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Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and between them and their in-laws.[1] It is nearly a cultural universal,[2] but the definition of marriage varies between cultures and religions, and over time. Typically, it is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged or sanctioned. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing sexual activity. A marriage ceremony is called a wedding, while a private marriage is sometimes called an elopement.
Around the world, there has been a general trend towards ensuring equal rights for women and ending discrimination and harassment against couples who are interethnic, interracial, interfaith, interdenominational, interclass, intercommunity, transnational, and same-sex as well as immigrant couples, couples with an immigrant spouse, and other minority couples. Debates persist regarding the legal status of married women, leniency towards violence within marriage, customs such as dowry and bride price, marriageable age, and criminalization of premarital and extramarital sex. Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, social, libidinal, emotional, financial, spiritual, cultural, economic, political, religious, sexual, and romantic purposes. In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, forced marriage, polygyny marriage, polyandry marriage, group marriage, coverture marriage, child marriage, cousin marriage, sibling marriage, teenage marriage, avunculate marriage, incestuous marriage, and bestiality marriage are practiced and legally permissible, while others areas outlaw them to protect human rights.[3][improper synthesis?] Female age at marriage has proven to be a strong indicator for female autonomy and is continuously used by economic history research.[4]
Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization, a religious authority, a tribal group, a local community, or peers. It is often viewed as a contract. A religious marriage ceremony is performed by a religious institution to recognize and create the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony in that religion. Religious marriage is known variously as sacramental marriage in Christianity (especially Catholicism), nikah in Islam, nissuin in Judaism, and various other names in other faith traditions, each with their own constraints as to what constitutes, and who can enter into, a valid religious marriage.
- ^ Haviland, William A.; Prins, Harald E.L.; McBride, Bunny; Walrath, Dana (2011). "Chapter 9: Sex, Marriage, and Family". Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge (13th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-495-81178-7. "A nonethnocentric definition of marriage is a culturally sanctioned union between two or more people that establishes certain rights and obligations between the people, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws."
- ^ Ember CR, Gonzalez B, McCloskey D (16 July 2021), Ember CR (ed.), "Marriage and Family" (PDF), Explaining Human Culture (Topical summary), New Haven, Ct.: Human Relations Area Files, p. 5, retrieved 17 March 2024
- ^ United States Department of State (December 2010). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2008 (PDF) (Report). Vol. 1. p. 1353. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ Baten, Joerg; de Pleijt, Alexandra M. (2018). "Girl power Generates Superstars in Long-term Development: Female Autonomy and Human Capital Formation in Early Modern Europe". CEPR Working Paper. 13348.