Number of spouses Depending on the culture, marriages may be: monogamous or polygamous.
Monogamy • Monogamy is a form of marriage that allows a person to have one husband or wife. • It is the most common form of marriage in western society and Christian communities.
• In monogamous relationships it is a criminal offence to enter into a second marriage while still legally married. The act of marrying another person while legally married to another is known as bigamy.
• In many societies serial monogamy is common. This involves individuals marrying and divorcing different people many times.
Polygamy
• Polygamy is a form of marriage that involves having more than one partner at the same time. People who participate in this are known as polygamists.
• There are two types of polygamy: polygyny and polyandry. Polygyny
• A form of marriage that involves a man having two or more wives at the same time
• These marriages are often patriarchal, with the male making decisions and supervising all of the family’s finances. The more wives a man has, the wealthier he is considered within some societies.
• Polygyny is practised in some:
o Islamic countries: the Quran states marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four
o African communities o Mormon communities
Polyandry
• A form of marriage that involves a woman having two or more husbands at the same time
• This practice is rare but it exists in some poor agricultural societies, where more than one man is needed to support the family financially.
• Polyandry is practised in some:
o Tibetan communities: fraternal polyandry is the most common form. This involves two or more brothers marrying one woman. It occurs when families want to prevent land being subdivided among all their sons
o Marquesas communities: this occurs as there are more men than women on the islands
Location In some cultures, couples are expected to live in certain locations after they marry. • Matrilocal residence: live in proximity to the wife’s extended family. • Patrilocal residence: live in proximity to the husband’s extended family. • Neolocal residence: live separately from both families in a neutral location.
