It is indeed the God wants marriage to be the way it was when He first created Eve from Adam. Some neither concern whether it was a wedding or traditional marriage nor can distinguish between the two. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. 4. Society has moved on; the traditional idea of marriage is outdated. The African marriage is an integral part of the whole African culture and was a rite of passage for every mature man and woman. 19, 1: 23-40. This means that GBV is not exclusive to any gender. It is what it means to be male or female in a certain society that shapes the opportunities one is offered in life, the roles one may play, and the kinds of relationships one may have. The African marriage is full of deep-rooted culture that cannot be wished away. Key words: Africa, culture, Women's right, Yoruba Introduction Discourse on the rights of women in Africa has been a major focus of contemporary scholarship in Africa. with some recent contrasting work on African Americans. According to the Pew Research Center (2010), traditional African religions are still prevalent in Despite this manifestation, marriage has been very often exposed to incidences of violence. (NICATD, Crystalrlombardo) There can be many pros and cons to arranged marriages. RITES OF PASSAGE AFRICAN TRADITIONAL REGION 1Dr. Political philosophers have taken the organization of sex and reproduction to be essential to the health of the state, and moral philosophers have debated whether marriage has a special moral status and relation to the human good. Marriage is the basis of family. For African women activists, and womens organisations, these threats are magnified. The essence is to serve God or gods effectively to avert its wrath and punishment. Blessed be the God of all creation for being in the business of creating marriages as well as rebuilding and amending them. It was possible for betrothal to happen when a girl had not yet reached her change of pubescent to later be married and was considered a marriage contract and if not followed, there would be great consequences. Thus, it recommended that cultural practices that are harmful to women should be discarded, It is foundational. 681 Koyiit zyiit / The Meaning of Marriage According to University Students: A Phenomenological Study adjustment to each other and relationship satisfaction. 303-325. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. God created a woman for a man and brought her to him to name. These cultural values are laws, customs, and forms of behavior, regulations, rules, observances and taboos. The dowry and bride items include token money and various gifts. During this event, relations and the community witness the dowry and bride items given to the womans parent. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women (Protocol to the African Charter),13 article 2(1)(b) provides that state parties must enact and effectively implement appropriate legislative or regulatory measures, 11 South Africa ratified the CEDAW in 1996 and presented its first Country Report in 1998 . Woman-to-woman marriage can also be beneficial to persons other than the female husband. 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The slaves discouraged casual sexual relationships and placed a lot emphasis on marriage and stability. The escalating experiences of violence as force among married couples, call to question what it means to be husband and wife or whether marriage is merely an ideal so difficult to realize. The thrust of this paper is therefore to rekindle in couples marital values; establish how they control human sexuality and therefore affect the family. Marriage is an institution of society with different purpose, functions and forms in different societies but is present everywhere as an institution. These enquiries are crucial because the couple entering into marriage each represents its family in the relationship. Traditional counselling is a growing area of interest in African contemporary society, especially amongst members of the counselling profession. When being married in the United states the man proposes or whatever the case is in the relationship, but in the Igbos relationship it is the family that plays part in the proposal. Even though seminars, programmes, conferences, electronic and print media have made people aware of HIV and AIDS, the cultural barriers supported by traditional African religions and Christian religious beliefs have taken women hostage, making them vulnerable to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), HIV and AIDS. The African marriage is an integral part of the whole African culture and was a rite of passage for every mature man and woman. Kavulavu, L & Mukhwana, D. (2021). Marriage is sacred in Africa and beyond; because it solidifies relationships that enrich communities and nations by bringing forth new life and new hope. All they need is marriage blessings. From oral tradition, literary records and observation, the article, through the lens of ethical relativism, mirrors morality as a timeless definition of humanity influenced by locality. Each covenant has a senior partner and God appointed the man. Filed Under: Essays Tagged With: Family. Traditional African Society. The findings have then been generalized to the rest of the U.S. population (Bean, Crane, & . Although, I myself practice monogamy, as it is tradition in my culture and that of what is expected by me, my community, and my family., There are not original or principle ceremony since it all differs depending on the what clans and from community to community. In this forum the man publicly ask for the woman hand in marriage. In the extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents played important roles. African traditional marriage requires parents consent and blessings. Every country has their own way of marrying two people that want to spend the rest of their life together. In this way, African culture and values can be revaluated, their relevance established and sustained in order to give credence to authentic African identity. Essay on MARRIAGE IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOCIETY AND ITS, The Practice of Lobola in Contemporary South African Society, African Traditional Family Hunger For Culture, African wedding traditions TraditionsCustoms.com moving away from patriarchal . Your email address will not be published. Contact: Second, the continued Eurocentric descriptions and characterization of the African traditional family as some what depraved lead to the use of such terms as bride price, avoidance social taboos, segregated relationships, lack of love and tenderness in African marriages and families. We missed a balanced understanding of the contradictions that this ambiguity presented. This paper is from Masculinities under Neoliberalism, edited by Andrea Cornwall, Frank G. Karioris & Nancy Lindisfarne, pp 165-182. the Nation and Intellectual Leadership Crisis . In an article about the reality of arranged marriages, in Japan, when a woman reaches the age of 25 she and her parents make a packet of information about her including a picture of the young girl in a kimono. New Trends. Greiner, C. & W. Kokot. In practice, same sex marriage is argued from the viewpoint of being a human rights issue but this project work will try to sieve through the raging controversy which has greeted this debate from both moral, political and even from proponents of the traditional family institutions. However, the paper focuses on GBV against women. Most African Americans get married but chances of the marriage lasting are slim. The cultural values form a moral code, which regulates the community. Again neither the Jewish synagogues nor their temples had a place for wedding. Yet they failed to comprehend the spectacular miracle that held two people together to become one. It is trite to note that even where regulations exist to excuse or better still legalise this form of marriage, it is still not acceptable in major cultures and civilisation across the world and particularly in many African countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria. It could not be a wedding because wedding was not a Jewish Custom and tradition. [2] It is common practice in Africa to combine practices of major religions with local religious traditions. An old African proverb says, A man without a wife is like a vase without flowers. On the other hand, payment of the bride price and bride items demonstrates the mans capacity to plant a family unit in the community as well as coming of age. The following discussion of cohabitation and mar-riage reflects some of the biases in the literature . In a landmark ruling, the high court last year recognised that, in accordance with Nandi customary law on woman-to-woman marriages, Monica Jesang Katam could inherit her late wife's property . All Rights Reserved. Get ideas to incorporate into yours. Are made up of smaller units called clan. Every marital breach Family, Gender Roles, and Marriage in the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman World, BiAS Series, Joachim Kuegler, Rosinah Gabaitse, Blessing Nyahuma, Mark S Aidoo, Mavis Muguti, Menard Musendekwa, daniel nii aboagye aryeh, PhD, Kudzai Biri, Francis Machingura, Josiah Ucheawaji, Journal of Nigerian Association for the Study of Religions (NASR), Making Tradition: A Historical Perspective on Gender in Namibia, Putting them in their place:respectable and unrespectable women in Zimbabwean gender struggles, VIOLATION AND ABUSE OF WOMENS HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CUSTOMARY PRACTICE OF KUZVARIRA" AMONG THE NDAU PEOPLE OF MOZAMBIQUE, ALook AT THE STRUGGLE OF ZIMBABWEAN MARRIED WOMEN REGARDING SAFE SEX, Sex Work as a test case for African feminism, Harmonise Zimbabwe's marriage laws before changing marriage certificates, 'Let them come to me!' Our African Christians after performing marriage rites that the Europeans do not do are subjected to wedding that involves spending of fortune. This is to show how crucial it is! An Election Year Guide to Mitt Romneys Religion, Woman in Islam by Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem, Ph.D. Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Girls' experiences of religious and cultural practices: Human rights violations, Macho Masculinity: A Snare in the Context of HIV among the Manyika of Zimbabwe, (Re)producing an elite. Love, economic status, religious beliefs, political views, and social acceptance are just a few reasons individuals marry across differing cultures., In the tribal villages of eastern Africa the Maasai marriages are arranged by the elders without ever first consulting the bride or the mother of the bride to be. Email: weefreeministries@yahoo.com, CONFLICTS AFRICAN MARRAIGES FACE IN WESTERN CULTURE, CONFLICTS AFRICAN MARRIAGES FACE IN WESTERN CULTURE. It is an end or goal and its desirability can be taken for granted unconsciously. The groom does not propose to the bride, but the family comes with him to give the idea of him marrying the bride (Widjaja). The Igbos wedding traditions might be different from the United States wedding traditions, but some of their traditions should take and put them into our wedding traditions., Marriage is a personal accomplishment for me. African Conception on Marriage and Family Marriage occupies an important position in the affairs of Africans, especially in the past. God then enacted a rule, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they become one. This rule was for the man whom God through this event satisfied his loneliness. The purpose of this research is to show that until and unless there is a paradigm shift on the beliefs, teachings and practices of apostolic sects in terms of a deeper HIV and AIDS awareness programmes targeting these sects, the Zimbabwean women will continue to suffer. After the grooms family hands over the money and other prerequisites to the brides family, the wedding day is planned. Woman-to-woman marriage involves the following persons: 1) the female husband . Marriage takes many forms in Africa. This shall be the focus of our discussion in this paper. The Bahama of Africa and tribes of Samoa. In this presentation, the traditional African marriage is examined in relation to the involvement of family and community for sustenance from the perspective of Ama Ata Aido'sAnowa.Marriage in this context is a union which brings a man and a woman together for companionship and procreation. Royal African Society. In fact the survival of the family and the future of marriage depended a This has undoubtedly undermined the institution of marriage. To learn more, view ourPrivacy Policy. These values are best explained in African traditional marriages, family, clan, individual gifts and names, talents, cultural practices, arts and sculptures, dress, music and dance, folk stories amongst other traits peculiar to the African society. Marriage in African Traditional Society UK Essays Despite this, recent studies on the marriage institution reveal that speaking of marriage as an exclusive union of love, joy, and great intimacy risks being termed a contradiction amidst the experiences of violence today. Keywords: same sex marriage, regulation, institution. Throughout the continent, the diversity of systems reflects the traditions, religions, and economic circumstances of a wide variety of distinct cultures. This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. This paper focuses on gender based violence to argue that not only does gender based violence in marriages risk the health and wellbeing of the couple, children and the society, but also threatens the realization of the essential properties of marriage. south african law commission project 90 the harmonisation of the common law and the indigenous law report on customary marriages august 1998 Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. the family, in most traditional and modern African societies, there was (is) a strict hierarchy of authority, according to which the males ruled and held responsibility for the females (Sofola 1977). Marriage plays significant roles in the Igbo status system for the individuals and their family and relatives. Get ideas to incorporate into yours. Little wonder Mary felt so concerned when the marriage ran out of wine. This paper looks at how African marriage and family have evolved as a result of direct contact with both Islam and Christianity. In a traditional marriage, men tend to have a higher status, have more . There are consequences on those who breached this norm. Enjoy!Marriage is something that is highly valued in the Xhosa culture. Karen Tranberg Hansen, "Married Women and Work: Explorations from an Urban Case," African Social Research zo (1975), 777-799; Karen Tranberg Hansen, "Negotiating Sex and Gender in Urban Zambia," Journal of Southern African Studies 0o, z (1984), 219-238. We should be reminded that we have it as our responsibility not only to uphold our tradition but also pass it to future generation. Islamic laws and customs have shaped the institution of marriage in North Africa and in some nations of western and eastern Africa. "Marriage in Africa was the means of ensuring reproduction, but things change", explained Dr Lynne Brydon in the opening remarks of the 2017 Cadbury Conference, an annual event held by the University of Birmingham's Department of African Studies and Anthropology (DASA). Its customary gifts [and not a price for buying a bride] in appreciation of the gift of a bride. If It's Your Money, I Will Pay and Go: Shifting and Contested Significance of Brideprice Payment among the Dagaaba of Northwest Ghana. in traditional Africa from a holistic perspective, with emphasis on how culture has impacted negatively on their well-being, although there are benefits derive from their status in society. Africans should evolve reforms that promote our culture and reduce stress and cost that appears to debar most young people from entering into the institution. Thera Rasing Traditional modern and christian teachings in As a matter of fact, before any Church wedding commences in African or of African descent the clergy would ascertain that traditional rites had been fulfilled. The history of marriage customs in Africa are, interestingly, based on practices that other cultures around the world have historically practiced. ("Traditional marriage is a bedrock institution of our communities, state, nation and society. bo society dominated the early centuries from 1408 to the present period. In general, all ceremonies use the same principles. Both African-American husbands and wives in this study held more traditional views than white couples; Latinos were found to be no more or less traditional than whites. This article analyzes gender perspectives at two secondary schools in Nsukka, Nigeria. When looking at marriage as an institution, as opposed to a free-standing concept, marriage represents socially sanctioned behaviour. 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