Unorthodox forms of marriage, many of which are found today

It is believed that the traditional marriage between a man and a woman has been standard throughout the history of mankind. But despite the fact that such alliances were indeed the most common form of marriage, in parallel there are other concepts of family institute, which will be discussed in this review.

polyandry

Polyandry - a form of marriage in which a woman is married to several men. In the history of this type of relationship is extremely rare. In today's world, polyandry is practiced in several remote villages in the Tibetan plateau. In cultures where polyandry was adopted, it is often used to keep the family property in the regions with a limited amount of arable land and a high birth rate. In fact it was a form of family planning: often a group of brothers married the woman of the same age, after which they lived and worked together. Children in the family called the older man "father," and the rest of the men - "Uncle".

and levirate sororate

Under this system, the marriage is not seen as a union of two persons, as well as the union between the families. Such a marriage emphasizes the rights and obligations between related groups. The levirate man marries a widow of his deceased brother. In some cases, children born from the union, considered children of her first husband. Levirate is practiced in tribal communities in North and South America, Africa, India and Australia.

In sororate, which is practiced among the tribes of North America and India, the relatives of the deceased woman offering her sister widower. In some cultures sororate conclude, if the first wife is barren.

Temporary marriage

In the ancient Islamic world was a popular temporary marriage, which is also sometimes called fixed-term marriage. Between a man and a woman enter into contracts for married life for a certain period of time. Traditionally, there were a number of limitations: a woman could only marry a Muslim, Christian or Jew, although men recommended time only marry chaste Muslim women. Two basic conditions temporary marriage were specified period of time and giving. Today, this practice is used in Iran as cover for women of easy virtue.

Ghost marriage

In many parts of the world is allowed to marry a dead person, or to conclude a marriage between two dead people. In China, after the death of a man buried with a woman, that he was not alone in the afterlife. The reasons are varied ghost marriages. According to one tradition, the younger brother should marry after his older brother. If the elder brother died, it married to the ghost to his younger brother was not a vengeful ghost of his brother after the wedding. Ghost marriage is also practiced among the Nuer tribes and atut in southern Sudan. If a man died without an heir, one of the wives of his brothers is obliged to marry his ghost. If she will have children, they will be considered the heirs of the deceased brother.

Comprehensive marriage

John Humphrey Noyes has created a utopian community in upstate New York, which became known as the "Oneida." He believed that Christ is risen, the kingdom of heaven is rapidly approaching, and people are able to achieve perfection in this world. Referring to a quote from the Bible, John said that every man in society is to be married to each woman. Monogamy and jealousy is regarded as a sin and idolatry.

Community members were punished those who practiced monogamy. In order to reduce the birth rate and to provide an intimate pleasure for women, Noyes preached the practice of "male continence" or sexual intercourse without ejaculation. It also had to contribute to self-control. Each woman was free to accept or reject the claim of any man. Such a system has existed for three decades.

Devadasi

In this South Indian practice, a young girl was getting married to a deity or temple (often with her married off even before birth). The word "Devadasi" is literally translated as "servant of God". They were supposed to be attractive, hardworking, intelligent, able to dance well. Their duties included singing and dancing in the morning and in the evening in honor of their god, as well as generating income for their temples by donations from viewers. Devadasi is traditionally held in high esteem and had a higher status than other women in the community. It was considered an honor to marry a god. However, the principles of this practice soon perverted, and Devadasi women began to be used as a bed for the comfort of aristocrats and priests.

Child marriage

One of the most important arguments against the superiority of conservative traditional marriage is the fact that many such marriages are immoral modern society - for example, in some cultures the traditional heterosexual marriages were the norm for children. In medieval Europe, the girls tend to marry at the age of 12 years. It made sense due to the extremely low life expectancy at the time, but by today's standards it's terrible. Despite the fact that child marriages eventually disappeared in Europe, they are still practiced in many developing countries.

Tongqi

In China, considered mandatory to get married and give birth to an heir. Homosexuality in this country are much more negative than in many Western countries. One solution for many gay men is to enter into a formal marriage with heterosexual women. One Chinese sexologist says that in such a marriage, which is called tongqi, made up 90 percent of gay men in China. The disadvantage of this type of marriage is that the partner often has no idea about her husband's orientation before marriage and subsequently suffer from feelings of rejection and intimate dissatisfaction.

Revenant spouse

The tribe Baule in Côte d'Ivoire believe that every person has the spirit of the wife, whom he married in the spirit world before appeared in this world. They are called "blolo bian" ( "other-worldly man") and "blolo blah" ( "otherworldly woman"). Cause of marital discord may feel jealousy on the part of the otherworldly halves.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages are often seen as a recent innovation. In fact, various forms of same-sex marriages have existed throughout history. In the 1960s and 70s some activists of the gay movement, even granted permission to marry. You can also recall the same-sex relations, which were described in the Babylonian, Greek and ancient Egyptian literature. In ancient Rome, Emperor Nero married a eunuch.