Family & Intimate Relationships: History

Think about one of your primary intimate relationship

Is that history important?

How far back should we go to better understand our present?

What do we look for in that past?

What about history of the humanity – can it be insightful?

Do you think it has been influenced by

the history of your prior relationships?

What is Prehistory

▪ Period before formal writing and record of human events

▪ Knowledge of that time is based on archeological data

▪ Evidence goes 30,000 years BCE

Nature of Peoples’ Relationships in Prehistoric Times

Paleolithic (30,000 – 10,000 BCE)

Paleo = Old

Lithic = Stone

Prehistoric Cultures

▪ Evidence suggests that people most likely lived in nomadic tribes

▪ Used stones to make tools

Social structure

Egalitarian: all people were politically, socially, &

economically equal

Partnership: cooperation & sharing

Horizontal: absence of dominance & oppression

Ideology: Matriarchy

▪ Women were assigned special status

▪ They were revered for their ability to give birth

Prehistoric Cultures: Paleolithic (30,000 – 10,000 BCE)

Prehistoric Cultures: Matriarchy (30,000 – 10,000 BCE)

▪ Women considered to be magical

▪ Were canalized into a status of Goddess

Ideology of Matriarchy ▪ Contribution of men to childbirth was unknown

▪ Did not imply that women dominated men

▪ Societies were peaceful

▪ Men and women were equal in all aspects

▪ But women were revered for their ability to birth

▪ No male figurines or images

▪ Many images of bulls

Prehistoric Cultures (30,000 – 10,000 BCE)

How did Ideology of Matriarchy Shifted to Patriarchy?

▪ It took place gradually, over 10,000 years

▪ Watch the clip “Birth of Farming”

▪ 10,000 BCE development of agriculture

▪ Farming (wheat and barley)

▪ Domestication of animals

▪ Then Iron and Bronze age – improved the tools

▪ This gradually lead to

▪ Stratification

▪ Division of labor

▪ Hierarchical structure with violence and oppression

▪ Production (of stuff) is valued over reproduction

Economy & Relationships

1818-1883

Predatory Economy

“Unregulated profit-seeking

corporations cannot be trusted to

protect the Public, because their

main objective is to make profits,

not to be a do-gooder for the

Public. Whenever profit-making

conflicts with the Public interest,

profit-making wins! Thus they

become Predators on the Public,

not Protectors of the Public.”

▪ Are we more connected? If so, in what ways?

▪ Did IR divide us as well?

▪ What did we gain? What did we loose?

▪ Did we "progressed" today or "regressed" in compare to how people built relationships in the past?

▪ What is your definition of progress?

▪ Should we have a class discussion on Zoom?

Information Revolution

How it influenced the quality and nature of people relations ?

Ancient History (3,000 BCE – 500 ACE)

Greece

 High rate of pregnancies

 Gave women social status

 Ensured family survival

 Ancient Greeks perceived children as unruly

and in need of punishment

How do you think our society perceives children today?

You can post your research and though in our Café

 There was a belief at that tine that, if women

don’t have sex & birth babies continuously, their

womb will dry off and wonder inside women’s

body making them crazy

 It was called “hysteria” or “wondering womb”

Men, who suffered from Shell Shock

during the WWI, had some symptoms

of what ancient Greeks called Hysteria

Louis XIV and his nurse

17th-century

Wet-Nurse: a women who breastfeeds for another’s child

 Practice of commercialization of breastfeeding

 Wet-nursed children could be known as "milk-siblings“

 Practice continued until the bottle feeding was introduce

in 19th century

 It was abandoned in France due to high mortality rate of

wet-nurses (who were poor women)

 Practice was used in many cultures around the world

Ancient Greece (3,000 BCE – 500 ACE)

Research on your own:

OREGON

Northwest Mothers Milk Bank

Portland

Watch this clip about breastmilk bank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWzHrgv87_U

Do you think the practice of commercialization of breastfeeding

exist today in the US?

Ancient Greece & Rome

Infanticide:

 Practice of killing infants or allowing them to die

 Was a fact of life in ancient times

 Birth itself didn’t give a child a legal status as a human being

 After a child was born, parents could take several days to decide whether

to keep the baby

 Possibly there was a sex-selective infanticide

Please research if today parents have a preference to have a girl or a boy.

Research such countries as China and India in this regard. You can post your research and though in our Café

Do you think infanticide exist today?

Research Infanticide as a risk factor

in Postpartum Psychoses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8LTjE1wNc

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome had a high rate of divorce and remarriage

 Divorce is an ancient phenomenon

Family: the Power of “Patria Potestas”

 Absolute paternal power within the family

 Father could kill any family member without

trial or consequences for his killings

 It illustrates patriarchal family structure

 give up your will & obey

Homosexuality

 Widely accepted and practiced – especially for men

 Emperor Nero (37-68 CE) was the first to actually marry a male

 Out of the first 12 emperors, only one (Claudius) did not have a male lover

Female homosexuality  Not as accepted, but was still practiced

Pederasty  Erotic and/or romantic relationship between an adult man and an adolescent

boy (outside the boy’s immediate family)

 Viewed as a proactive in which an older man mentors a young boy

Ancient Rome

Recommended Documentary: Sex in the Ancient World

 Not on your exam – but interesting info

Ancient Egypt 3100 B.C. – 332 B.C

Recommended Documentary

How did the Ancient Egyptians Enjoy Sex

 Not on your exam, but interesting!

Marriage

in the United States

 Common law marriage was the

norm in most of the U.S in its

early history

 1870's: marriage reform

movement began (formal

ceremonies, licensing, and

registration)

 Beginning of 20th century:

marriage was regulated by the

states

Courtship in Early America

 1700-1800 casual unsupervised meetings were condemned

 After a couple formally introduced they were chaperoned

 Little emphasis on romantic attraction

At the Turn of the 20th Century Married Women

Could Not:

 Sue or be sued

 Seek employment without husband’s permission

 Husbands had undisputed control & custody over their children

 Women had no direct legal control over her children

Marriage and Law in the US

1830 – Right of married woman to own property in her own name in Mississippi

(instead of all property being owned exclusively by the husband)

1882 – Congress passed the Edmunds Act, which prohibited not just bigamy,

which remained a felony, but also bigamous cohabitation, which was

prosecuted as a misdemeanor. The law also allowed polygamists to be

held indefinitely without a trial

1890 – Mormons in Utah officially renounce polygamy

1900 – All states now grant married women the right to own property in their own

name

Marriage and Law in US

1907 – All women acquired their husband's nationality upon any marriage

occurring after that date

1933 – Married women granted right to citizenship independent of

their husbands

1965 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting married couples

from using contraception

1967 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting interracial couples

from marrying (Loving v. Virginia)

Virginians Mildred Jeter, an African

American, married Richard Loving, a

white man. After returning to Virginia the

Lovings were arrested for breaking the

state’s anti-miscegenation laws but told

the one-year prison sentence given to

them would be dropped if they left

Virginia and did not return as a couple

for 25 years. Lovings violated this

condition, returning to Virginia to visit

family. They were again arrested. Their

case made it to the Supreme Court

Cultural Redefinition of Marriage

Black & White

1967 U.S. Supreme Court case

Loving v. Virginia

 Laws against interracial

marriage were declared

unconstitutional

 Old Attitudes die hard

 1973 Richard Nixon (on

hidden microphone)

 “there are times when an

abortion is necessary. I

know that. When you

have a Black and White

or a rape”

Marriage and Law in US

1969 – The first no fault divorce law is adopted in California

• 1996 Ireland removed its constitutional ban on divorce and

remarriage (vote: 50.3% to 49.7%)

1972 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting unmarried couples

from purchasing contraception

1975 – Married women allowed to have credit in their own name

1976 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting abortions for

married women without the consent of the husband

1993 – All fifty states have revised laws to include marital rape

Marriage & Law in the US

2000 – Nebraska amends its state constitution to outlaw same-sex

marriage and polygamy, while Alabama became the last state

in the US to remove the ban on interracial marriage in its

state Constitution

2006 – 26 states outlaw same-sex marriage and polygamy through

their state Constitutions.

2009 – Iowa and Vermont grant and recognize same-sex marriages

2012 – North Carolina: vote to outlaw both same-sex marriage and polygamy,

bringing the total to 30 states that have outlawed both same-sex marriage

and polygamy through their state constitutions

2012 – Both Washington and Maine begins granting and recognizing same-sex

marriages. While Minnesota rejects a constitutional amendment banning both same-

sex marriage

2016 Oregon: Same-sex marriage law is effective on January 1

Do we still have a stereotype of a family: husband, wife, and children?

BUT only a small number of families fit this mold!

Single-parent families, same-sex parents, blended families, and childless

couples are far more common than most people think.

Three dimensions of intimacy emotional, physical, & intellectual domains

1. Breadth: range of activities shared by two people

2. Openness: share of meaningful self-disclosures

3. Depth: share really true, central, and meaningful aspects of themselves

Analysis of an Intimate Relationship: Breadth

Analysis of an Intimate Relationship: Openness

Analysis of an Intimate Relationship: Depth

Think about one of your primary intimate relationship

Is that history important?

How far back should we go to better understand our present?

What do we look for in that past?

What about history of the humanity – can it be insightful?

Do you think it has been influenced by

the history of your prior relationships?

Ecological Model

Auca Tribe Cross-Cousin Marriage

▪ Can only marry father's sister’s children (“preferred cousin marriage”)

▪ Patrilineal: only blood related to the father’s side

▪ Aroused by both male & female cross cousins (father’s sister’s offspring)

Partible Paternity or Shared Paternity ▪ In the Amazon: theAraweté, Mehinaku, Tapirapé, Xokleng, and Bari

▪ Child has more than one father, because of the mother’s multiple acts of sexual

intercourse with different men during pregnancy

▪ Men are named as a secondary biological fathers and they are under an obligation to

the mother and the child

Menstruating woman – pure, was

worshipped as a Goddess

She could not go into a temple because

the Godly energy of the idol will

move over to her, menstruating

woman will absorb that life, and the

idol be lifeless.

Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji),

founder of Devipuram temple in Andhra Pradesh

Polytheism: 330 million Gods & Goddesses

Avoiding cooking and eating with others during menstruation

While eating, people expel

negative energy all around.

Menstruating woman absorbs all

types of energies around her and

she can get affected by the lower

energies.

Why menstruating women were

told to stay away from others and

eat separately?

Marriage Institution: Pre-History

Marriage Institution: Domestication of Animals

Marriage Institution: Ancient World

Ancient Rome had a high rate of divorce and remarriage

▪ Divorce is an ancient phenomenon

Family: the Power of “Patria Potestas”

▪ Absolute paternal power within the family

Ancient Pompeii & Rome

ABC News: Portland OR

2005

▪ Portland: 7.4 strip clubs per 100,000 residents

▪ Las Vegas: 5.8

▪ San Francisco 2.2

2006

▪ Springfield (just outside Eugene) 9.3 strip clubs per 100,000 residents

1 West Virginia

2 District of Columbia

3 South Dakota

4 Nevada

5 New Jersey

6 Hawaii

7 Wyoming

8 Wisconsin

9 Oregon

10 Louisiana

Strip clubs per capita rates

Marriage Institution: History

12th century

▪ Women were obligated to take the name of their

husbands

13th century

▪ Priest took charge of the proceedings

Catholic Church: 5th century

▪ Marriage is no longer a civil contract

▪ But a sacred union

1215 marriage = sacrament

▪ Rules of the church were fuzzy

▪ “Private consent“ – still used

Were the first to think of love in the same way we do now

XII-XIV century Europe: Troubadours

Middle Ages (476 CE- 1450 CE)

children = miniature adults

Middle Ages (476 C.E.- 1450 C.E.)

▪ high mortality rate

▪ 1/2 to 2/3 of all children died

during infancy

▪ lack of parental affection

Middle Ages

(476 C.E.- 1450 C.E.)

Child’s labor

16th century: Protestant Reformation

▪ Marriage is "a worldly thing”

▪ Belongs to the realm of government

1563 Catholic church

▪ For marriage to be valid it should take

place before a priest & 2 witnesses

Marriage Institution:

History

Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503)

▪ Many mistresses

▪ Had 4 children with Vannozza dei

Cattanei

▪ Openly acknowledged them as his own

and legitimize them after becoming

Pope

▪ A later mistress, Giulia Farnese gave

birth to a daughter (pope was in his 60s)

▪ Fathered at least 7 (possibly 10)

illegitimate children

Ancient Rome

▪ Henry VIII

▪ English Reformation16th century

▪ The Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope & the Catholic Church

▪ Anne Boleyn: Crowned queen in 1533

▪ On the 10th day after Anne's execution (1536) Henry was married again

▪ Had 6 official wives

▪ Elizabeth The Virgin Queen: her 44 years on the throne provided stability for the kingdom

Catherine of Aragon

Henry's first wife Anne Boleyn Henry VIII The Virgin Queen

“I am married to England”

Sultan Suleiman Magnificent & Hurrem

Watch the Clip:

Marriage Institution in Ottoman Empire

(only this time 59:00-1:06:46)

Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)

Marriage

in the United States

▪ Common law marriage was the

norm in most of the U.S in its

early history

▪ 1870's: marriage reform

movement began (formal

ceremonies, licensing, and

registration)

▪ Beginning of 20th century:

marriage was regulated by the

states

▪ History of marriage: What influences and patterns

do you see?

▪ What is your opinion on the restriction to

monogamy as the only legal type of marriage in the

US?

▪ Should the government determine what type of

marriage is legal and forbid other types on unions

that people may want to form with one another?

▪ Is this "forced monogamy" an indication of social

progress or lack of democracy?

▪ What is your general opinion about the institution of

marriage in the US?

▪ How economy can be linked to the

quality of relationships that people

formed throughout the history?

▪ Do you think we "progressed" today

or "regressed" in compare to how

people build relationships in the

past?

▪ What is your definition of progress?

▪ History of marriage: What influences

and patterns do you see?

▪ What is your opinion on the

restriction to monogamy as the only

legal type of marriage in the US?

Courtship in Early America

▪ 1700-1800 casual unsupervised meetings were condemned

▪ After a couple formally introduced they were chaperoned

▪ Little emphasis on romantic attraction

At the Turn of the 20th Century Married Women

Could Not:

▪ Sue or be sued

▪ Seek employment without husband’s permission

▪ Husbands had undisputed control & custody over their children

▪ Women had no direct legal control over her children

Marriage and Law in the US

1830 – Right of married woman to own property in her own name in Mississippi

(instead of all property being owned exclusively by the husband)

1882 – Congress passed the Edmunds Act, which prohibited not just bigamy,

which remained a felony, but also bigamous cohabitation, which was

prosecuted as a misdemeanor. The law also allowed polygamists to be

held indefinitely without a trial

1890 – Mormons in Utah officially renounce polygamy

1900 – All states now grant married women the right to own property in their own

name

Marriage and Law in US

1907 – All women acquired their husband's nationality upon any marriage

occurring after that date

1933 – Married women granted right to citizenship independent of

their husbands

1965 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting married couples

from using contraception

1967 – Supreme Court overturns laws prohibiting interracial couples

from marrying (Loving v. Virginia)

Virginians Mildred Jeter, an African

American, married Richard Loving, a

white man. After returning

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