Analyzing Gender and Kinship in Diverse Societies: A Study

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between gender and kinship systems within societies. It begins by defining kinship and its significance in shaping social structures, emphasizing the influence of social norms and traditions on family formation and group dynamics. The essay then explores the correlation between kinship systems and gender roles, examining how these systems impact individual perceptions and treatments within society. A central focus is on understanding gender-based descent, distinguishing between matrilineal and patrilineal systems, and analyzing how these systems influence inheritance, power structures, and female emancipation. The discussion extends to the impact of residence patterns (neolocal, patrilocal, matrilocal, and avunculocal) on kinship systems. The essay highlights how societal norms and cultural factors shape these patterns. Ultimately, the essay underscores the importance of kinship systems in shaping societal parameters, especially gender dynamics, and encourages further research into the complex interplay of gender-dependent factors within kinship frameworks. This assignment is available on Desklib, a platform offering students AI-powered study tools and resources.

Running head: GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
HOW KINSHIP SYSTEM DEMARCATES MATRILINY AND PATRILINY IN SOCIETY
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1GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
Abstract
The structure of a society is heavily dependent on the individuals of the society and
the kind of relationship they share amongst themselves. This is what forms the system of
kinship, which is also defined by the way individuals are perceived in the society and the
treatment they receive and give. This article is targeted towards understanding the kinship
system keeping correlation with gender roles, gender based descent understanding and how
social standards and norms influence decisions that sway either side of the gender.
Introduction
Kinship, according to anthropology is defined as the interconnected web of social
relationships defining and forming an important part of the lives of all humans living in the
society. Individuals living in an inclusive society are bound not only by the social rules,
regulations and structural framework, they are also concerned with the way the social norms
and traditions require individuals to form groups and families to form conjugal bonds. These
kinds of bonds are fundamental in determining a stable social integrity, expansion through
reproduction, and maintaining healthy relationships either defined by blood or by marriage.
These connections and linkages are defined by the mechanism of what we call the kinship
system. While there is a vast diversity of socio-cultural factors amongst the global
population, the fundamentals of a kinship system also vary based upon those factors.
Different kinship systems across the world might accommodate different approaches and
norms that other kinship systems might find unacceptable. Female emancipation for example
is such an aspect that not all kinship systems would approve of. This article discusses kinship
system in detail and addresses the various entailments that come with a kinship system in
terms of gender roles. Keeping female emancipation under consideration, this article also
addresses the hierarchy in gender roles and differences between a matrilineal and a patrilineal

2GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
kinship system in an all-inclusive society and also evaluates different patterns of residence in
correlation.
Discussion
As Lowes (2016) points out, there is a huge gap in the divide between the outcomes
of men and women in developing countries. Where in many countries, women suffer from
health conditions owing to poor hygiene and medical services, lack of education, negligence,
limited autonomy and physical and emotional violence, the reasons are rightfully attributed to
the existing social structures that normalises certain presumptions regarding specified social
roles, rights and duties of genders. Kinship systems are determinants of an individual’s
relation with a set of people and the duties and obligations that an individual has towards that
set of people (Paige, 1974). The important element that defines the structure of a kinship
system is the determination of descent. There are two basic types of descent systems that is
prevalent in world societies.
The system that identifies an individual’s descent through both the parents is termed
as the unilineal descent system or unilineal kinship. It attempts to determine whether an
individual’s descent is through the father’s lineage or the mother’s lineage. Unilineal descent
system is subcategorised into two systems that are the focus in this article – Matriliny or
matrilineal descent system (Matrilineal kinship) and Patriliny or patrilineal descent system
(Patrilineal kinship) (Jordan et al., 2009).
In matrilineal descent system, the membership of groups and individual descent along
with inheritance are traced through the female members of the family and the society.
Matrliny is traditionally associated with polyandry and many anthropologists and social
researchers have opinionated that matriliny predates patrilineal kinship, providing evidence
from an earlier stage of evolution (Jordan et al, 2009). However, historians have also claimed

3GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
that patrilineal kinship system is more evolved, civilized and advanced than matrilineal
systems and the latter tends to progressively evolve into a patrilineal system (Lipo, 2017).
The patrilineal kinship system is more concerned with identifying the lineage and
inheritance through the male members of the society (Strassman & Kurapati, 2016).
Patrilineal system is the most extensively existing system round the world and is backed by
the higher number and status of patriarchal societies. Even historically, patriliny dominated
the units of family. Inheritance of names, property, titles and family valuables would not be
accepted without a male heir and under no circumstances, in strict patriarchal societies,
distant male relatives would rather end up with the inheritance than the closest surviving
female member, including a family’s own daughters (Lipo, 2017). If there is some
transference of property from the family to the daughters, it is usually done in the form of
dowries and other payments (as a form of blessing). However, most of the possessive control
is retained by the husband and the husband’s family.
A steadily declining matriliny has been held accountable for a lot of the sufferings and
discomforts that a female in a society has to suffer. Most females in a traditional kinship
system has been identified as the medium for family expansion, thereby unanimously
restricting their choices, will, liberty and decisions (Parsons, Shils & Smelser, 2917).
Declining matriliny has also been influenced by the depreciating matriarchal power in
societies. A patriarchal system of governance also has flaws when it comes to identifying the
rights of females and understanding their sufferings as well as responsibilities (Strassman &
Kurapati, 2016). A matriarchally dominant kinship system allows for female emancipation
whereas a traditionally patriarchal kinship system has its reservations against the same.
Contemporary approaches of feminism and feminist movements has been directed
towards the goal of establishing equality of men and women (Allen, 2018). Female

4GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
emancipation is also identified under the established goals of modern feminist movements.
They key elements that female emancipation identifies as its objectives include liberation of
women from degrading social roles that suppress their desires, goals and dignity,
establishment of a female led/based social structure that emphasises the equality of females in
all sectors of society and profession and emancipation of females from the societal horrors
like gender based violence and abuse (Allen, 2018).
Another important aspect of kinship system that is closely related to the gender based
approach is the patterns of residence (Sahlins, 2013). Residence patterns are connected with
the post marriage need for a couple to stay together and is heavily influenced by the socio-
cultural structures and constructs that surround them. Based upon those factors, there are four
basic patterns of residence that has been recorded, namely Neolocal, Patrilocal, Matrilocal
and Avunculocal (Ember & Ember, 1971).
Neolocal pattern of residence is most commonly observed in North American
married/unmarried couples where they tend to find residence independent from their
individual family members. Patrilocal residence is a pattern observed in patriarchal societies
where the couple stays at the husband’s family home. In a Matrilocal residence, the couple
moves to the wife’s residence and is a key attribute in matrilineal kinship systems (Jordan et
al., 2009). Avunculocal residence is also attributed with matrilineal kinship systems but is
unusual in the fact that the couple instead moves to live with the husband’s mother’s brother.
In the last pattern of residence, the inheritance comes from the husband’s uncle (Fox, 1983).
Patterns of residence tend to reflect the kinship system extant in a geographic location
and is also influenced by the socio-cultural norms that the system vehemently follows.

5GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
Conclusion
Kinship systems influence and are influenced by the specific parameters of a society,
a crucial one being gender. It not only helps to identify and evaluate gender differences based
on structure and function, but also is determined by the set societal norms that regulate the
establishment of a particular kinship system. It thus becomes an interesting field of research
for enthusiastic individuals to elaborate on the gender dependent factors that are closely knit
with a kinship system.

6GENDER AND KINSHIP SYSTEM IN SOCIETIES
References
Allen, A. (2018). The power of feminist theory. Routledge.
Ember, M., & Ember, C. R. (1971). The conditions favoring matrilocal versus patrilocal
residence. American Anthropologist, 73(3), 571-594.
Fox, R. (1983). Kinship and marriage: An anthropological perspective (No. 50). Cambridge
University Press.
Jordan, F. M., Gray, R. D., Greenhill, S. J., & Mace, R. (2009). Matrilocal residence is
ancestral in Austronesian societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological
Sciences, 276(1664), 1957-1964.
Lipo, C. P. (Ed.). (2017). Mapping our ancestors: Phylogenetic approaches in anthropology
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Sahlins, M. (2013). What kinship is-and is not. University of Chicago Press.
Strassmann, B. I., & Kurapati, N. T. (2016). What explains patrilineal cooperation?. Current
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