Swedish Family Life, and The problem of Aging in Georgia

Families :

Would you like a  unisex marriage- with husband and wife sharing housework and breadwinning ? I can only report that Swedish wives flourish on it.

They are outward-looking, and a conversation with them is likely to be about their work, hobbies or families. It is scarcely every about what so and so said to offend them, or what women's place in society ought to be.

They are enthusiastic in all kinds of ways. During the three years I lived in Sweden while my husband was working there, I repeatedly heard how much Swedish wives appreciated and enjoyed their families and homes because they were away from them for some of the time in their own careers.

The average Swede, though tall and handsome, doesn't spend much time paying a woman compliments. Perhaps this is because he is quite prepared to threat her as an equal.

When a young couple marry they don't take it for granted that the husband is the breadwinner, and the wife the housekeeper.

They have a flexible approach, sharing out the work and chore in a way which suits them. No one criticizes them if they reverse their traditional roles.

As Katerina, a Swedish wife, explained to me : "Stefan and I have known each other since childhood. We went to same kind of school, and we both trained as dentists, so why should only one of us have a career ?"

A doctor who works in a Child Care Department thought that women had a right to work and to support themselves.

"I can understand a woman who prefers housework to factory work, but I just cannot understand an educated woman who doesn't work."

"When we married I was studying," a woman psychiatrist told me "And, of course, when I qualified, I started to practise," she could not imagine training and then not using her vital skills.

Nor is it only professional women who expect to work. The girl who came to clean my house told me that her husband was a postman.

He's up early, and then he comes home early in the afternoon and looks after the baby while I go out to work."

Increasingly, the Swedish husband accepts that house-hold chores are partly his responsibility.

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Marriage in Tarong

Where will he find a wife? what kind of wife? where will her husband come from? What kind of person will he be? What happens if he or she never gets married? these are important questions for most human groups, including the people of Tarong. Because of their importance these questions and their answers control behavior.

Here, William Nydegger describes how a Tarong boy obtains a wife.

When a Tarong boy decides he wants to marry, he calls on his father, another man known to be a good speaker, and several relatives. These people (but not the boy) go to visit the parents of the chosen girl.

The visitors make a formal marriage request. But the girl's parents give only vague answers. The visitors may hint about the property the boy's father will give to the couple. If the girl's parents are interested, they will set a date for another meeting. At that time the girl's answer will be given.

The girl may appear during these meeting and reject the boy. She can say "I am too young." or give some similar excuse. If she does not, it is proof that she is thinking about saying "Yes."

At the second meeting her answer is given. If the answer is "yes," another meeting date is set. They may also immediately start discussing the property and gifts the boy's father will give to the new family. More meetings may be held to settle the marriage contract. A final, short meeting is held to plan the marriage feast.

The bride and groom go through elaborate rituals on their wedding day, beginning with the wedding ceremony in the church in the nearest town. Feasting and dancing last much of the day. Finally everyone meets for the reading of the marriage contract and the transfer of property to the new couple.

The ceremonies end with the two families competing in donating money to the new couple. A large amount of money is usually collected in this way.

1. All Tarong boys and girls know about the procedures leading to a marriage. How might this act as a social control on both boys and girls as they are growing up ?
2. Do you think this type of social control would be more effective for children of wealthy or poor families ? Why /
3. Occasionally Tarong couple will elope and get married without the approval of their parents. Sometimes the parents never accept the marriage. What pennalties might be imposed on the couple ? How would the treat of penalty act as a social control ?

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People of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia – “The Arabia of King Saud”- is a large but lightly populated desert land. The culture of many of its eight million people hadn’t changed much for a thousand year. However, under the Arabian desert sand is the main power source for modern technology- oil, since the 1930s, this oil has brought to Saudi Arabia Europeans. Americans, and the above all, money. The products of the industrial world can be seen everywhere.

Saudi Arabia is changing, but underneath the change are powerful traditions which resist change .Ancient laws are respected and obeyed. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom, and the king rules with near-total authority. Changes in life and custom occur slowly.

In this section you’ll investigate the rules and controls that people of this kingdom.

Where do Rules come from? :

Every society has rules. There are always rules about marriage, about the responsibilities of parents to children, about education, work, dress properly- rules about almost everything, Clearly, if you want to understand a particular society, it is necessary to know what its rules are.

One important question about rules that is not asked very often is, where do rules come from. When we ask that question, we usually answer it by saying rules come “from Congress” or from “kings or rulers or other people who have power.”

But that answer misses the point of the question. The best answer seems to be that societies discover that a certain way of action causes problems. To avoid that problem, a rule is made up which prohibits the way of acting. The rule may come from an authority and be written down, or it may simply become accepted over a long period of time. The actual procedure isn’t important. It’s more important to know that rules usually begin as practical solutions to real problems.

Here are some rules generally observed by the Saudi Arabians. The rules have been followed for more than a thousand years. Since the time when the Saudi Arabians were tribes of herdsmen wandering from place to place to place on the Arabian peninsula.

As you read, think about what problems these rules might have helped to avoid.

On Drinking Alcohol :
If a Moslem Drinks wine, and two witnesses testify to his having done so. Or if his breath smells of wine or if he shall himself confess to having taken wine, or it he found in a state of intoxication, he shall receive eighty lashes, or, in the case of a slave forty lashes.

On Gambling :

They will ask the concerning wine, and games of chance. Say both are a great sin and advantage also, to men, but their sin is greater than their disadvantage.

The evidence of a gambler is not admissible in a court of law, because gambling is a great crime.

On Larceny :
If a man or woman steal, cut off their hands.

On Eating :

One should wash one’s hand, mouth and nose, give thanks to God. Eat with the right hand and with the shoes off and lick the plate when the meal finished.

On Women :

Men are superior to women because God has give n the man qualities which the woman does not have.

A women should not be seen by men not of her own family. If she appears where she might be seen by men, she must wear a veil over her face.

On Food :

All animals that seize their prey with their teeth, and all birds which seize it with their talons, are unlawful to eat. No animal that lives in the water, except fish, is lawful, but fish dying of themselves are unlawful. Animals which are not slain are unlawful to eat.

On collecting Interest On Money Loaned :

Cursed be the taker of usury, the giver of usury, the writer of usury, and the witness of usury, for they are all equal. They who take usury shall be given over to the fire of Hell, therein to abide forever.

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