Page 90 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 3: Marriage

• Manu has said that a man can supersede his first wife after eight years of his first marriage, if Notes
his wife is barren; after ten years if children produced by his wife do not remain alive; after
eleven years if his wife produces only daughters; and immediately after the first marriage if his
wife is quarrel-some, rebellious, or harsh.
• Polyandry is marriage of one woman with many men, that is, it is a practice involving plurality
of husbands. The only example of Drupadi’s marriage with five Pandavas in the Mahabharta
period was justified by yudhistra on three bases: he cited other examples in which similar
marriages were performed; he cited examples of some of his ancestors who had practised
polyandry; and he described it as “mother’s command” and obeying mother’s command was
son’s dharma.
• Hypergamy (anuloma) is a social practice according to which a boy from upper caste can marry
a girl from lower caste and vice-versa. For example, Khatris (a caste) are divided into four
hypergamous groups: Dhaighar Charghar, Baraghar, and Bawanjati.
• The parental image refers to the influence of a parent’s image (father in the case of girls and
mother in the case of boys) upon marital choice. The kind of individual whom a young boy/girl
will love or hate, embrace or avoid is determined largely by the kind of people he/she has
learned to love or hate as a child.
• It may be concluded that though a large majority of the youth would select their bride on the
basis of her individual qualities and their own individual needs, but they would give an almost
equal importance to the bride’s membership of a particular group or family and to her
adjustibility to their family and its environment.
• Legislation must meet the social needs of the people; and because the social needs change,
legislation also must change from time to time. The function of social legislation is to adjust the
legal system continually to a society which is constantly outgrowing that system
• Muslim marriage, called nikah, unlike the sacramental marriage of the Hindus, is considered to
be a civil contract. Its important objectives are: control over sex, procreation of children and
perpetuation of family, upbringing of children, and ordering of domestic life.
• The Shia law gives the right to the guardian of a minor to contract his/her marriage. The marriage
contracted by the fazuli relative of a minor gives the right to the minor to ratify the marriage on
attaining puberty. The practice of ratification and option of repudiation is called khairulbalig.
• Divorce (talaq) in Muslim society can be given with or without the intervention of the court. A
woman can divorce her husband only through the court but a man can divorce his wife without
approaching the court and by making a single pronouncement during one tuhr (one menstruation
period, i.e., one month) (called Talaq-e-Ahasan) or three pronouncements in three tuhrs (called
Talaq-e-Hasan) or three pronouncements in a single tuhr (called Talaq-e-Ulbidat).
• The unilateral divorce and polygyny among Muslims is so much criticised that many people
clamour for uniform civil code regarding marriage. The Muslims oppose it because they not
only consider it interference in Muslim personal laws but also because the content of the UCC
will be mainly drawn from the Hindu Act.
• The Christians practise divorce too, though the church does not appreciate it. The Indian Divorce
Act, 1869 refers to the conditions under which the divorce may be obtained. It covers dissolution
of marriage, declaring marriage mill and void, decree of judicial separation, protection order
and restitution of conjugal rights.
3.6 Key-Words

1. Exogamy : It is a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social
group.
2. Polygyny : It is a mating system involving one male and two or more females.

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