Marriage is a universal social institution which exist in every society. However, types of marriage varies from society to society. There are three well-known types of marriage these include, monogamy, polygamy and group marriage, which are further categorized into sub types.
Monogamy
Monogamy is a universal type of marriage which almost exist in every society. In such type of marriage, one man is married to one woman. Monogamy is further divided into two types including, straight monogamy and serial monogamy.
Straight Monogamy
Straight monogamy is the type of monogamy, in which one man is married to one woman but in case of divorce or death of spouse, either of them cannot marry again.
Serial Monogamy
Serial monogamy refers to a type of monogamy, whereby one man is married to one woman but in case of divorce or death of spouse, unlike straight monogamy either of them can get married again.
Polygamy
Polygamy is a type of marriage, in which one men is married to more than one women or, one women is married to more than one men at the same time. Furthermore, polygamy is classified into two categories including, polygyny and polyandry.
Polygyny
Polygyny is a type of polygamy, whereby one men is married to more than one women at the same time. There are two types of polygyny these include, sororal polygyny and non-sororal polygyny.
Sororal Polygyny
The word sororal is derived from Latin word “soror” which means sisters. When a man is married with two sisters at once is called sororal polygyny.
Non-Sororal Polygyny
Non-sororal polygyny is a type of polygamy, whereby a man is married to more than one women at once but his wives are not blood related. Non-sororal Polygyny still exist in many countries, especially in Muslim countries. The laws in majority of Muslim states are based on religion or Laws of Allah. Taking more than one wife is considered normative behavior in Muslim countries. However, in many countries polygamy of any type is considered as unlawful and unethical practice.
Polyandry
Polyandry is a type of polygamy, whereby one woman is married to more than one man. This type of marriage is still practiced by some African and Indian tribes. Moreover, polyandry is further divided into two types including, fraternal and non-fraternal polyandry.
Fraternal Polyandry
Fraternal polyandry is a type of marriage, in which two or more than two brothers take a single woman as their common wife. This type of marriage is still practiced by the tribe of India namely Todas tribe.
Non-Fraternal Polyandry
In non-fraternal polyandry multiple man take one women as their common wife however, in this type these man or husbands of a woman are not blood related. Moreover, It’s up to woman, which ever husband she chooses to live with.
Group Marriage
Group marriage refers to a type of marriage, whereby a group of women are married to a group of men and all of them have common husbands and wives.
Written by; Khushdil Khan Kasi
