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Faces of Culture
Season 1 • Episode 11 • Sex and Marriage
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Faces of Culture Season 1, Episode 11: Sex and Marriage
This program examines the complex custom of marriage in various societies and cultures throughout the world. In addition, it explores the place that sex and sexuality play in determining the marriage contract. Among the societies featured are the Turkana tribe of Kenya, Zaire pygmies, the Asante tribe of Ghana, the Mien of Laos, and the Berbers of Morocco. Concepts such as endogamy, exogamy, patrillineal, polygamy, and bride price are introduced and defined. In addition, the impact some of these customs have on the societies that practice them is explored. The program shows that in most non-western societies romantic love plays a lesser role in determining a marriage contract. Watch Faces of Culture Season 1, Episode 11 Sex and Marriage in HD free online. Enjoy high-quality streaming of Faces of Culture Season 1, Episode 11 and share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Episodes
26 episodesThe Nature of Anthropology
This program provides an introduction to the field of anthropology in general and the entire series in particular. It emphasizes a holistic approach to the discipline, focusing on scientific techniques and the value of each society studied. It explores how the field developed and how it has changed over time. The program introduces the student to some of the main theorists involved in anthropology from its inception, including Charles Darwin, Franz Boas and Margaret Mead. Concepts central to the study of anthropology, such as cultural relativism and ethnocentrism, are introduced through an exploration of the native cultures of the Turkana tribe, the Kwakiutl Indians, Tasmanian Aboriginals, and the Omaha tribe.
28 min
The Nature of Culture
This episode focuses on culture in societies. It defines culture as a unique set of values, beliefs and practices those enables us together to reap the benefits from the locality in which we live. The program begins to answer such questions as: How does culture develop? How does it change and adapt to the world around it? The program delves deeper into the meaning of concepts such as ethnocentrism and cultural relativism to emphasize their importance in the field of anthropology. The need to understand how differing values and beliefs meet the needs of specific cultures is seen in contrasting examples from other cultures. The Txukarrame Indians and the Boran tribes of Kenya are examined to illustrate the degree of variety, as well as the parallels between and among cultures. The program concludes by showing the devastating results of one culture's inability to adapt, demonstrating that the loss affects us all.
28 min
How Cultures Are Studied
This program provides a case study of how anthropologists conduct field surveys of other cultures. The program contains the case study of Napoleon Chagnon, an anthropologist who carried out an extensive study of the Yanamamo Indians of Venezuela. Over a period of several years, Dr. Chagnon spent several months living with the Yanamamo in order to obtain a complete ethnographic understanding of their culture. He explains the meaning of many anthropological terms, and the methods and techniques he used to conduct his studies, while stressing that in order to conduct a successful field study, an anthropologist must shed his or her cultural prejudices.
28 min
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28 min
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28 min
Patterns of Subsistence: Food Foragers and Pastoralists
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28 min
Patterns of Subsistence: The Food Producers
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28 min
Economic Anthropology
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28 min
The Highland Maya: A Case Study in Economic Anthropology
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28 min
Sex and Marriage
This program examines the complex custom of marriage in various societies and cultures throughout the world. In addition, it explores the place that sex and sexuality play in determining the marriage contract. Among the societies featured are the Turkana tribe of Kenya, Zaire pygmies, the Asante tribe of Ghana, the Mien of Laos, and the Berbers of Morocco. Concepts such as endogamy, exogamy, patrillineal, polygamy, and bride price are introduced and defined. In addition, the impact some of these customs have on the societies that practice them is explored. The program shows that in most non-western societies romantic love plays a lesser role in determining a marriage contract.
28 min
Family and Household
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28 min
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28 min
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28 min
Kinship and Descent (Part II)
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28 min
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28 min
The Aymara: A Case Study in Social Stratification
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28 min
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28 min
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28 min
Religion and Magic
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28 min
The Asmat of New Guinea: A Case Study in Religion and Magic
This detailed study of the Asmat, a cannibalistic society of western New Guinea, shows their use of religion and magic as tools for survival in a world they perceive as hostile and threatening. The centrality of trees in their religion is shown by scenes in which the Asmat carve a sacred "bis" pole from a mangrove tree to release spirits of the dead, and butcher and skin a sago palm as if it were human to release the starch that is the mainstay of their diet. The program explores many facets of the Asmat society linked to religious beliefs. Games the children play are designed to teach them skills of headhunting; during a feast, the coconut is consumed to symbolize eating the brains of one's enemy. Concluding segments of the program consider how economic development and modernization, including the government's ban on headhunting, will affect the Asmats' religious beliefs and practices, which are such an integral part of their total culture.
28 min
The Arts
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28 min
New Orleans Black Indians: A Case Study in the Arts
This documentary examines the Black Indian tribes of New Orleans and their Mardi Gras celebration which began in the 1880's. It describes the origins of the tribes as well as Mardi Gras, and focuses on the distinctive folk art features of the celebration — including the songs, dances and particularly the elaborate costumes — which hold great social significance are a form of artistic expression for the Black Indians. The program includes comments by several of the participants in which they express the historic symbolism and intense relationships expressed in the celebration.
28 min
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28 min
Cricket the Trobriand Way: A Case Study in Cultural Change
This program focuses on "syncretism," the anthropological concept which describes the process by which people borrow elements of a foreign culture and combine them with native customs, forming a unique amalgamation of cultures. As an example of this phenomenon, the program uses the game of cricket as it exists in a modified version in the Trobriand Islands. The program first traces the history of the sport and describes how the sport was first introduced to the native population by the British in the 19th century. Since then, the island people have integrated the game into their own culture, modifying rules and combining it with native customs including magic, dance and chanting. The program includes footage of many practices of the game in its modified form.
28 min
The Future of Humanity
The final program addresses the compelling problem of preserving the diversity of human cultures in a world that often appears to be rushing toward a one-world culture. The program includes several examples of how indigenous peoples are making the future their own by taking back the past. A Kwakiutl woman describes how her people negotiated the return of masks and other artifacts from Canadas National Museum of Man and built a Box of Treasures to house the items and serve as a center for preserving and renewing their cultural traditions, The Yanomamo are featured in another segment, which show how they are learning to defend their lands against outsiders and includes comments by Napoleon Chagnon on his concerns for the Yanomamos survival and on the Venezuelan governments experiment with a biosphere reserve encompassing the Yanomamo territory. Throughout the program, many representatives of indigenous people express their concerns and desire for protecting their societies.
28 min