Marriage as a social institution | Class 12 English Notes

Marriage as a Social Institution Summary and Exercise: Questions & Answers | Class 12 English notes NEB

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Before reading

Answer the following questions.

a.What types of marriages are in practice in your culture?

Ans. These are the types of marriages in practice in my culture:

Arranged marriage
Love marriage
Court marriage

b.Do you think marriages are different from culture to culture?

Ans. yes, marriages are different from culture to culture.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a.According to the author, what is marriage?

Ans. Marriage is a sum of two spouses that is defined by legal, moral and conventional assumptions and has a long lasting commitment to each other.

b. How is marriage an institution?

Ans. marriage is an institution because it is patterned structure, incompates with other institutions like education, economics, politics etc.

c.What are the rules that a marriage has?

Ans. Marriage has a vast system of understood principles that help organise and sustain the lives of the system. Such as; Allowing limits of behaviours and distinguishing marriage from all other kinds of relationships.

d.Why does marriage matter to men?

Ans. Marriage matters to humans because it provides structure to their lives and organises their ambition.

e.What is one of the central problems in modern society?

Ans. One of the central problems in modern society is establishing legitimate boundaries around desires of modern human such as well-being, comfort, luxury and prestige.

f.What does social capital consist of?

Ans. Social capital consists of extensive networks of individuals linked by bonds of trustworthiness and trust.

g.What is normative marriage? Explain.

Ans. Normative marriage is such kind of marriage which is based on established norms and values. For example, the six dimensions that define normative marriage in the USA are: marriage are entered voluntraily by mature, heterosexual adults,

husbands as principal earners, sexual faithfulness of partners and parenthood.

Reference to the context

a. Discuss six dimensions that define normative marriage in America.

Ans. The concepts of marriage differs from place to place. Every society has their own norms and values regarding marriage. Marriage gives a legal right to the two adults from different genders to live as life partners fulfilling each others’s desires. Marriage follows different norms and values according to place. The marriage where established norms and values matter is known as normative marriage. In the USA, normative marriage follows six dimensions. First, marriage is boluntary. The marital relation must be heterosexual. After marriage, the principal earner will be the husband. Both partners must be faithful towards each other specially in sexual behaviour. Only after marriage, they become parents of their children.

b.Do marriages differ according to culture? How is your marriage practice different from marriage in America?

Ans. The concepts and practises of marriage differs from place to place. Marriage is a social, spiritual cultural and legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. It is also the establishment of relation between two families. In the context of Nepal, most of the population is Hindu. The marriage refers not only as the union of two persons but the union of two families. The marriage is held with the help of ‘Prist”either in their own home or in a temple. Sindur and necklace are the basic things for hindu marriage. After the marriage, bride lives in goom’s home.

But the dimensions are almost same as in American society.

In the USA, most of the population is christian. They follow Christian tradition in marriage. They to to the church with religions leader for the marriage ceremony. The bride and groom view their love and commitment for the another with church provided vows. The couple exchanges their rings which symbolise their never ending love and commitment towards are another. They start their relation as a husband and wife in public with the first kiss.

Reference beyond the text

a.Write an essay on the marriage practices in your own culture.

Ans. Marriage is a legally and socially sanctioned union, usually between a man and a woman, that is regulated by laws, rules, customs, beliefs nd attitudes that prescribe the rights and duties of the partners and accords status to their offsprings. It is much more than fulfilling sexual desire being bound to the two adult persons of different sexes. The concept of marriage is different from place to place and changing with time. Transgender marriage is also accepted in modern society which was a taboo in the past. Different types of marriages exist in our society such as monogamy. polygamy, polyandry, endogamy, exogamy etc.

I belong to Hindu religion, and we have our oven rules of marriage. Norms and values are different from other religions. It is taken as a religious sacrament instead of a social contract. It is the socially approved union of a matured man and a woman. We perform the pre-marriage occasion called engagement. the would be partners exchange rings and put garlands around each other’s neck. This ceremony is sanctioned by the family priest reciting mantras and performing other rituals. On that day, marriage date is also fixed.

On the day of marriage, the groom along with his family members, relatives and neighbours go to the bride’s house. The line of girls (women) carrying trays with different gifts called ‘saipata’ leads the Jantis. All the wedding ceremony is performed at brides house with the help of the priest. The main activities are going round the sacred fire seven times by the bride and the groom bridegroom puts vermillion powder on bride’s head, groom puts holy necklace around bride’s neck. At the last, they return to groom’s house along with the bride. hence, the couple starts their new marriage life.

b.Is marriage a social institution? Discuss.

Ans. Marriage has different definitions from person to person. Marriage is a legally and socially sanctioned union, usually between a man and a woman, that is regulated by laws, rules, customs, beliefs, and attitudes that prescribes the right and duties of the partners and accords status to their offsprings. It is taken as a institution because it follows the established laws, practises, patterns, conventions which is very important to a society. The relationship between spouses is bounded by rules and they exist within soft boundaries to follow the patterns in many ways. the softboundries allowable limits of behaviours, distinguish marriage from all other kinds of relationships. Married spouses are distinguished to other couples by such institution. They become a part of a vast system of understood principles that help organise and sustainlives. People from different sexes fulfil their needs and desires being accepted to the society following social desires being accepted to the society following social norm and values. It is a universal phenomenon and being practised since the beginning of human civilization. The concept of marriage is dynamic in nature.