Elements of Kinship and Relatedness Before this course, I never gave much thought about kinship or relatedness. My, somewhat ignorant, viewpoint, was that relatedness stemmed from a combination of affinal and consanguineal ties. Now that I have looked more in depth at multiple societies, and given more thought over my own, I believe relatedness is completely cultural and relies on a hybrid of marital relations, shared living spaces, continuing contact and interaction, and social constructs in order to flourish. The first element of relatedness deals with marital relations. First, I am going to focus on the cultural of the Nuer. They are a society that lives in South Sudan. The initial wedding ritual of the Nuer does not confer relatedness
…show more content…
The top priority of the Nuer is to have a son to carry on his patrilineage. So, to achieve that in lieu of male infertility, “...Men turn[ed] a “blind eye to an adulterous affair on the part of one or more wives in hope that someone would get pregnant” (Stone, 80). The man who was having an affair with the woman may be the genitor, but the husband is the pater, and the child is recognized as a family memeber of the husband’s lineage. An additional source in the case of female infertility was a “woman-woman” marriage. An infertile woman would be allowed to take the role of a male and collect bridewealth so she is able to marry. The infertile woman would find a man to have sex with her new wife. This confers relatedness because “Children of this union were considered members of the woman’s natal patrilineal groups, and the woman herself was considered their pater, or legal father” (Stone, 81). So, this woman-woman marriage creates a father out of an infertile …show more content…
We live in mostly nuclear families and most do not see their extended family very often like the grandparents, aunts, and uncles or even other siblings if they are over a certain age. Most families with children have the notion that the children will move out as soon as the child turns 18 years old. Though, once the child leaves there usually is not as tight as a connection between siblings and sometimes parents once the child moves away. The older child must cut friendships with his or her other siblings so they are able to deal with adult burdens in the western world like affording higher education, working a full time job, and paying for their own living arrangements. This severs ties pretty easily since they aren’t living together, the family members must try and make the time to call back home to keep in touch and continue the relationship. Here is where the social constructs come in to play. I believe that we do endure more for those who are related to us because in many social structures they are needed to help stay alive and produce food. However, in American societies they are also needed for this such as child care and monetary help, but it is also heavily frowned upon in America to not have ties with close families such as parents and siblings. Usually, for the society to accept a severed relationship of siblings or parents, one person of the party must have
The top priority of the Nuer is to have a son to carry on his patrilineage. So, to achieve that in lieu of male infertility, “...Men turn[ed] a “blind eye to an adulterous affair on the part of one or more wives in hope that someone would get pregnant” (Stone, 80). The man who was having an affair with the woman may be the genitor, but the husband is the pater, and the child is recognized as a family memeber of the husband’s lineage. An additional source in the case of female infertility was a “woman-woman” marriage. An infertile woman would be allowed to take the role of a male and collect bridewealth so she is able to marry. The infertile woman would find a man to have sex with her new wife. This confers relatedness because “Children of this union were considered members of the woman’s natal patrilineal groups, and the woman herself was considered their pater, or legal father” (Stone, 81). So, this woman-woman marriage creates a father out of an infertile …show more content…
We live in mostly nuclear families and most do not see their extended family very often like the grandparents, aunts, and uncles or even other siblings if they are over a certain age. Most families with children have the notion that the children will move out as soon as the child turns 18 years old. Though, once the child leaves there usually is not as tight as a connection between siblings and sometimes parents once the child moves away. The older child must cut friendships with his or her other siblings so they are able to deal with adult burdens in the western world like affording higher education, working a full time job, and paying for their own living arrangements. This severs ties pretty easily since they aren’t living together, the family members must try and make the time to call back home to keep in touch and continue the relationship. Here is where the social constructs come in to play. I believe that we do endure more for those who are related to us because in many social structures they are needed to help stay alive and produce food. However, in American societies they are also needed for this such as child care and monetary help, but it is also heavily frowned upon in America to not have ties with close families such as parents and siblings. Usually, for the society to accept a severed relationship of siblings or parents, one person of the party must have