In comparison to the western culture, the Middle Eastern Culture, African, American Indian and Asian culture has a different approach to their family structure. These cultures mostly have an extended family that dominate their family type, for instance in Croatia, Bosnia or Serbia they have a family system of a fully extended family which consists of parents, children, grandparents but the difference between a normal structured extended family and the fully extended family is that the cousins and other kins that may not be related from the immediate family, are also included and this type of family can reach a number of 50 people. There are also different types of kinship structures instead of a family structure, for some cultures that base
Kinship is usually much more of a cohesive social force in non-Western societies. Kin group members internalize a corporate identity - the family is viewed as an extension of the self. Often large, pyramid-shaped kin groups - usually descendants of one man (or, rarely, woman) and their dependents - serve to organize political, military, economic, and religious activities.
Eveyone's family is shaped diffeent, and functions differently The first major one is marital arrangements of a family, that is the number of persons each sex is allowed to marry. This includes monogamy, which is one marriage, and polygamy which is two marriages. There are also sub catergories that includes polygyny, which includes multiple wives, polyandry, which include multiple husbands, and cenogamy, which is a group marriage. the household arrangements of a family is the expected household composition including marital units and blood. There are two major houseold arrangements of a family that most of us fit into. The first arrangemnet would be a nuclear familty. A nuclear family coud either be intact, childless or incomplete. In an intact family the memebers of the family include a husband, wife, and children. In a childless family this includes a couple without children. In a incompletee family, for example this would be a widower with a child. some would say that the nuclesr family is more intimate then a compounded family because nuclear family are more monagomous and conjugal, but that is not always the case. But it is safe to say that the nuclear family is the norm in all societies today, because family comes in all different shapes and sizes. The other type of household arrangement is a compounded family arrangement. This
Native Americans established principal relationships either through a clan system, descent from a common ancestor, or through a friendship system, much like tribal societies in other parts of the world. In the Choctaw nation, “Moieties were subdivided into several nontotemic, exogamous, matrilineal 'kindred' clans, called iksa" (Faiman-Silva, 1997, p.8). The Cheyenne tribe also traced their ancestry through the woman's lineage, Moore (1996, p. 154). shows this when he says "Such marriages, where the groom comes to live in the bride's band, are called 'matrilocal'." Leacock (1971, p. 21) reveals that "...prevailing opinion is that hunting societies would be patrilocal.... Matrilineality, it is assumed, followed the emergence of agriculture...." Leacock (p. 21) then stated that she had found the Montagnais-Naskapi, a hunting society, had been matrilocal until Europeans stepped in. "The Tanoan Pueblos kinship system is bilateral. The household either is of the nuclear type or is extended to include relatives of one or both parents...." (Dozier, 1971, p. 237).
In society family is regarded as an important social institution and the foundation of an individual's social interaction. When anthropologists and sociologists talk about family they refer to two concepts: structure and function. Structure refers to the number of individuals in a family and their position such as mother, father, son, daughter, grandmother, uncles and cousins. An example of a structure is the nuclear family which is made up of two generations, the parents and the children. While the extended family is made up of a least three generations, the grandparents, the parents and the children including members from both sides of the family.
Kinship is how cultures define relationships with people who they think of as family. All
It is noted that every Middle Eastern Country are publicly fascinated of the Dabke dance. Each of the Middle Eastern nation claims they are the best at dancing Dabke. They also claim to have to have invented the dance (Hussein, 2016). However, there is the truth and reality behind the dance. Dabke is also referred to as Dabka or even Dabkeh. It is those names that the Middle Eastern people refer to the actual dance that is normally used by different dialect. The dance is universal irrespective of someone’s roots and cultural background. Whether one comes from Iraq, Lebanon, or even Palestine, the dance is still the same. The term Dabka basically means the act of stomping (Haugbolle, 2010). The dance found its inception back in the early 1990s before the segmentation of the Middle East took place. The Middle East was segmented through the colonization process. The colonies were either the French or the British. The Middle East was a single peaceful land that had a common Dabke art. The Dabke art was widely used in celebrations, joyful events, at the weddings, at the graduation, and also in birthdays. Therefore, Dabke was well known to be a tradition that was shared. Meaning the tradition was not owned by anybody and it originated in the Middle East intended for everyone to celebrate.
Over the course of history, South Asians have been mistreated and undermined within American society. This is especially evident after the terror attacks of 9/11 in which Americans shunned its South Asian Population, and reduced them to devastating stereotypes. This has created tension and hostility within the South Asian community, thus pressuring them to being more Americanized, and further creating a fixation towards becoming more white. The obsession with American culture has caused many to conform, leaving behind cultural and religious parts of their identities. It is necessary to explore the history behind the mistreatment of South Asians to understand why the change in identity such as those portrayed with Changez in The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Amir in Disgraced have occurred. These main characters of South Asian descent make it is clear that the American dream for immigrants creates a constant struggle between national and transnational identities as racism and hostility are being thrust upon them by American society.
Kinship is the cornerstone for how people within a society relate to others and race lineages. Many societies trace their lineage through the father, which is called patrilineal, or through the mother which is called matrilineal. The Iroquois nation traced their kinship through the matrilineal decent lines. Kinship directly relates to how family groups think, act and live along side each other. The culture of the Iroquois can also be compared to how many American families relate to one another as well.
Customs originate from hearths. Folk customs have unknown origins and may have multiple hearths, while popular customs originate in more developed countries for the recreational leisure. Folk music serves the purpose of storytelling. Popular music is written to be sold. While some forms of popular music contain references to local places or events, the purpose of the music is to appeal to the world and a larger audience. Popular culture diffuses hierarchically through rapid communication from electronic devices and transportation networks. Folk culture diffuses through relocation diffusion. Soccer is a folk tradition that was popularized and then globalized. The distribution of sports depends on the fans willing to pay for events.
The popularization of South Asian culture through its use by mainly white female celebrities alludes to the idea that white women exotify South Asian culture, as it makes them feel as though they are more “ethnic.” Similarly, as it is mainly white women, even celebrities, who are those adorned with bindis and other symbols of South Asian culture in American media, it alludes to the idea that white women are seen as more desirable and are more praised in society than those who do not fit that standard. Maira had noticed that many of the people who were ready to adopt these cultural elements were mainly white women, speaking to the idea of white imperialism and white supremacy. Through a testimonial from Madonna regarding her MTV appearance
Families around the world consist of many variations. The traditional family includes a mother and father of the same racial background and their children. While this is the most acceptable type of family dynamic, today there are families that consist of countless different types of deviations. Many children grow up with one parent, gay parents, or with their grandparents. There are also families that consist of two parents that are of different races. Interracial families consist of relatives who are from diverse origins. Interracial families include families where the parents are of two different races or when the adopted children are of a different race than their parents.
For example, look at the Duggars from TLC they have twenty children, ten boys and ten girls, and will only continue to have more; how ever, the family unit in Jonas’s society can only have two children, one boy and one girl. In the American society you can also choose your husband or wife, have as many husbands or wives as you want, and can divorce. Most families are connected to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Also, most families are biologically similar; in contrast, from the family
Native American culture is recognized in the United States. It has over five hundred tribes and village, the Native American culture has been spread throughout the entire globe. The main religions and the main traditions of the Native Americans were based on the culture of Animism. Animism is a commonly shared doctrine or belief of the indigenous people and many other Indian Tribes that have been found in North America. There is an enormous amount of languages that the Native Americans speak. “There were as many as nine hundred thousand inhabitants with over three hundred languages” (“Native American Blog”). Some of the federally recognized tribes vary in population and they vary in land-base. Many of the tribes all have their own culture, their own language, and their own history. Every tribe has its own unique customs. Some of the tribes even have distinct styles of housing, dressing, and eating.
Before referring to the impact of culture on families, I will say that culture is known as knowledge, art, beliefs, law, morals, customs and all habits and skills acquired by man not only in the family but also to be part of a society as a member that is. It is also defined as a set of ideas, behaviors, symbols and social practices learned from generation to generation through life in society. The family is defined as a group of people linked by blood, marriage, or adoption; usually centered on a married couple, their dependents, and relatives. Although there have also been non-traditional families made up of people who are not linked by blood or marriage and are now found more frequently in many regions of the world.
Depending on their cultural background, many families will often have different understandings or ideas of what a family is and how it should be structured.