Fortunately we live on a planet very rich in cultures, and in families, in which human beings organize themselves differently. Despite the concept of family, understood with its differences, it is present in most of them. In addition, it is not a stable concept, but has been changing according to the conditions, places and times in which it is located.
In this article we will talk about how the concept of family has changed, the different types, each of them from a different culture, and in a part of the world. And we will even talk about the different ones in our culture! All this on the International Day of Families.
What is a family?
Before going on to give you some examples of different types of families according to their culture, let's talk about what a family is. A family is a group of people united by a kinship. This union may be because there are blood ties or because there is a legally and socially established and recognized link. This is the case of marriage or adoption.
However, this classification can be said to be a bit outdated. And is that currently, the concept of family is understood in a broader way, it is also the area where the individual feels cared for, without the need to have ties or a direct kinship relationship.
Let's say that in broad strokes we can talk about one-parent or two-parent families, blended families, or foster families. There are different classes of families and the important thing is the union between its members, respect and diversity. And we must not forget that the family continues to be the basis of education and values.
Family Nayar, Caiapú and Tojolabales
The Nayar are a society from the Malabar coast of India. For them there is ritual or ceremonial marriage, but it is a ceremony in which the man and the woman who marry have no obligations to each other. In fact, father, mother and children do not have to live together. Women can have 3 to 8 husbands and all men recognize the woman's children.
In Caiapú, Brazil, the family consists of the father, mother, children, grandparents, uncles and cousins. This is what is called an extended or extended family. In this kind of family the children call all the women to whom they are related mama. That is, what we call aunt or grandmother, they also call mother.
The Tojolabales live in the state of Chiapas, in Mexico. They consider that all people are familiar to each otherBecause they belong to the same town and that is why they make up a great family. In addition to the people in the community, they are also part of the family: the eternal father, the elderly papa, as they call the Sun and Mother Earth.
What are families like in some parts of China and Nepal?
China always attracts our attention, because of how different its culture is from ours, and in the case of the family it could not be less. In China, traditionally, some groups have considered family members to children, grandchildren, grandchildren of grandchildren. The custom was that they all lived together, the wife left the house to go to the husband's, and the oldest man was the head of the family.
In northern Nepal the polyandry, that is to say that a single woman can marry more than one husband. It is allowed for women to marry two or more men, as long as they are brothers of the same family. This is not unique to Nepal, but anthropologists have identified 53 non-classical societies that also practice polyandry.
Finally, we want to tell you that there are no more valid families than others, and there is no single way to organize as a family. All are the primary source of socialization of the individual, and will influence any child, from any part of the planet, when it comes to designing their personality and behaving as an adult.