Endogamy is a norm that prescribes marriage within a certain social or ethnic group

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The institution of marriage has always evolved over time and has gone through many changes and forms. What may seem outlandish to a modern person was quite normal for a savage, and vice versa. Many restrictions have come down to us. People still care about the opinions of other people, especially family members. Many of us still divide other people by race, religion, or class.

Attitude towards the institution of the family

For some, marriage is a sacred process, while for others it is nothing more than creating optimal conditions for the birth of offspring. Attitudes towards marriage were completely different at different times and for different nations. Each totem group had its own idea of what a family should be like and with which particular member of society marriage is allowed. The society smoothly approached such concepts as endogamy and exogamy. The inhabitants of the ancient worlds did not even think about these two names, but they were already well acquainted with their essence. And you and I just have to find out what they mean, andunderstand the features of these two aspects.

How did endogamy and exogamy come about?

Remember the ancient man. He did not even imagine what it meant to marry, and the institution of the family was completely alien to him. The maximum that he was capable of was to unite into a tribe and function within the limits of this society. Mining hormones and instincts, the savage reproduced offspring. He did not understand exactly who he was having sexual relations with, and, in fact, he did not care. It didn't matter if the man was related to him. But soon, looking at children who were born after sexual contact, for example, a brother and sister, people realized that such individuals would be inferior. Only in a minimal number of cases a he althy and normal child was obtained. In the rest, it was an individual, unable to withstand diseases, natural disasters, or an attack by an enemy clan. He was weak and ugly. Even with a fairly low intelligence, the ancient man understood that it was better to have children with representatives of another tribe, because often such groups were small, and for the most part they were inhabited only by relatives.

How to get he althy offspring

So the selective capacity has exceeded expectations. Children were born he althy, strong, strong, developed and quick-witted. Their body almost did not react to external stimuli, and one could only envy their he alth. There was only one problem, because of which for a long time they could not refuse marriages within the same clan - the mixing of blood. BUTafter all, its purity from time immemorial was considered a sign of a strong tribe, having weight among many others. The result was good heredity, but poor he alth.

It was the clearest example of endogamy. Endogamy is an unspoken prescription obliging an individual to marry and produce offspring only within one social, ethnic, religious or other similar group of people. Exogamy is the opposite of endogamy. Exogamy allows, permits, and even welcomes marriages outside of its association. In different sources you can find different interpretations of these concepts. So, according to other sources, endogamy implies a ban on marriage only within the same genus, and nothing is said about other cases. Nevertheless, the broad concept of endogamy implies a ban on communication with members of representatives of other estates, totem groups, races, religions, etc.

Endogamy and religion

Endogamy within a particular religion occurs to this day. For example, representatives of Islam, as a rule, do not enter into marriage bonds with non-Christians. For them, it is considered a sin if the marriage is not with a Muslim. And there are quite a lot of such examples all over the world. Often people do not even think about why they are allowed to start families only within the same religion. Most of them simply believe that they do not even have the right to talk about this topic. And the thing is that this is the most convenient way to marry, if you do not take into account a specific prescription. Atdevout people are formed the same values, they get used to perform the same rituals, observe the same traditions.

Why has it always been advantageous to marry within the same religious faith?

Marrying according to this principle does not "dilute" the religious caste, as a result of which the faith does not lose its originality and authenticity. Also, religious endogamy prevents quarrels and disagreements over faith. After all, what is quite acceptable for representatives of one religion is completely wild and even offensive for a bearer of another faith.

Recall at least the fact that the same Muslims do not accept pork, and for the Catholic or Christian population, such food sometimes forms the basis of the diet. In addition, a non-Christian will introduce elements of an alien religion, which is often unacceptable. And people of the same faith often live nearby. I would like to note that there is nothing wrong with religious endogamy if the marriage is concluded by the good will of the spouses. In some tribes and other religious associations of people, it is stipulated that the eldest in the family or leader chooses a couple. After all, such endogamy is the norm on a religious basis, it can have its own clear rules and laws, the observance of which is strictly regulated by the corresponding individual or group of those.

Endogamous groups

Endogamous totem groups appeared in antiquity, BC. One of the first representatives of such endogamy were the Nodites. Andites also became adherents of such an ideology. People who inhabited ancient Egypt, Syria or Persia,were endogamous.

The traditions of the ethnic group did not allow them to marry outside of their kind. Each of the inhabitants of these ancient states had to tie the knot with his relative. The Indian tribes of North America approached the issue of endogamy not so strictly. For ordinary inhabitants of this tribe, marriage with people from other tribes was allowed. But the nobility and the upper classes had to maintain the purity of blood by marrying within the boundaries of the same clan.

Endogamy through the eyes of men and women

In general, no matter what time period you take, men have always strived more for exogamy, and women for endogamy. Endogamy is another way to subjugate and control what all the fair sex loves so much today, but exogamy meant more freedom. The popularity of endogamous marriages was at its peak when a woman could choose a husband from her father's tribesmen. The goal of endogamy could also be the desire to preserve the secrets of craftsmanship, craft or family business.

Transition to exogamy

Coming to exogamy began with the emergence of such a phenomenon as polygamy. After all, if a sister became a wife, then it was she who was always in priority, and most religious laws are aimed at the same attitude towards all wives. The Indian tribes of North America also began to move away from endogamy. Exogamy has become an excellent political tool. There wasthe possibility of reconciliation between two warring clans if their representatives were married. Endogamy is a direct way to protect the purity of one's clan and clan.

But it is she who is an obstacle to the friendly existence of several social groups. From the point of view of biology, endogamy is a danger to viable offspring, because it is the mixing of different genotypes and races that allows you to get the most beautiful and he althy individuals. This fact applies to both animals and humans, no matter how monstrous it may sound.