Kinship, Gender, and Marriage (ANT3KAM) Module 2 Assignment

This assignment delves into the intersection of kinship, gender, and marriage, drawing upon anthropological studies and real-world examples. The first section analyzes the co-presence of gifts and commodities in Vanuatuan weddings, examining the role of kastom and Christianity in shaping the concept of bride price. The second section compares the views of global feminists and women in Papua New Guinea on bride price. The third section explores different forms of marriage in India, including companionate, arranged, and love marriages, and how companionate marriage reproduces the middle class. Finally, the assignment examines the perspectives of various individuals on first-cousin marriage through a case study.

Running head: KINSHIP GENDER AND MARRIAGE
KINSHIP GENDER AND MARRIAGE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1KINSHIP GENDER AND MARRIAGE
Jolly (2015) ‘Braed Praes in Vanuatu: both gifts and commodities?’
1. How are gifts and commodities co-present in weddings in Vanuatu? Use two key words,
kastom and Christianity, in your explanation.
Gift and commodities can be seen to coexist in the weddings in Vanuatu, in the form of women
being identified as either gift or commodity during their marriage. The concept of bride price
(Bride Praes) in relation to kastom, can be identified under colonisation where the idea of
commodity underwent shift through conversion to Christianity, thereby changing the associated
connotations with brides as gift and commodity.
2. Compare what global feminists and women in PNG say about bride price. Are their views
similar or different?
Among both global feminists and local women from PNG. The idea of giving money in
exchange for a woman is seen as commoditising the individual and therefore women are
progressively refusing the practice of bride price or the practice of marriage altogether as they
are finding it easier to raise children and run families singlehandedly.
Fuller and Narasimhan (2008) ‘Companionate marriage in India’
3. Describe the key differences between companionate marriage, arranged marriage and
love marriage.
The key differences between the three forms of marriage mentioned are:
a) A companionate marriage is an informal association between a man and a woman where
the connubial relation that exists is without legal status. They are mostly endogamous.

2KINSHIP GENDER AND MARRIAGE
b) An arranged marriage is a strictly endogamous association between a man and a woman
where the marriage is decided by the senior kin and is then brought forward for the
approval of the children and other family members.
c) A love marriage is the association where one chooses the individual of their own liking
and is not strictly endogamous in nature.
4. How does companionate marriage reproduce the middle class in India?
The companionate marriage in India has reproduces the middle class in India by giving rise to
the idea of equality and education in families, selecting partners based on their qualifications and
employment as well as their potential happiness.
‘Should I marry my cousin?’
5. List four people Hiba spoke to and explain what insights each gave to her about first-
cousin marriage.
The people who spoke to Hiba on the issue of Cousin Marriage were mostly her family
members, religious heads, and medical professionals who were well acquainted with such
problems.
a) Hiba first talked to her uncle Yunus who was unapologetically in support of cousin
marriages and believed that the union would last longer as the bride and groom both
belong from the same family, therefore have similar values.
b) She then spoke to her mother who had her own experience with cousin marriage and it
did not end happily, turning her completely against the tradition.

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c) Hiba’s female cousins, Nahid and Sundas were not in agreement with the latter,
especially, voicing her concerns regarding the genetic problems, which the child born in
such a matrimony might possess.
d) Hiba also spoke to Dr. Anand Saggar, a physician and geneticist at the International Gene
Clinic, who suggested that cousin marriages, should be done with precaution because the
chances of a child having a genetic disease carried within the family increases from 2-3%
to 5% in cousin marriages.