a greater proportion of the population was married (95 percent) during the 1950s than at any
time before or since. Experts do not agree on why the “marriage rush” of the late 1940s and 1950s
occurred, but most social scientists believe it represented a response to the return of normalcy and
prosperity after 15 years of severe economic depression and war. In Canada the median age at first
marriage is nearly identical to that in the United States—just over age 24 for women and nearly 27 years
of age for men.

Although the divorce rate in the United States has leveled off in recent years, it remains the highest in the
industrialized world. In 1997, 4.3 divorces took place for every 1,000 people in the United States. This is
the lowest figure since the late 1970s. The median duration of marriage in the United States has increased
since 1970, rising from 6.7 years to 7.2 years in 1990. In Canada, each year 2.2 divorces take place for
every 1,000 people. Remarriage after divorce has also been common in the United States, with a majority
of both men and women remarrying within ten years. Since the 1970s the rate of remarriage has dropped
in the United States and Canada. However, cohabitation has become widespread.

In Other Countries

Marriage and divorce rate

The average age at which men and women first marry varies tremendously throughout the world. For
instance, in India marriages tend to take place at a significantly earlier age than they do in the United
States and Canada. The median age of Indian women at the time of their first marriage is just under 19,
while for men it is just over 23. Nearly 44 percent of women in India between the ages of 15 and 19 are
married. In Jamaica, on the other hand, men and women marry much later in life. The median age of first
marriage for both Jamaican women and men is 31. Less than 1 percent of men and women in Jamaica
between the ages of 15 and 19 are married.

Rates of marriage and divorce also fluctuate widely throughout the world. For instance, in Cuba the
annual marriage rate is 15 new marriages for every 1,000 people, while in South Africa only 3 new
marriages take place each year for every 1,000 people. Many of the countries of Western Europe share an
annual rate of marriage of roughly 5 for every 1,000 people. Divorce rates in many countries in Western
Europe are also similar. In France, Germany, Austria, and Italy approximately 2 divorces take place
annually for every 1,000 people. Spain is a notable exception with an annual divorce rate of only 0.6 for
every 1,000 people. Higher rates of divorce are found in Eastern European countries—Estonia, Ukraine,
and Belarus each have an annual rate of about 4 divorces for every 1,000 people.
Roles and Relationships in Marriage

Over the past several hundred years, social, economic, religious, and cultural changes have dramatically
altered the institution of marriage, especially the roles of husbands and wives, in Western societies. Many
factors contribute to the transformation, including the shift from a rural and agricultural society to an
urban industrial economy; the increasing emphasis on individual freedom following the 18th-century Age
of Enlightenment; and changes in population characteristics, such as the decline of mortality (death) rates
and the increase in average life expectancy.

Scholars have identified two primary themes that influence marital change. First, the trend both in society
and within marriage has been toward an increase in equality between men and women. Second,
individuals have placed greater emphasis on love as the motivation for—and basis of—marriage. In
recent decades, these influences have spread beyond Western societies.

Increased Equality

Historically the roles of men and women within marriages have reflected their roles within society. Laws
and customs have traditionally restricted women’s opportunities, limited their legal rights, and required
them to be under the protection and control of a man. For example, under the legal doctrine of couverture,
developed in England during the middle ages, the law viewed the husband and wife as one person—and
that person was the husband. In the 18th century, English legal scholar Sir William Blackstone summed
up the laws of marriage by stating that “the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended
during the marriage, or at least is incorporated” into that of the husband. English colonists in North
America brought their legal traditions with them and the common law of the United States and Canada
incorporated the legal disabilities of women. As a result of couverture, a married woman lost many of the
legal rights she may have possessed before marriage. For example, a single woman who owned property
lost her rights over that property upon marriage. A bride’s wealth became her husband’s.

The tradition of legal patriarchy (male authority) is reflected in social practices related to weddings and
marriage. For example, in many cultures the bride’s father “gives” his daughter to the groom. During the
wedding, the father may physically walk the bride to the groom and transfer her to the groom’s arm or he
may verbally state that he gives her to be married. Traditionally the woman’s loss of her maiden name
after marriage signified that her identity was absorbed by that of her husband. It also signified her
subordination to him in many matters. For example, a wife was legally obliged to live wherever her
husband chose, as well as to maintain the home and submit to her husband’s sexual demands. The
husband also had the right to control and physically discipline the wife. In return, the husband was
obligated to financially support the family. Wives had no control over property, even if they had owned it
before marriage.

In the late 1800s reformers challenged this patriarchal legal tradition and secured passage of Married
Women’s Property Acts in the United States and elsewhere. These laws gave women control over
property they had owned and brought into marriage, as well as earnings they made outside the home. But
these laws did not make husbands and wives legal equals. For instance, a husband could still legally
forbid his wife from working outside the home. Laws in Western countries did not begin to reflect
marriage as a bond between equals until the middle of the 20th century.

Even as women’s legal status gained parity with that of men, other factors increased the distinction
between the roles of husbands and wives. During the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th
centuries society began to shift away from a household-based economy. In preindustrial times the family
worked together as an economic unit—for example, running a farm. Although the man was considered to
be the head of the family, husband and wife both contributed their labor to the family enterprise. The
development of the factory system and the growth of cities led to the separation of work and family. This
division in turn led to a sharp contrast between the roles of men and women. The pattern of man as
breadwinner and woman as housewife subsequently became the cultural ideal of marriage.
Many scholars believe that the central issue in marriage in Western countries today is the redefining of
gender relations. Society is in the midst of a difficult transition away from older patterns of marriage,
especially male dominance and the division of labor that prevailed in the industrial era. In the United
States and other industrialized democracies, one of the most striking social and political developments of
the 20th century is the rise in status of women. Both economic and political trends have undermined
gender inequality. The shift to a post-industrial, service- and information-oriented economy has drawn
increasing numbers of women into the workplace. Modern democracies no longer deny basic rights to
women on account of gender.

In response to these changes, analysts expect marriage to become increasingly symmetrical, with greater
equality of partners and less stereotypical gender roles. Already women are no longer confined to the role
of homemaker and men are not solely defined as the breadwinners. However, women’s lives have
changed more than men’s have thus far. The shift of women into the workplace has not been
accompanied by comparable change in men’s roles inside the home. Studies indicate that although men
have increased the amount of housework and childcare they do, an imbalance remains.

Importance of Intimacy

The transition from traditional to modern society has increased society’s emphasis on love as the basis for
marriage. The concept of romantic love exists in all cultures but is usually not linked to marriage. Love is
often portrayed as a dangerous emotion that can end in tragedy. Historically many people in Western
societies have also been suspicious of marriages based on love, despite the glorification of love in songs
and stories. Passion and romance would quickly fade, many people believed, leaving the couple with a
lifetime of regret.

After 1800 a new ideology of marriage gradually took hold. It arose as the result of a variety of social and
economic factors associated with the rise of modern society: the shift of work out of the home, the growth
of urban living, and the spread of democratic ideals of equality and individual rights. Companionship and
emotional satisfaction came to be seen as the criteria for successful marriage. The companionship model
of marriage also results from demographic shifts—that is, changes in the characteristics of the population.
As the average life span increased and people had fewer children than they had in the past, couples began
to experience a prolonged period during which marriage continued without the presence of young
children. Compatibility with one’s partner became increasingly important.

As companionship marriage became the norm, people who failed to find satisfaction in their marriages
became more likely to consider divorce. Divorce rates in the United States began to rise in the mid-1800s.
Each succeeding generation since then has had a higher proportion of marriages end in divorce. The trend
has only recently leveled off. A majority of divorced persons remarry, however, suggesting that divorce
does not reflect a rejection of the institution of marriage but rather a preference for a different marital
partner.