PALAWAN POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, INC

Manalo Extension, Bry. Milagrosa

Puerto Princesa City

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

Senior High School

Week 5
1st Semester
S.Y 2021-2022

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this module, the students are expected to:

1. Describe the various alternative family arrangements in contemporary societies;
2. Summarize recent changes in the family as an institution;

INTRODUCTION
Hi dear students! In this module, we are going to learn about Marriage and the Family.

People to Remember

Zygmunt Bauman- a contemporary Polish sociologist, prefers the term “liquid love” to
characterize this condition. “Liquid Love” corresponds to “liquid modern” conditions in
which everything becomes fleeting, transient, and disposable. Example of “liquid love” is the
intimate relationship generated through online dating sites.
Friedrich Engels- was a German philosopher, historian, political scientist and revolutionary
socialist.
Anthony Giddens- (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for
his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies.

LESSON 1
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 Defining Marriage

Human Marriage is a socio-sexual institution, a part of the wider institutional complex of the
family. Marriage is also an arrangement of procreation, a way of caring for the offspring of
sexuality, defining their legitimate descent, and the main or ultimate responsibility for all
behaviors, norms, roles, expectation, and values that are associated with the legal union of a
man and woman. Edward Wester mark (1891) in his famous book History of Human
Marriage defined marriage as “a relation of one or more men to one or more women which
is recognized by customs or law and involves certain rights and duties both in case of parties
entering into the union and in the case of children born of it.”
Marriage is at the center of the kinship system. Marriage creates alliances and “fictive
kinship” among members of clans and tribes.

Kinship consist of three aspects:

1. It comprises forms of nomenclature and classification;
2. Rules which affect people’s kinship behavior, covering everything from criminal laws
to ideas about good manners;
3. What people actually do (Kottack 2008)
Each society in the world has a set of words used to refer to relatives called Kinship
Terminology.

Endogamy- is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group,
rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal
relationship. Religious groups such as the Amish, Mormons, Catholics and Jews have rules of
endogamy, though these are often violated when marriage takes place outside the group.
Castes in India and Nepal are also endogamous.

Exogamous- is the practice of marrying outside one’s group, which is common in modern
societies. Rules of exogamy create links between groups, while rules of endogamy preserve
separateness and exclusivity, and are a means of maintaining boundaries between one group
and other groups (Rosman, Rubel, and Weisgrau.)
Marriage as a union of individuals also established consanguineal (“blood relation” from the
Latin consanguinitas) relations and relations of affinity. Two people are related to each other
by consanguinity if they have a common ancestor or one is a descendant of the other. Two
people are related by affinity if they are married, or if one person is related by blood to the
other person’s spouse. These links between kin groups established by marriage are called
Affinal Links. People also rely on social relationship made by means of ritual observances,
which are known as Godparenthood or Compadrazgo.

Relationship of Consanguinity

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 Person 1st Degree 2nd Degree 3rd Degree 4th Degree
Child or Parent Grandchild, Great- Great-great-
Sister, grandchild, grandchild,
Brother, or Niece, Grandniece,
grandparent Nephew, Grandnephew,
Aunt, First cousin,
Uncle, or Great aunt,
Great- Great uncle,
grandparent Great-great-
grandparent

Relationship of Affinity
Person 1st Degree 2nd Degree
Spouse, Brother-in-law,
Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law,
Father-in-law, Spouse’s grandparent,
Son-in-law, Spouse’s grandchild,
Daughter-in-law, Grandchild’s spouse or
Stepson, Spouse of grandparent
Stepdaughter,
Stepmother, or
Stepfather

In many societies, marriage between first cousins or between uncle and niece are practiced.
Such practices are often explained by the property and inheritance rules of that society. In
some cases, marriages are pursued for reproductive reasons.
Like the definition of the family, the definition of marriage as an institution varies across
cultures and people around the world. Today, many scholars believe that defining marriage
simply as a union between a male and a female adult is inadequate.
Same-Sex Marriage (Gay Marriage)- it is marriage between two people of the same
biological sex and/or gender identity.
Marriage Equality or Equal Marriage- legal recognition of same-sex-marriage or the
possibility to perform a same-sex-marriage.

Denmark (October 1989)- became the first country in the world to legally recognize same-
sex-unions, after passing a bill legalizing “registered partnership” in a 71-47 vote.
Belgium (2003)- the second country to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages.

LESSON 2

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 POLYGAMOUS AND MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGES
Polygamy- is a marriage that includes more than two partners.
Polygyny- when a man is married to more than one wife at time.
Polyandry – when a woman is married to more than one husband at a time.
Group or Conjoint Marriage- if a marriage includes multiple husband and wives.
In the case of Jacob in the Old Testament, a man marries several sisters. This practice is
known as Sororal Polygyny.
While many people think that monogamy is natural, it is also true that many societies, such as
the Mormons and the Muslims, practice polygamy. The Trobriand Islanders and the Kanuri
of Nigeria, explicitly forbid sororal polygyny or a husband marrying several sisters.
Polyandry is less rare. Most people who practice it are found among Himalayans.

LESSON 3

ROMANTIC LOVE, MATE SELECTION AND THE FAMILY

In. modern societies, monogamy is often associated with romantic love, where one marries
out of love. Many young people today believe that people should marry out of free will and
not based on forced choices or simply due to traditional requirements.
Romantic love is supposed to transcend economic inequalities and physical appearances.
One of the main tenets of romantic love is that “all id fair in love”.
Homogamy- marriage between people from similar sociological or educational backgrounds.
- People tend to marry people who share the same characteristics they have
such as personality, class, lifestyle, family background etc.

EMERGING ISSUES ON FAMILIES

1. Families and Domestic Violence

2. Divorce and Remarriage
3. New Intimacies: Families in the age of Post-Modernity
4. The lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Families
5. Transnational Families: Virtual Connections

Family and Domestic Violence

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Family Violence- encompasses not only violence between female and male partners or same
sex partners but also child abuse and elder abuse.
Domestic Violence- refers to the abuse by one person of another in an intimate relationship.
These relationships can involve marriage partners, partners living together, dating
relationship, and even former spouses, former partners, and former boyfriends/girlfriends.
The abuse may take the form of physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and even
stalking.
Republic Act No. 9262 – An Act Defining Violence Against Women and Their Children,
Providing for Protective Measures for Victims, Prescribing Penalties.
Violence against women and their children- refers to any act or a series of acts committed
by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife or against a woman with whom
the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child,
or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode,
which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or
economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

Divorce- is a court order saying that a man and woman are no longer a husband and a wife.
Annulment- is a judicial statement the there never was a marriage between the man and the
woman. It is the cancellation of marriage as if it never happened.

Grounds for Annulment

a. Absence of parental consent during the marriage
b. Mental illness
c. Fraud
d. Lack of consent
e. Certain diseases

Legal Separation- is a decree that gives the husband and wife the right to live separately
from each other, although they are not allowed by the law to remarry.

The following problems as major factors that leads to the dissolution of marriage:

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 1. Alcoholism and drug abuse
2. Infidelity
3. Incompatibility
4. Physical and emotional abuse
5. Disagreements about gender roles
6. Sexual incompatibility
7. Financial problems

Some factors that act as barriers to marital dissolution:

1. Strong religious beliefs
2. Pressure from family or friends to remain together
3. Irretrievable investments
4. The lack of perceived attractive alternative to the marriage

New Intimacies: Families in the Age of Post-Modernity

According to Giddens (1992), in the self-reflexive and self-actualizing world of today, which
he calls “reflexive modernity”- a social condition when people are aware and knowledgeable
about the risk they face- people no longer require the “forever” clause in romantic love
relationship.
Post-modern families are families that are very different from traditional and modern
families and marriages. It includes same-sex marriages, single-mothers, a lone individual
with adopted child, various forms of polygamous relationship, and open marriages.
Polyamory- is an invented word for s different kind of relationship. Poly comes from Greek
and means “many”. Amory comes from Latin and means “love”.

Lesbian and Gay- refers to men and women who identify themselves as attracted, usually
exclusively, to members of the same sex/gender.

Transnational Families: Virtual Connections

In the Philippines, fathers traditionally pursue their careers and acts as the breadwinners of
the family. Fathers are called Haligi ng Tahanan. Haligi or pillars refers to the foundations
of the house. Fathers as breadwinners only applied to period of society when women were
offered less opportunities to work outside the family. Today, however many women are
already working outside the family.
Transnational families- referred to as multi-local or multi-sited families, or families living
in spatial separation, are certainly not creations of recent globalizing trends but have played
an integral part in European colonial and settler histories.

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Transnational families- It also define that families live some or most of the time separated
from each other, yet hold together and create something than can seen as a feeling of
collective welfare and unity, namely, familyhood, even across national borders.

ACTIVITY 1

Directions:
Describe your “ideal” family in terms of the following:

a. Composition (monogamous or not)

b. Marriage (with divorce or not)
c. Residence (common or virtual)

ASSESSMENT

I. Directions: Fill in the blanks

______________ 1. It is an invented word for s different kind of relationship.

______________ 2. It refers to the abuse by one person of another in an intimate relationship.
These relationships can involve marriage partners, partners living together, dating
relationship, and even former spouses, former partners, and former boyfriends/girlfriends.
______________ 3. It refers to marriage between people from similar sociological or
educational backgrounds.
______________ 4. It comes from Latin and means “love”.
______________ 5. An Act Defining Violence Against Women and Their Children,
Providing for Protective Measures for Victims, Prescribing Penalties.
______________ 6. encompasses not only violence between female and male partners or
same sex partners but also child abuse and elder abuse.
______________ 7. It is marriage between two people of the same biological sex and/or
gender identity.
______________ 8. (“blood relation” from the Latin consanguinitas)

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______________ 9. It is the practice of marrying outside one’s group, which is common in
modern societies.
______________ 10. It is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or
social group, rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other
close personal relationship.

II- Enumerations

1-5 - Give at least 5 major problems that leads to the dissolution of marriage.
6-10 - Give 5 Grounds for Annulment.