Matrilocal

<p>In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_anthropology" title="Social anthropology" >social anthropology</a>, <b >matrilocal residence</b> or <b >matrilocality</b> (also <b >uxorilocal residence</b> or <b >uxorilocality</b>) is a term referring to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society" title="Society" >societal</a>system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents, thus the female offspring of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother" title="Mother" >mother</a> remain living in (or near) the mother's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House" title="House" >house</a>, thereby forming large <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan" title="Clan" >clan</a>-families, typically consisting of three or four <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation" title="Generation" >generations</a> living in the same place.

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<h2 >Description</h2>

<p >Frequently, visiting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage" title="Marriage" >marriage</a> is being practiced, meaning that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husband" title="Husband" >husband</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife" title="Wife" >wife</a> are living apart in their separate families, seeing each other in their spare time. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child" title="Child" >children</a> of such marriages are raised by the mother's extended <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineal" title="Matrilineal" class="mw-redirect" >matrilineal</a> clan. The father does not have a significant role in the upbringing of his own children; he does, however, in that of his sisters' children (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin" title="Cousin" >nieces/nephews</a>). In direct consequence, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property" title="Property" >property</a> is<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance" title="Inheritance" >inherited</a> from generation to generation, and over all, remains largely undivided.

Matrilocal residence is found most often in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horticulture" title="Horticulture" >horticultural</a> societies. <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilocal#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup>

Examples of matrilocal societies include the people of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngazidja" title="Ngazidja" class="mw-redirect" >Ngazidja</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Pueblo_Peoples" title="Ancient Pueblo Peoples" >Ancient Pueblo Peoples</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaco_Canyon" title="Chaco Canyon" class="mw-redirect" >Chaco Canyon</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nair" title="Nair" >Nair</a> community in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala" title="Kerala" >Kerala</a> in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_India" title="South India" >South India</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosuo" title="Mosuo" >Moso</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunnan" title="Yunnan" >Yunnan</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan" title="Sichuan" >Sichuan</a> in southwestern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China" >China</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraya_people" title="Siraya people" >Siraya</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan" >Taiwan</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minangkabau_people" title="Minangkabau people" >Minangkabau</a> of western <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra" title="Sumatra" >Sumatra</a>. In native<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonia" title="Amazonia" class="mw-redirect" >Amazonia</a>, this residence pattern is often associated with the customary practice of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brideservice" title="Brideservice" class="mw-redirect" >brideservice</a>, as seen among the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urarina" title="Urarina" class="mw-redirect" >Urarina</a> of northeastern<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru" title="Peru" >Peru</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilocal#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup> In contemporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_China" title="Mainland China" >mainland China</a>, uxorilocal marriage has been encouraged by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="Government of the People's Republic of China" >government</a> (Wolf 1985) in an attempt to counter the problem of unbalanced male-majority <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_ratio" title="Sex ratio" >sex ratios</a> caused by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-selective_abortion_and_infanticide" title="Sex-selective abortion and infanticide" class="mw-redirect" >abortion and infanticide</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonment" title="Abandonment" >abandonment</a> of girls. Because girls traditionally marry out in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrilocal_residence" title="Patrilocal residence" >virilocal marriage</a> they have been seen as "mouths from another family" or as a waste of resources to raise. During the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty" title="Song Dynasty" >Song Dynasty</a> in medieval China, matrilocal marriage became common for wealthy, non-aristocratic families.

In other regions of the world, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan" >Japan</a>, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period" title="Heian period" >Heian period</a>, a marriage of this type was not a sign of high status, but rather an indication of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy" title="Patriarchy" >patriarchal authority</a> of the woman's family (her father or grandfather), who was sufficiently powerful to demand it (Ramusack and Sievers 1999).

Another matrilocal society is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/!Kung_San" title="!Kung San" class="mw-redirect" >!Kung San</a> of Southern Africa. They practice uxorilocality for the bride service period which lasts until the couple has produced three children or they have been together for more than ten years. At the end of the bride service period the couple has a choice of which clan they want to live with. <sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilocal#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup>

Early theories explaining the determinants of postmarital residence (e.g., <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Henry_Morgan" title="Lewis Henry Morgan" class="mw-redirect" >Lewis Henry Morgan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tylor" title="Edward Tylor" class="mw-redirect" >Edward Tylor</a>, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peter_Murdock" title="George Peter Murdock" class="mw-redirect" >George Peter Murdock</a>) connected it with the sexual division of labor. However, for many years cross-cultural tests of this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis" title="Hypothesis" >hypothesis</a> using worldwide samples failed to find any significant relationship between these two variables. On the other hand, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korotayev" title="Korotayev" class="mw-redirect" >Korotayev</a>'s tests have shown that the female contribution to subsistence does correlate significantly with matrilocal residence in general; however, this correlation is masked by a general <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny" title="Polygyny" >polygyny</a> factor. Although an increase in the female contribution to subsistence tends to lead to matrilocal residence, it also tends simultaneously to lead to general non-sororal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny" title="Polygyny" >polygyny</a> which effectively destroys <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilocality" title="Matrilocality" class="mw-redirect" >matrilocality</a>. If this polygyny factor is controlled (e. g., through a multiple <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regression" title="Linear regression" >regression</a>model), division of labor turns out to be a significant predictor of postmarital residence. Thus, Murdock's hypotheses regarding the relationships between the sexual division of labor and postmarital residence were basically correct, though, as has been shown by Korotayev, the actual relationships between those two groups of variables are more complicated than he expected (see, e.g., <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korotayev" title="Korotayev" class="mw-redirect" >Korotayev</a> A. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14683590" >Form of marriage, sexual division of labor, and postmarital residence in cross-cultural perspective: A reconsideration.</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korotayev" title="Korotayev" class="mw-redirect" >Korotayev</a> A. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/12917223/2fxxwokz064k3r8qbkq6" >Division of Labor by Gender and Postmarital Residence in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Reconsideration. Cross-Cultural Research. 2003, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 335–372</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier" title="Digital object identifier" >doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F1069397103253685" >10.1177/1069397103253685</a>).

In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociobiology" title="Sociobiology" >sociobiology</a>, matrilocality refers to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal" title="Animal" >animal</a> societies in which a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_bond" title="Pair bond" >pair bond</a> is formed between animals born or hatched in different areas or different social groups, and the pair become resident in the female's home area or group.</p>

<h2 >List of matrilocal societies</h2>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" >Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_matrilineal_or_matrilocal_societies" title="List of matrilineal or matrilocal societies" >List of matrilineal or matrilocal societies</a></div>

<ul >

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribri" title="Bribri" class="mw-redirect" >Bribri</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos" title="Filipinos" class="mw-redirect" >Filipinos</a> – (both matrilocal and patrilocal)</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iban_people" title="Iban people" >Iban</a> – (both matrilocal and patrilocal)</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois" title="Iroquois" >Iroquois</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synteng" title="Synteng" class="mw-redirect" >Jaintia</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_people" title="Karen people" >Karen</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khasi_people" title="Khasi people" >Khasi</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshallese_culture" title="Marshallese culture" >Marshallese</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosuo" title="Mosuo" >Mosuo</a> – (separate residence; each lives in mother's household)</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraya_people" title="Siraya people" >Siraya</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlingit_people" title="Tlingit people" >Tlingit</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanatinai" title="Vanatinai" >Vanatinai</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinixt" title="Sinixt" class="mw-redirect" >Sinixt</a></li>

</ul>

Matrilocal

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