What Are The Common Cultural Themes Of Family

Improved Essays
List and discuss the common cultural themes of family and marriage.
There are many forms of family and marriage. The most accepted form of family and marriage is a male and female with or without children. Polygyny is a form of marriage where men have more than one wife, and polyandry women have more than one husband. Some societies are even accepting gay and lesbian marriages with and without children.
The common cultural themes of family and marriage are first, mate selection. This is described in several different ways. We form our own cultural groups and within those groups, we establish what we consider are the norms for families and marriage. Some groups will not allow interracial marriages. While others insist that they marry within

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Marsha McMillen Unit 5 Sociology Discussion There is several cultural themes of family and marriage. We have Traditional Societies, Industrial and Postindustrial societies. In the Traditional societies the structure of the marriages the spouses are introduced to all the family, which there is an abundance of obligations. The function of marriage is to fulfill six needs that are important for the survival of society, and they are socialization of the children, reproduction, economic production, recreation, sexual control, and care of the sick and aged.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sue Richardson, a community volunteer and Irving resident, states her opinions about intercultural dating and marriage in her article “Seek Success: Marry Someone Like Yourself.” The purpose of this article is to convey Mrs. Richardson’s view that people should get into romantic relationships with others who are similar to them. She believes people who have a significant other who is different from them, whether the difference be religious, racial, physical, etc., is a recipe for disaster. Within her article, she favors a sincere tone expressing concern for couples who have differences. Mrs. Richardson’s point of view would be appealing to an audience of people considering marrying or dating someone who is extremely different from them.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In society, a family is made up of two or more members, that can be related by blood, marriage, or adoption. But around the world some people have a family that is different from other's based on the way their culture has taught them to be. A better way to understand the meaning of family is to apply the three major sociological theories. The first theory is the Functionalist by Emile Durkheim which explains that society has to follow certain functions and how the basic needs are helpful to live in any kind of society there is in this world. The way to understand this theory by applying it to family is the incest taboo that makes mandatory to look for a partner from a different family that is not your own.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Common Family Traditions

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Grandma – Throng Sytha What were the common family forms within your family? (i.e. was the family a breadwinner/homemaker, single parent, divorced, remarried family etc.) I was the homemaker and my husband was the breadwinner. I took care of all of my twelve children and my husband worked in the farm. I did some of the farm work, but I was mostly taking care of the house.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Race/Ethnicity Memo

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The purpose of this memo is to inform families about the relationship between race/ethnicity, and social class in defining contemporary marriage and families. One similarity is at present society most people marry for personal fulfillment. Financial stability is important, but couples would still get marry. I have learned that different race has different values about marriage and families. African American, they have a larger decline in marriage than other race, because of their implications for black families.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An individual views the world through a set of goggles crafted by their culture. Each choice made by one is dictated by their cultural background and how it has influenced them. This includes how one reacts to and treat others. For instance, a worldview can determine one's place in life in a social hierarchy, and the quality of life they deserve, and the expectations that are held for them in a family. Expectations set by one's family is something that is determined with a culture playing a large role in the making of them.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When the word marriage is heard, what definition comes to mind? After reading Stephanie Coontz’s article, The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love, the definition of marriage that most people are familiar with is different. In Coontz’s article, she explains the ideal marriage in multiple cultures and how the idea of marriage has altered after some time. It is hard to have one definition of marriage for one culture when there are many different people, therefore, is there a real definition for marriage? If there is a real definition of marriage, is there such thing as love?…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The term race does not have a true definition for it may mean different things to different people. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, race is defined as, “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits” This means that physical differences involving skin pigmentation, facial features, stature, and texture of hair are factors commonly used to distinguish “races”. However, with the up rise in the rate of interracial marriages, these theories of race may not necessarily apply. Race is now being seen as a cultural category as physical features can be deceiving. Children born in interracial relationships share traits from diverse groups that may not necessarily categorize them to fit into a specific race.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Intercultural marriage is defined as marriage between people who come from two different cultural backgrounds, throughout the years . In the story “A Red Girl's Reasoning” E. Pauline Johnson defines the different views on marriage within a cultural and religious marriage, she also speaks upon the equality of race, beliefs, and about how there is no superior ethnicity. Marriage rights and customs morally depend on culture and religion, many christians believe that marriage should involve a ceremony and consent from a priest or magistrate, while on the other hand, Indian rites consist of a feast and a couple that shall agree to live only with and for each other. The married couple in the story, Charlie and Christine, argue about how a proper marriage should propose and why marriage should be either be religious or cultural. In the story “A Red Girl’s Reasoning”, the couple defines and differs the meaning of cultural beliefs, the customs and legality of how a marriage should occur, and finally the rituals of an Indigenous and Christian marriage.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the U.S., the biggest changes in the family are in its structure and changing priorities. In the past century, and particularly in recent decades, the definition of the family has widened to be inclusive of a spectrum of family structures, not just nuclear or traditional families. Less people are getting married and the divorce rate has increased, as have single parent homes and cohabitation, while birth rates have decreased. Ideas about gender roles in families have also been challenged with the women’s rights movement and the legalization of same sex marriage. There has also been an increase in interracial and interreligious marriages.…

    • 2359 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Cultural competence refers to understanding other cultures, by obtaining cultural education, understanding how different cultures function in society, how society has treated their culture and their cultural behaviors (Lum, 2004). While interviewing individuals from a different culture the interviewer must show the ability to ask questions about the interviewee’s family and culture without appearing insensitive. Interviewing Deona Queen gave the opportunity to acquire information about her family’s cultural background, while learning how ask question in a sensitive matter. All information obtained during her interview was used to compare to one’s own family cultural background. Deona Queen was encouraged to give a brief description of her…

    • 1760 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    New cultural norms are changing our image of what the typical American family looks like. As same sex marriage becomes more of a norm, there are still other types of families that are seen as less standard than others. Interracial marriage has come a long way since it was legalized in 1967, but interracial couples still face a different set of challenges than many other families. Two articles that I feel really highlight the different spectrums of interracial marriage are noted in this paper. One of the articles from The New York Times highlights the personal and sometimes lesser known side of interracial marriage, while an article from The Washington Post offers a more macroscopic, quantitative approach.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Family Introduction Paper Traditionally, family is defined by the title and relationship of the ancestry. However the modern day definition has evolved to include anyone with an intimate and or both vital connections to the relationship.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociology Of Family Essay

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Plus cohabitation is more normal. Families are changing and becoming more tolerant of situations that stray from the norm. Three sociological concepts I can relate to are the family unit, marriage – and its alternatives, and after divorce. A family unit for some is easy to define and for others it can be a little more complicated. The easiest and most common way to define someone’s family unit is the group of people related to them by…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Marriage patterns are also affected by the characteristics and social and economic conditions of the populations and their customs, traditions and values. Marriage is linked to several other phenomena such as celibacy, divorce and…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays