Marriage Patterns Across Cultures

Q. Describe the different forms of marriage patterns found across cultures.
A. Marriage is a legally recognized and socially approved arrangement between two or more individuals that carries certain rights and obligation and usually involves sexual activities. In the United States, the only legally sanctioned form of marriage is monogamy which is a marriage between two partners usually a man and a woman. Polygamy is the concurrent marriage of a person of one sex with two or more members of the opposite sex. The most prevalent form of polygamy is polygyny the con current marriage of one man with two or more woman. Polygyny has been practiced in a number of societies; including parts of Europe until the Middle Ages more recently Islamic societies in Africa and Asia have been polygynous; however the cost of providing for multiple wives and numerous children makes the practice impossible for all but the wealthiest men. The second type of polygamy is polyandry the concurrent marriage of one woman with two
Remarriage is when a man or woman divorce and gets married again with the same person or another. Among individuals who divorce before age 35, about half will remarry within three years of their first divorce. Most divorced people remarry others who have been divorced. However, remarriage rates vary by gender and age. At all ages, a greater proportion of men than women remarry, often relatively soon after the divorce. Among women, the older a women is at the time of divorce the lower her likelihood of remarrying. Women who have not graduated from high school and who have young children tend to remarry relatively quickly; by contrast, women with a college degree and without children are less likely to remarry. As a result of divorce and remarriage, complex family relationships are often created. Some people become part of stepfamilies or blended families, which consist of a husband and wife, children from previous marriages, and children from the new