Kin Folk
Chapter six was about kinship and family. In class, we did a group exercise of making our own kinship tree. It was interesting to hear the different family and friends we claim within our inner circle. Some of us included every family member from parents to cousins, and some of us didn’t. All of us claimed very close friends within our inner circle. That didn’t surprise me at all. Your closest friends are like brothers and sisters. You depend on them for advice and support, as well as a good time. I didn’t realize until this chapter how big your inner circle will be once you get married (if you get married or have a significant other).
It’s going to be interesting to see what we (students) find out about our family. I don’t know much about where my descendants came from. I know some of my family history goes back to Wales Europe , but one day I would like to. I would like to trace my roots back to Wales United States of America Georgia California North Carolina South Carolina
Here’s a question I have, when the chapter talks about ritually established kinship, is this strictly religion? For me, I think a ritual such as getting together with some friends to watch an NFL game is establishing kinship. If you are getting together on a regular basis, then isn’t that a ritual? Can this not be counted? You are expanding or deepening your already inner circle.
The other intriguing part of the chapter was about marriage. I want to get married one day. I want it to be a special person that I marry. I want to have kids. I probably would just want two. I’m not picky as to whether it would be a girl and boy, or both are girls and/or boys. I want to establish a household. I don’t want to have more than one wife. I don’t condone or believe in polygamy. How do people balance having more than one spouse? The thought of it is crazy. It seems like it would be hard enough to help with one spouse, let alone five. On top of that, a polygamists have a lot of kids. Have you watched the documentaries about these things? They creep me out. I’ve attached a link to my blog about polygamy. It explores the fundamentalist who believe in polygamy, and it looks at child abuse cases. Give it a look.
I can't begin to tell you about how I can't believe in incest. Some cultures, this is normal. Here in America, incest exist. Their are laws prohibiting this type of relationship, but people still do it. In the earlier video about polygamy, their is talk of child abuse. In some situations the child abuse can turn into fathers raping their children, mainly the girls. It is a very sick thing to even think of, but the sad truth is this exist in our society. People suffer tremendously from this (incest and polygamy). Most documentaries I've seen about polygamy or incest always involve the woman who isn't into it, but somehow she is forced into it. In some cases, their are men who are forced into it, but it is a rarity. I hope one day, the people who want out of the bad situation are able to get the help they need so they can get out. I like seeing people happy, and it seems like most people aren't happy in these situations.
Structure
Chapter seven talks about social groups and structure. Earlier in the blog, I talked about kinship tying into rituals like watching football. Well, I definitely know that I belong to a social group of football fans. I belong to the NFL, Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Volunteers social group. We share a lot of common interests, and the main one is football.We (the social group) have that in common. I like wrestling, so I can associate with the social group of wrestling fans. All of these for me would be a secondary group of social groups. Most of us have been through a graduation ceremony, so we belong to the social group of graduates. There are so many different kinds of social groups, and they are all around us.
We also learn about friendship from this chapter. Friends are very important to me. With my very close friends, we share a lot of common interests. The main tie between us all is our faith in God. From there it is sports, music, movies, etc. I’ve been a best man in a wedding, shared numerous birthdays with friends and been there to see their biggest moments. I would not trade a single moment. To me, a good friend has the same values and morals that you have. They are brutally honest with you. They hold you to a high standard and tell you when you’re right or wrong. They give you support, just like you should give them support. You open up your home, just like they would open theirs up to you. I don’t know where I would be without my friends. I look up to them and respect the hell out of them.
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