Not Entirely Married: Resisting the Hegemonic Patrilineal Family in Japan's Household Registry

The koseki 戸籍 (family or household registry) has long served as a material representation of the conceptual structure of Japanese family relations. Membership in a family has been stipulated and proved through registration in a koseki document defined through a shared surname and address. Evidence of family membership for purposes of legal transactions and social interactions has rested in the koseki document. However, during the past several decades some women have questioned the social pressure and legal requirement to change their names in marriage, choosing instead to maintain their surname by refusing to register their marriages to their “husbands.” Claiming themselves “married” but not legally registering their marriages, this growing group of name-change resisters defines their nonregistered marriages as jijitsukon 事実婚 (common-law or real marriage). Drawing on ethnographic research with women in jijitsukon marriages in Tokyo who refuse to share a koseki with their “husbands,” this article explores the implications of marital registration resistance in a marriage-centric society and the concurrent critique of the koseki system (the Koseki Law, koseki document, and the broader system of registration) and the legal marriage structure at the core of women's claims to be married when they do not meet Japan's legal criteria for marriage.

Social change and marriage structure in Nigeria

Marriage as a social institution has undergone changes in structure in contemporary Nigeria. Whether in simple or complex societies, social change is a universal phenomenon. In most cultural groups in indigenous Nigeria, marriage is usually an arrangement between two individuals. As a result there is pressure on the spouses to make the marriage a success bearing in mind the fact that any problem will usually affect both families and strain the otherwise cordial relationship between them. Again, polygyny commonly known as polygamy is the most practiced marriage system. However, the marriage structure in Nigeria today has not been the same. It is found in the name of modernization or civilization that a girl and a boy may decide to marry away from their parents’ place of residence and without their consent. Monogamous marriage is now increasingly encouraged and practiced. The paper thus examines the extent of social change in the Nigerian marriage structure.

Type of temperament as a factor of formation of marriage structure of a population

Aim. To clarify the role of temperament in the formation of the marriage structure of the urbanized population. Methods. The type of temperament was determined using the G. Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPI). Results. 267 couples were examined. The age of men is 35-57 years old, the age of women is 33-55 years old. The entire survey was Kharkov residents - ethnic Ukrainians and Russians. Among the studied marriages, 105 (almost 40%) were endogamous in relation to temperament, 162 (60%) were exogamous. The actual number of endogamous marriages was greater, and exogamous less than the theoretically expected number in panmixia. All endogamous marriages turned out to be positively assortative, the indicator of marital assortativeness for various types of temperament was 17-25%. Conclusions. In endogamous marriages, only the effect of “attraction” was observed. In exogamous marriages, both statistical “attraction” and “repulsion” of temperaments are noted. The effect of "attraction/ repulsion" manifests itself in different ways in reciprocal marriages. Keywords: temperament, population, endogamy.

Cross-Cousin Marriages in Kishtwar

Marriage is a social combination or lawful contract between the general population that makes family relationship and its definition fluctuates as indicated by various societies. Marriage and Kinship are the essential unavoidable truths that apply to everyone of any person. The present paper is about the Kinship and Marriage structure among the Hindu people group in the Kishtwar District. The investigation has explicitly investigated the act of cross-cousin relational unions among the network and has endeavoured to investigate the different family relationship ties predominant among them. This paper is an attempt to investigate the family relationship and marriage structure among the Hindu people group in Kishtwar. The paper likewise accomplishes to investigate the different types of cross-cousin marriages among the Hindu people group in Kishtwar.

From Early Marriage to Adolescent Pregnancy in Turkey

Early marriages/child marriages, defined as formal marriages or informal unions before age 18, have been studied within other adolescence issues in Turkey. Adolescence pregnancies resulting from early marriages in Turkey should not be evaluated without considering the socio-cultural context. This is because this problem occurs mostly under the marriage structure even if it is too early (under the age of 18) and families approve of such marriages. The purpose of this study is to discuss adolescent pregnancies as a result of early marriages in Turkey in accordance with the socio-cultural context pertaining to the social structure of Turkey.

Changing Pattern of Marriage Among Tribals in Northeast India

Population belonging to ‘Scheduled Tribe’ (ST) in India are considered as socio-economically backward section of the society. Tribal display different set of rules regarding inter-tribe and inter-clan marriage. There is a need to understand changing marriage pattern among tribal in North-east India, a region with geographically inaccessible, economically underdeveloped and where a large tribal population resides. Data from Census of India 2001 and 2011, revealed that Singulate Mean Age at Marriage (SMAM) among STs of Northeast is comparatively higher than the ST of India. The spousal age gap has also been decreasing over time. Among the major STs in the Northeast, the SMAM is highest among the Mao, Paomai Naga and among the Tangkhul Nagas of Manipur. Although the Nagas supported early marriage in its lore days, the marriage structure has tremendously changed with dawn of Christianity. Western education brought by Christian Missionaries had great impact on the traditional norms.

Why Do Women Run Away?

This chapter examines the way the Yanomami manipulate their kinship and marriage system. Alès demonstrates that the Yanomami do not use only genealogical relationships for the categorization of marriage practices, but rather select from a number of strategies in response to a set of structural variations in order to obtain a desired outcome. Nearly one-third of marriages are between classificatory brothers and sisters if the appropriate genealogical paths are taken, and not between classificatory husbands and wives. The Yanomami employ strategies that bend or break the rules while simultaneously maintaining their ideal conceptual model of the kinship and marriage structure. Alès’ description of parents deciding the relationship terms of their children’s possible spouses is one of many examples. She concludes that affinity is not determined mechanically from birth, but rather, one might say, affinity is “elective.”