The Secrets of Marriage in Human Societies

Marriage in some form is found in all human societies. The reason being that since children have such a long period of dependency, it has always been necessary to organize adults into co-operative groups I order to train the children. Marriage is therefore a very convenient means of stabilizing sexual relations, as well as providing care for children. Because marriage is such a critical function, each human society has its own rules for acquiring a mate, rather than leaving this search to chance. Rules for marriage are viewed differently by many societies throughout the world. For instance, Western marriages have for a long time reflected the idea of the wife as her husband's property, calling for obedience o n the part of the bride. Also, in many Western societies today, the bride's father still escorts his daughter to the altar and symbolically gives her away to her groom. It is also the custom in most Western marriages, that the bride adopts the groom's name after the wedding ceremony.