I realize you won't know the questions I am answering, but you'll get an idea of the type of writing I'm doing every week. This is just one assignment, and we have three writing assignments due every week. Plus, chapter reading and a quiz. This class has kept busy every afternoon. The hours of 2-4pm have become "moms school time". The jury is still out on whether taking a college classes is a good thing or not.
Berber Wedding Festival
ANTH 1010
Fall 2018
Laurie Ann Thomas
1. This film was wonderful in describing a Berber
Marriage festival. The film began by talking about the people who participate
in the festival. It gave us an overview of the subsistence practices and
economic practices of these people. The people live, primarily, in the high alp
areas of Morocco. They are mostly a nomadic people divided into tribes and
clans. Each tribe and clan are independent from one another. They even have
their own specific dialog of speech. Every year, in September, a festival is
held for the surrounding tribes and clans. The primary reason for the festival
is to bring together couples who wish to marry each other. However, the festival
also hosts vendors and traders from the surrounding areas. The festival dates
back over 500 years, and the organizers take their job very seriously. Over 30,000 people attend this annual event.
The market organizer has a very specific way of setting up the stalls. Each
type of trader has their own area. For example, the restaurants have their
area, the animal sellers another area, the grain merchants another, and so on
and so forth. It was hilarious when the
film showed a trader that had picked his own spot and refused to move to the
correct area. Luckily, the market organizer was able to enforce the request
with the assistance of military personnel. Yes, the government takes a vested
interest in the festival too. There is also a designated prayer area. When it
was time for the traditional Friday prayers, there were so many participants that
an expansion was quickly erected to accommodate everyone. This important
religious activity is rigorously followed, even during festival times.
One participant of the festival was a women’s co-op
group. The women are hoping to establish a degree of independence for
themselves by working together. Their leader, Fatima Mamou, said in order to
break even at the festival, she would have to sell 800 loaves of bread each day.
However, the festival is more then a place to sell goods and legally be
married. It is also a place where you can meet potential mates. Fatima talked
about how she hopes to one day marry too. She says she wants to marry a kind
and beautiful person. She mentioned that while divorcee rates are high in this
culture, they are just as high in other cultures too. It seems that more and
more young people are choosing not to marry at the time of the wedding festival
because of the influence of technology and other forms of media.
The film went on to show the home of the bride and the
groom. I was touched by the care the groom was making to ensure his future wife
would be satisfied in her new home. The groom’s family built an expansion to
the main house for their son to live in with his new wife. This showed us the
common practice of the bride going to live with her husband’s family. In other
words, they will live in the patrilocal residence (William A
Haviland 2017) .
The groom was giving the entire home a fresh coat of paint – a bright orange
color. The groom said that he hoped the bride would like the color. His father
told him that if she didn’t he should respect her taste and change the color. The
was a tender scene because if showed that the grooms father respects women, and
specifically, his son’s future wife. I love that he is teaching his son to treat
his wife with respect. Later in the film, we saw the groom’s father cleaning
the family bull before taking it to the market to sell. They were selling the
cow to gain the money they needed for the wedding. As it showed him carefully
washing and combing the cow, I thought about how this was a representation of
the care he would give his future daughter-in-law. He was putting in an extra
amount of effort to ensure that they cow would fetch the highest price. We also
saw the groom spending his time working on the family farm. I was amazed to see
the modern sprinkler system installation they had to water their crops. This
shows they have allowed industrialized practices to improve the work load they
have on the farm. However, the harvesting of the crops is still done by hand,
and the groom’s mother is excited about having another set of hands around the
house to assist in all the work.
In the bride’s home, preparations are also happening.
Sugar, clothing, and henna were sent by the groom’s family. These items are
part of the negotiated marriage contract. The bride’s mother accepts the fact that her
daughter is getting married, but she said she will miss her daughter. Since the bride’s mother was an orphan she is
particularly concerned about the happiness of her daughter. Since she will be
living at the patrilocal residence she will not be able to see her daughter often.
The mother then brings out the special marriage costume. It is a simple woven
blanket that is worn, by the bride, as a cape. The pattern on it symbolizes the
subtribe she belongs to. The colors of the blanket (black, red, and white) also
symbolize peace and an open heart. On the day of the wedding, her father drives
her to the marriage festival without any other family members going along.
2. The Berber marriage rules are not overly complex. The
bride and groom in our story had only met twice before they went to the
festival. Once was to be introduced to each other. The second time was when
they met to make the marriage contract. The film mentioned that Berber bride’s do not bring a dowry from their
families. For this reason, the groom works hard on the family farm, so he can
purchase the needed clothing and carpets for his bride. The film also mentioned
sugar, clothing, and henna being sent to the bride’s family from the groom’s
family. This is part of economic exchange is common among Berber families
preparing for the marriage of their son. There was also an economic exchange
when the bull was taken to the market. Although, the film never showed the bull
being sold, I’m assuming it was. I came to this conclusion when the couple went
shopping immediately after the ceremony to shop for new clothing. Later in the
evening, after their marriage ceremony is complete, they wait for
transportation back to the home of the groom’s family. The family celebrations
will commence when they arrive. In this culture, they practice patrilocal
residence (William A Haviland 2017) which is shown by
the bride and groom waiting to go to the groom’s familial home. I also found it interesting that the
government plays an important role at the festival. While there, many steps
must be followed by the couple in order to ensure that their marriage is
legally recognized by the government. I found it interesting that the
governmental agencies setup an assembly line system to process the 38 marriages
that took place on the day of the festival. Additionally, the day before the
couples were also required to show up at a specific place so their paperwork
could be double checked for accuracy and completion.
2a. The 2004 the government in Morocco passed the
Mudawana code. This code has changed many legal issues related to marriage in this
part of the world. According to Wikipedia the code outlined “…reforms included
raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18
for men and women, establishing joint
responsibility for the family among men and women, limiting the terms of polygamy and divorce, and granting women more rights in the
negotiation of marriage contracts” (Mudawana - Wikipedia 2018) . The film
highlighted the story of one couple at the marriage festival that wished to get
married, yet the bride was only 15 years old. In order marry, the couple paid
to receive help in writing a specific marriage contract between these two
individuals. Their plea also had to be approved by various governmental
individuals, and their parents.
This law is similar the laws
established in the State of Utah, where my native culture resides. Couples
wanting to get married are usually at least 18 years of age. If they are not, the
following chart breaks down the requirements for getting married in Utah. (Utah Courts - Marriage 2018)
Marriage to a Minor
You
must be at least 15 years old to be married in Utah. If you are over 18, you do
not need consent to get married. If you are 16 or 17, you need signed consent
from a parent or guardian, which must be given in person to the county clerk
before a marriage license will be issued.
If
you are 15 years old, you need consent from a parent or guardian, and:
·
The juvenile court must
approve the marriage, and must conclude that the marriage is voluntary and in
the best interests of the minor.
·
The juvenile court may require premarital
counseling.
·
The juvenile court may impose other conditions,
such as requiring the minor to continue to attend school.
If
you are under 18 but you have been married before, you do not need consent a
second time.
This
information has been insightful. The other culture group I researched in
relation to marriage law, was the Chinese. They have the highest legal age
requirements. Females must be 20 and males 22.
Even with the age restrictions, the website I reviewed said “The average
age for marriage in 2001 was 24 for men and 23 for women. In the cities today
the average age is approaching 30.” (Marriage in China - Facts and Details 2008) As I ponder the
significant difference in age between the Chinese culture and mine, I think of
how this policy is impacting the Chinese economy in many negative ways.
3.
On a higher level, the Berber ceremony isn’t much different than the ceremonies
of my native culture. They start with a contract between two people. In my
culture, the first steps toward a potential marriage is dating. An implied
contract begins as two individuals begin spending time together. When they conclude
that they want to get married, a ring is typically given to the bride, by the
groom. This exchange is similar to the Berbers presentation of gifts before the
upcoming wedding. Then, similar to the Berber’s, the ceremony is prepared for,
a special place is located, legal documentation is completed, new clothing is
purchased, and finally the wedding day occurs. After the ceremony, couples in
my native culture host a party for family and friend that typically span the
rest of that day. A honeymoon period is also
traditionally observed among members of my native group. Nothing I saw, in this
film, related to this cultural norm. Additionally, members of my native culture
typically do not go and live with the groom’s parents. Most of the time, they
establish a new neolocal residence together. The groom’s parents also don’t
typically depend on their new daughter-in-law to work alongside them in the
day-to-day operations of the family business.
4.
Overall, the marriage practice of the Berber people has changed significantly
for the rising generation. More of them are being influenced by technology,
media, and tv. This has introduced new (Western) ideals and ideas which make
the old traditions seem outdated. The film mentioned couples not wanting to be
married at the festival, as well as couples waiting to be married until they
have accomplished their educational plans. One festival participant also talked
about how he doesn’t want to marry any of the women in his endogamy tribe
because the women are prone to smoking and drinking. Instead, he wishes to
marry a woman from a nearby exogamy tribe because they work hard and have good
thinking patterns. Marriage patterns have also been forced to change with the
passing of the Mudawana code in 2004. Fewer child marriages are happening, and
women rights are legally mandated because of this code.
References
2008. Marriage in China - Facts and Details.
Accessed October 12, 2018.
http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat4/sub20/item110.html.
2018. Mudawana - Wikipedia. August 28.
Accessed October 12, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudawana.
2018. Utah Courts - Marriage. 1 11. Accessed
October 12, 2018. https://www.utcourts.gov/howto/marriage/.
William A Haviland, Harald E.L. Prins, Bunny
McBride, and Dana Walrath. 2017. Cultural Anthropology: The Human
Challenge 15th Edition. Boston: Nelson Education.
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