As a concept, I think marriage is going to remain around. In most cultures, establishing
relationships to a mother, father, and extended family members serves to socially define
families. In addition, it controls sexual behavior and transfers, maintains, or establishes wealth,
power, and most significantly, it forms the foundation of the family (Crossman, 2019). All cultures
consider marriage as an institution, yet there are significant differences among our conceptions
of what marriage is. Marriage is a union of love here in the United States, yet arranged
weddings are still prevalent in India. Whereas I personally believe that matrimony is a
relationship of two individuals who love one another, some believe that marriage may be a union
of more than two people. Six various styles of marriage were discussed by Amber McKay in the
TEDx Talks video titled, "Are five husbands better than one?" Marriage between a man and a
woman is referred to as monogamy. Multiple spouse marriages are referred to as polygamy.
When a guy has numerous wives, it is called polygyny. When a woman has numerous spouses,
this is called polyandry. Same-sex marriage is an obvious example. If a woman's spouse passes
away in Levirate, she might anticipate getting married again to his sibling. If a man's wife passes
away, he might anticipate getting wedded to her sister in the sororate.Whenever a family has a
kid who passes away prior to achieving the age of marriage or reproduction, they may marry his
spirit to another nearby person in a practice known as "ghost marriage." As you can see,
marriage may take many different shapes. 2013 TEDx Talks Everyone has a reason to oppose a
certain kind of marriage, but what we need to understand is that marriage, in whatever form,
promotes happiness and success in life. I believe that it shouldn't matter what kind of
marriage someone enters as long as all of the participants are consenting adults and content
with their union. I personally don't understand polygamy. I'm too stingy to be generous. But who
am I to condemn someone for being in a polygamous relationship? Two of my marriages—both
"traditional" ones with a man and a woman—failed. Maybe I would still be married if we
practiced polygamy. One never knows.
References
Crossman, A. (2019, November 1). The Definition of Marriage in Sociology.
ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/marriage-3026396#:~:text=Though%20 marriage
%20 ceremonies%2C%20 rules%2C%20and,social%20 institution%20in%20 all%20 cultures
TEDx Talks. (2013, November 4). Are five husbands better than one? Kimber McKay at
TEDxUMontana [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6bYCi-1wF4
