Family and Marriage

Have you ever imagine yourself marrying with more than one man/woman at the same time? Or marrying your deceased brother's/sister's spouse? This article intends to inform you about the different types of marriages that currently exists in the modern society not just in the Philippines but also, around the world.  

Marriage is the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law. It is another key social institution that is closely linked with the institution of the family.Though, most people thought that marriage is a union between one man and one woman but marriage comes in a variety of forms. 

Marriage History, an article by Molly Kalafut, talks about the different types of marriage that exist not only in the Philippines, but also, around the world. By reading this article, it raised my awareness about the different types that are existing other than monogamy and polygamy. also, I am able to be familiarized with the distinguishing characteristics of each types. This article gives us 7 types of marriages, namely:

1. Monogamy
2. Polyandry
3. Polygyny
4. Polygynandry
5. Levirate and Sororate
6. Hypergyny
7. Hypogyny

Monogamy

Monogamy, or a marriage where each person has only one spouse, is one possibility among many. The marriages of my parents, as well as my uncles and aunties, belong to this type of marriage. My father and uncles find it advantageous because my mom and my aunties can take good care of their domestic needs and they are happy to have their wives who will take care of their health needs as they get older. On the other hand, my mom and my aunties may find it advantageous because they can have benefits like health insurance, protection, money and child-rearing supports from their husbands.

Polygamy

As I recall from my previous learning, this type of marriage involves marriage between one individual and more than one spouses at the same time and it is divided into two forms, namely: Polygyny and Polyandry. I am well familiar with this one because I had learned this already since grade school.

Polygyny

Polygyny is the most common form of polygamy and involves marriage of a man with two or more woman at the same time. It is practiced in parts of the Middle East and Africa but it is not widely practiced because it is not practical and expensive for a man to sustain more than one woman. For instance, Islam allows (but does not encourage) Muslim men around the world to marry up to 4 wives at the same time, provided that the man is fair in treating his wives. However, according to their Qur'an, if Muslim men are not able to economically support the women they marry, then they should be only married to only one woman.

Polyandry
This type is rarer and it involves the marriage of one woman to two or more men at the same time. In the previous example, if the Muslim men can marry more than two women at the same time, Muslim women, on the other hand, is not allowed to have a polygamous marriage.



Levirate and Sororate
Based on the article, levirate is the marriage of a man to the widow of his dead brother. In this type of marriage, family connections and alliances created by marriages can be maintained and reinforced. Sororate, on the other hand,  allows a widower to marry one of his wife's sisters.

The last two types are the Hypergyny and the Hypogyny. Hypergyny is the marriage of a woman to a man of higher social status or rank while Hypogyny is the marriage of a woman to a man of lower social status, rank or age. We always see this cases in dramas or in movies where the man/woman protagonist who is the president or owner of big company marries a woman/man who is younger or from the middle class. 

Families around the world also differ in terms of who rules or is in charge of the family. Therefore, patriarchal family is one which is being governed by men or a family where men are the ones who make the most important decisions while matriarchal family is one which is being ruled by women. Recently, another type of family exist which is the so-called egalitarian family, where both husband and wife share power in the family more or less equally. Note here, however, that many studies show that women (as compared to men) end up bearing a heavier load of housework and childcare in the majority of cases than men, even in so-called egalitarian families. 

Lastly, residence is a final factor that tends to change cross-culturally and which gives rise to the varied family types. In some cultures, families are patrilocal where the married couple lives with or near the husband’s family while in other cultures families are matrilocal where the married couple lives with or near the wife’s family. However, neolocal families is the most common type of residence in the world in which the married couple chooses its own place of residence separate from the husband’s or wife’s family residence.

The choice of one's own marriage is in his/her hands. No matter what type one wants to be married in the future, he/she must be responsible and must attend with his/her family needs especially the needs of his/her children.