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caste system
Closed, hereditary system of stratification, often dictated by religion; hierarchical social status is ascribed at birth, so that people are locked into their parents' social position
clan
Unilineal descent group based on stipulated descent.
descent group
A permanent social unit whose members claim common ancestry; fundamental to tribal society.
dowry
A marital exchange in which the wife's group provides substantial gifts to the husband's family.
endogamy
Marriage between people of the same social group.
exogamy
Mating or marriage outside one's kin group; a cultural universal.
extended family household
Expanded household including three or more generations.
family
A group of people (e.g., parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, spouses, siblings-in-law, parents-in-law, children-in-law) who are considered to be related in some way, for example, by "blood" (common ancestry or descent) or marr…
family of orientation
Nuclear family in which one is born and grows up
family of procreation
Nuclear family established when one marries and has children.
incest
Sexual relations with a close relative.
levirate
Custom by which a widow marries the brother of her deceased husband.
lineage
Unilineal descent group based on demonstrated descent.
matrilineal descent
Unilineal descent rule in which people join the mother's group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life.
matrilocality
Customary residence with the wife's relatives after marriage, so that children grow up in their mother's community
neolocality
Postmarital residence pattern in which a couple establishes a new place of residence rather than living with or near either set of parents.
patrilineal descent
Unilineal descent rule in which people join the father's group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life.
patrilocality
Customary residence with the husband's relatives after marriage, so that children grow up in their father's community.
plural marriage
Marriage of a man to two or more women (polygyny) or marriage of a woman to two or more men (polyandry)—at the same time; see also polygamy.
polyandry
Variety of plural marriage in which a woman has more than one husband.
polygamy
Marriage with three or more spouses, at the same time; see also plural marriage.
polygyny
Variety of plural marriage in which a man has more than one wife.
sororate
Custom by which a widower marries the sister of his deceased wife.
unilineal descent
Matrilineal or patrilineal descent.
Bridewealth
a Customary gift before, at, or after the marriage from the husband and his kin to the wife and her kin
Progeny Price
bridewealth, the result of marriage is that the children of the women are brought up as the kin of the husbands family
domestic
Within or pertaining to the home.
domestic-public dichotomy
Contrast between women's role in the home and men's role in public life, with a corresponding social devaluation of women's work and worth.
gender identity
dentity based on whether a person feels, and is regarded as, male, female, or something else.
domestic-public dichotomy
Contrast between women's role in the home and men's role in public life, with a corresponding social devaluation of women's work and worth.
gender roles
The tasks and activities that a culture assigns to each sex.
gender stereotypes
oversimplified but strongly held ideas about the characteristics of males and females.
gender stratification
Unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom) between men and women, reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy.
intersex
Pertaining to a group of conditions reflecting a discrepancy between the external genitals (penis, vagina, etc.) and the internal genitals (testes, ovaries, etc.).
patriarchy
Political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights.
sexual dimorphism
Marked differences in male and female biology besides the contrasts in breasts and genitals
patrilineal-patrilocal complex
An interrelated constellation of patrilineality, patrilocality, warfare, and male supremacy
sexual orientation
A person's habitual sexual attraction to, and activities with persons of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), the same sex (homosexuality), or both sexes (bisexuality)
transgender
A category of varied individuals whose gender identity contradicts their biological sex at birth and the gender identity that society assigned to them in infancy.
climate change
Global warming, plus changing sea levels, precipitation, storms, and ecosystem effects.
cultural imperialism
The rapid spread or advance of one culture at the expense of others, or its imposition on other cultures, which it modifies, replaces, or destroys—usually because of differential economic or political influence.
diaspora
The offspring of an area who have spread to many lands.
ecological anthropology
Study of cultural adaptations to environments.
essentialism
The process of viewing an identity as established, real, and frozen, so as to hide the historical processes and politics within which that identity developed.
ethnoecology
A culture's set of environmental practices and perceptions.
greenhouse effect
Warming from trapped atmospheric gases.
indigenization
Process by which cultural items introduced from outside are modified to fit the local culture
postmodern
In its most general sense, describes the blurring and breakdown of established canons (rules, standards), categories, distinctions, and boundaries.
postmodernism
A style and movement in architecture that succeeded modernism. Compared with modernism, postmodernism is less geometric, less functional, less austere, more playful, and more willing to include elements from diverse times and cultures; post-modern now describes comparable developments in…
postmodernity
Condition of a world in flux, with people on-the-move, in which established groups, boundaries, identities, contrasts, and standards are reaching out and breaking down.
Westernization
The acculturative influence of Western expansion on other cultures.

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