Marriage Practice

ANT101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof: Christina Winn
October 1, 2013 Marriage is a bond between man and woman that should not be entered into lightly. Many cultures have different views on how a man and woman should be joined together. Many traditional Christians believed in asking the bishop or leader of their congregation for consent before they got married. Second, in the Muslim culture, they are allowed to marry at a younger age than christens are allowed. Finally, marriage and divorce go hand in hand, in the Jewish culture divorce is usually handled right there in the community without the need for a judge. In many cultures it is a sign of respect to ask for permission from the father of the woman the man wants to marry. Christians wished to have the consent and blessing of their bishop or the leader of their congregation, and by the end of the fourth century it had become customary in some regions of the Empire for a priest to bless the marriage of a Christian couple (Grubbs, 1994).
Muslim’s on the other hand believe that a man and a woman enter into marriage with both of them agree equally. “In Islam marriage cannot take place unless the female freely agrees to it and a dowry is given to her” (Islamicbulletin.org). Obviously a woman in each of these cultures enters into it on her own free will, but the Jewish culture adds a little bit to it. “Mishnah Kiddushin 1:1 specifies that a woman is acquired (i.e., to be a wife) in three ways: through money, a contract, and sexual intercourse. Ordinarily, all three of these conditions are satisfied, although only one is necessary to effect a binding marriage” (jewfaq.orga). Each of these three cultures has different ways of entering into marriage, but they all have the same basic principle in the end, a loving family. Second, many families seem to be starting younger