Family Honor - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Family honor is an abstract concept involving the perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects the social standing and the self-evaluation of a group of related people, both corporately and individually. The conduct of family members reflects upon family honor and the way the family perceives itself, and is perceived by others. Family honor can be dependent upon many factors and areas that are affected by family honor include multiple aspects of lifestyle such as social conduct, religious practice, dress, eating habits, education, occupation, possessions and marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

.

People who live in cultures of honor perceive family as the central institution in their society and a person's social identity depends largely on their family. Therefore it is important for these individuals to fulfill expectations of family and society in order to be accepted by their family and experience feelings of belonging to this central institution that they are tied to through birth or marriage

Marriage

. In some cultures, maintaining family honor is perceived as more important than either individual freedom, or individual achievement.

History

An individual is considered as honorable based on his/her behaviors and characteristics he or she displays that the society deems to be worthy of honor. In addition, honor also entails the aspect of how high of a position an individual holds in relation to the group and how much he or she is respected by others.

Historically, honor is a quality ascribed to an individual in two ways: either by obtaining it through his or her birth into an honorable family or being assigned as honorable by powerful people who hold higher status in the society. An individual's parental lineage

Lineage

Lineage may refer to:- Science :* Lineage or kinship, descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of decent from an ancestor....

, is the traditional source for his or her honor. Because honor is passed through paternal lineage in most patrilineal cultures, these societies historically considered having sons as a source of pride and honor. For example, in the Moroccan culture, it is still a preference among women to have sons instead of daughters. Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

is a typical patrilineal society in which the son has a more important function for the family such as the son supports his parents once they have aged compared to the daughter who will marry into a different group becoming a loss to the family. In such societies men also hold more sexual rights compared to women besides the supportive role men obtain from caring for their aging parents. Females in these societies are perceived as threats to family honor.

Within cultures, honor is an important and highly esteemed theme. It can be maintained through living up to one's word and promises, providing for the family, and keeping a certain social status. Honor can be affected by both men and women through ways in which a man heightens his family's honorable status, and a woman can shame her family through disapproved actions. Ensuing constant pressure to uphold her family's honor, a woman can suffer psychological and social damage.

Gender Roles

In the ancient world, women and men played contrasting roles in society in the context of honor. Men displayed their honorable roles in public while women were restricted to the limitations of their households. While in public, women were required to avoid conversations with estranged men while only visiting places frequented by women. In the present Islamic culture, men hold a higher social status, but they also carry more responsibility in caring and providing for their family. If a man is single or childless his place in society does not waver or become lower. A woman should have a family whom she stays faithful to and respectful towards at all times. A man's actions will not greatly affect or hurt his family's standing like a woman's actions would. Women are perceived as vulnerable individuals who must be kept safe at all times. This aspect of a woman's characterization comes from her fertility and role within her family.

Societies in which “family honor” is considered highly important generally place a correspondingly high degree of restriction of the freedom of women. In these cultures, a family may defend its honor, or may seek reparation or revenge if the family honor is perceived to have been abused or treated with disrespect. In Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, sexual activity of married women outside of their marriage was seen as dishonor to the family and it was legal for men to kill their wives or married daughters that shamed the family through adultery. Reasoning for the designation of women to private and/or nonmale areas comes from the ancient tradition of a woman's place in the world. Women are not seen as independent individuals, but rather extensions of their male counterparts' identity and honor.

Family honor within society

During ancient times, individuals worked hard for the approval of their peers within their societal cultures. This meant that individuals were more likely to behave like their honorable counterparts. Groups reinforced what it meant to be honorable through various expected behaviors and goals placed amongst individual members. This discouraged members from any negative activity that may have adversely affected a group or family's honor. In the event that the leader of the group promoted actions that did not appear to be honorable on a larger societal scale, the leader then offered some explanation defending their actions which lead to the preservation of what they defined as honor and their traditions forever.

In Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

, chastity and loyalty of members of a family was an important factor contributing to family honor in addition to social standing and accomplishments of that family. For example, if a married woman committed adultery

Adultery

Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, her father had the legal right to kill her whereas her husband was required to divorce her. If the husband chose not to divorce his wife, he would jeopardize his honor and be labeled as a pimp.

Middle East and Africa

Family honor in the Bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

and other Middle Eastern cultures consists of interdependent forms of ird and sharaf. Ird is the honor of a woman she is born with which involves her chastity and continence whereas sharaf is the honor code for men which depends on ird of women in the family. Due to its connection to ird, sharaf includes protecting ird of the family members. The adherence to these gender-specific honor codes is important to keep the respectability and sexual honors of the family, particularly men, known as namus

Namus

Namus is the Arabic word of a concept of an ethical category, a virtue, in Middle Eastern patriarchal character...

. For example, the sexual relationships of a girl are seen in these societies to make her impure and of lesser value, which affects her eligibility for marriage. Public knowledge and gossip about sexual impurity or adultery are proposed to be the main reasons that loss of family honor can bring shame to the family. Preservation of family honor is not only important for respectability of family members in society but also affects the fate of all family members. To protect family honor and dignity, families may resort in killing the woman who is involved in the dishonorable act. In an associated context, to protect the purity and chastity of young girls, families may decide to practice female genital mutilation, a practice that removes or damages female genital organs to assure that sex will not be pleasurable. A mutilated woman is changed so that she has no desire to engage in sexual activity that may undermine the family's honor.

Turkey

Turks pride themselves with their hospitality and close-knit family relations, both of which are important for honor.
Family honor is a highly valued concept known as namus

Namus

Namus is the Arabic word of a concept of an ethical category, a virtue, in Middle Eastern patriarchal character...

in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

and it is linked to female modesty, chastity, and family reputation among other families, as well as loyalty.

Regardless of their gender or social status, elderly are well-respected. During holidays younger couples and families are expected to visit older relatives and in general children and young adults are taught to kiss hands of older adults to show their respect and loyalty. In return, elderly usually reward respectful children with candies or cash.

Many women in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

are well educated but the ideology of preserving family honor is still deeply rooted within society. Women are expected to be modest and sexually pure in order to preserve the honor of their families. If a family's honor is breached, it brings shame to the entire family. In such cases, traditionally the family would decide the fate of the female that brought shame; which might involve forcing the young woman to a shotgun marriage or in extreme cases a young male in the family was given the duty to cleanse the family name through an honor killing

Honor killing

An honor killing or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community...

. With recent changes to criminal law that removed reduced sentences for honor killings, females that brought shame to the family are sometimes forced to commit honor suicides by their families, especially in the predominantly Kurdish South-East regions, a region that greatly values traditions. Female family members are not the only ones that may be punished to preserve family honor. It is proposed that the death of a male homosexual physics student, Ahmet Yildiz, was an honors killing.

Civility

People in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

are polite by nature. Different cultures such as the Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

, Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

, Bantu

Bantu

Bantu is used as a general label for 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa of speakers of Bantu languages, distributed from Cameroon east across Central Africa and Eastern Africa to Southern Africa...

and others express their courtesy for others through their language and customs vary with culture. Social status and gender is marked through individual's etiquette practices. The older one is or depending upon their position within society (politics especially) and the family comes from projects respect from others and dignity for one's culture. Families in rural areas have special customs in which they greet each other and show appreciation. In more urbanized areas, these same customs are not present, however, social status are nevertheless defined. Those who enter the house of a family must say hello to the parents of the household using the name of the couple's eldest sibling. (i.e. Hello, Mother of...) The youngest children must make way for their elders around the home allowing them to come through. If one is said to be rude it is considered a big deal.

Family

Traditionally, in rural areas, women handled all agricultural jobs (except for herding and plowing). They also took care of the home and the children. Men were involved in various aspects of life including politics, all jobs that required heavy lifting and moving and took care of their animals. Many men become what is called a labor migrant and send their earnings back to their families and in some families women are labor migrants instead of men. Because of high rates of unemployment, more and more women have taken on this role. For those families who live in the city, both men and women go to work, but women are still responsible for taking care of the home (both mothers and the oldest daughter in the home).

Customarily, men are the head of the household and from this role stems dominance within different cultures in South Africa. Laws have been passed and constitutions made to create and uphold equality between men and women. However, amongst the culture these ideals of equality aren't commonly practiced. Women are gradually gaining more recognition within the culture.

Marriage

Before Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, polygyny

Polygyny

Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...

was widely practiced and a practice called bridewealth took place amongst the families of men and women. Bridewealth is the practice of offering livestock to the bride's family in exchange for her fertility. The practice of polygyny is still legal within the country, but many men marry only one woman as the idea of Christianity spreads throughout the country. Divorce rates are high and cohabitation before marriage is common in most homes. Even though many families are based on unmarried couples, marriage is still a highly important and open ceremony within the community.

Domestication

Traditionally, a home consisted of a husband, however many wives he had, and their children. Each family had their own personal small home. Currently, many homes consist of older couples and family members from failed marriages. Instead of living in small units, many family now live in a large house with many rooms. Most homes include extended family members as well as those in the immediate family. What is seen in black shantytowns is the presence of family members from different families surrounding at least two or more related family members.

When a father dies, the oldest son inherits everything even for his younger siblings. He is responsible for taking care of his mother and his siblings as well as his father's other wives and children. Many families have large clans which can include thousands of people. Family members do not necessarily have to be blood related and can be from different ethnic regions. Amongst groups who speak the Nguni it is against their beliefs to marry anyone in their family that has their same name, their mother's same name or their grandparent's same name.

Mothers, grandmothers, and older female daughters take care of infants. Infants are carried by their mothers on their mother's back wrapped in cloth. Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...

is a common occurrence within these communities. Adults within the clan provide support and guidance for children within their clan. Economic and social difficulties affect poor families making it difficult for them to uphold their family structure. Certain rural communities structured their children's education when the child graduated from adolescence. For several months, children were taught traditional rites and customs eventually leading to the child being circumcised. A son of the chief in the community was responsible for initiating the boys and girls were able to get married after they graduated from their initiation school.

Asia

In general, family is a central value for Asian societies. Asian families are usually multi-generational, patriarchal and self-sufficient structures strongly bound to traditions. For instance, in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

touching feet of relatives and elderly is a ritual to express respect and submission. However, family honor entails different components depending on the continental region. For example, family honor is strongly linked to female chastity in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, and India

India

in a similar fashion to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies. Whereas men threaten family honor by extreme actions such as murder and addiction, females may dishonor family by leaving the house too often or having unnecessary conversations with men. Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

women need to be modest and reserved to be considered honorable; even rape is seen as a major insult to family honor. Cultures near the Middle East also consider involuntary sexual assaults dishonorable and shameful.

Far East Asia

In other Asian cultures, especially for families in the Far East, family honor depends on other factors such as education. Academic success of a student is seen as a source of pride and honor for the Asian family. Therefore both the Asian student and the parents work hard to avoid academic failure which brings shame to the family. In the past, honor in East Asia was also linked to success in the battlefield. In Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, for example, ritualized suicide practices such as harakiri were committed by Japanese Samurai for centuries in the event of a defeat in battle. Instead of being captured or living with the shame of defeat, harakiri was committed in order to preserve the honor of their families.

Europe

In Europe, honor relates to different concepts depending on the geographic area; whereas honor is strongly linked to family reputation in the Mediterranean countries, in Northern Europe

Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

it has a more individualized meaning that is focused on personal accomplishments and qualities. Similar to gender-specific family honor codes in the Middle East, Mediterranean nations also traditionally exhibit such codes; women are seen as honorable by their chastity whereas men are seen as honorable by their productivity, toughness, and by protecting the honor of the women. In Italy, infidelity of women was seen dishonorable, thus crimes of passion were classified as second-degree murders until 1970s. Although Western and Northern European nations traditionally have a more individualistic approach to honor, there have been an increase in honor killings or crimes of passion within their borders by immigrant populations residing in these countries.

Hispanic countries and culture

Within the Hispanic

Hispanic

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

culture and Hispanic families, elders are seen as wise and are to be shown respect from other family members. Family members turn to elders for help regularly, and when a family member falls ill wisdom on what should be done to care for the ill family member is searched for within the elders of the family.

Men are the dominant figures within their households and embody a decisive, authoritative role. Contrary to popular belief, women hold as much weight within their homes as their husbands. They are the matriarchs of the family, and the family’s health and stability relies on the mother. Although they need to be protected, women are cherished within their families as important figures.

Hispanic families strongly display their emotions towards one another. Family members show that they care and love one another through taking care of each other. They search for reinforcement and support within their own homes more often than they would in today’s society. The Hispanic culture has what’s called a Curanderismo. This is a system in which families consult the help of a religious figure called a Curandero who gives medical, psychological, and social advice. Families make offerings unto the Curandero such as money, candle lighting, creating metal or wooden offerings (shaped in the form of the body part in need of healing), etc.

Many families believe that all personal or familial issues should be kept within the home. The Hispanic culture values modesty for all individuals including males and children in addition to females who historically, are expected to behave in a modest fashion. Family members that suffer from mental illnesses are reluctant to inform their family members of this information in fear that their family members will criticize them.

In the aspect of childbirth, men are required to wait until after the mother has had birth and dressed in a decent manner to visit his wife and newborn child. Mothers typically accompany the new mother during birth. Much like the American culture, Hispanic women take time to rest after childbirth, but traditionally they returned to heavier labor jobs as opposed to jobs normally held by women within society.

Brazil

In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, it’s the effort of the community to divide the upper class families who are considered honorable from the lower class families who are seen as a threat to society in Rio de Janeiro. The country defends family honor through the creation of different policies and laws—this has caused great opposition. Politics has played a major in role in determining the status and meaning of what is considered to be honorable within Brazils’ society.

In September of 1920, King Albert

King Albert

King Albert may refer to:*Albert I of Belgium ** King Albert's Book - World War I relief book, illustrated by Edmund Dulac, referring to the above*Albert II of Belgium *Albert I of Germany...

and Queen Elisabeth made a trip to Brazil

Brazil

. This trip sparked major controversy from different parties in the country. Many believed the trip was an attempt to “Europeanize” the country. Some viewed the trip as a positive way to show off Brazil the country and its civilization. Others viewed the trip as a negative opportunity in which the culture would attempt to conform to European standards. In doing so, attempts by the upper class would be made to hide Brazil’s struggle of poverty which was a main part of its society and culture at the time. With this trip the importance of honor intensified. Before the King and Queen arrived, preparing for the couple included exposing and exercising honor in a manner many believed would promote the division of social classes and international affairs. Those who were responsible for posing as advocates for their country concealed their social class under what was perceived as honorable and behaved as though they themselves were a part of an “honorable” class. One of the aspects they displayed were gender ideologies that played a crucial role in differentiating social classes from one another. Natives desired to portray the country the best way possible. In doing so, they defended their families’ traditions and morals and sexual honor.

Honor of women in Brazil

In the late 1800’s Viveiros de Castro noted an increase in violations of female honor within Brazil at the turn of the century. Women were expanding their roles throughout society which many believed opened doors for women to be taken advantage of and seduced. Viveiros de Castro believed that women’s working in factories was a threat to society and morality. Men believed that the new change in opinion amongst women contributed to this new susceptibility. Many men believed that women believed they were freer than they actually were, and because of this the actions of women led them to lose honor because of their lack of dependency on the male gender. The new century had changed the image of how women were historically perceived and portrayed. Certain individuals, a judge by the name of Nelson Hungria (quoted in Sueann Caulfield's book) specifically, labeled a woman’s reserved role as the source of her honor which was lost once she branched out into society losing this reserved quality attributed to women. Because women chose to leave the traditional role of being the homemaker they lost the characterization of being innocent and some assumed they were engaging sexual activities.

Michael Herzfeld, an anthropologist, argued that the idea of women losing their chastity

Chastity

Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....

derived from those who wished to explain a woman’s new role within society. The idea of women expanding their roles outside of the home in society went against the ideas and morals that were upheld centuries before. In order to defend this morality, many highlighted the customs of the past as something that should have been continuously practiced and enforced even in a new modern era.

Many women were subjected to sexual trials in which they were criticized for being dishonorable. Women during this time were similar to their ancestors. They engaged in practices such as sex before marriage, consenting to unions, and taking on the head role within their homes. However, these acts were perceived in an extremely contrasting manner during this period (after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

). Because of this, many were uncertain of how they should approach the act of preserving sexual honor.

Towards the end of the 1930’s, the definition of honor within Brazilian society has transformed completely. In result, in 1940, a penal code derived definitions of the term honor. Sexual crimes became a breaking of not family honor but “social customs”. With the Vargas regime (Dictator Getúlio Vargas who ruled from 1937-1945), came a new form or definition of honor. Many attribute the change in the meaning of honor and a devaluing of its meaning to Vargas’ rule. Vargas attributed the aspect of authority to the meaning of honor. Vargas closely tied traditional Brazilian family honor with the aspect of the nation’s honor. Through his regime, Vargas intended to create a hierarchy of social, authoritative classes. However, debates over class, and gender in relation to honor and the nation of Brazil continued to take place. Women continued to transform their traditional roles and these changes could not be neglected.

The Old South

Old South

Geographically, Old South is a subregion of the American South, differentiated from the "Deep South" as being the Southern States represented in the original thirteen American colonies, as well as a way of describing the former lifestyle in the Southern United States. Culturally, the term can be...

took honor particularly seriously. Southerners in the Old South held themselves to their own sets of social codes. Affronts to a Southerner's honor, if serious enough, were settled by a duel. Dueling was originally a European custom, later adopted by the United States. Dueling was not technically legal in the United States, but it was difficult to enforce the laws written against it, especially in the Old South. Usually only men engaged in duels; their opponents were men they perceived to be equals. Public opinion for dueling varied: some thought it was a barbaric and backwards custom, while others believed it was a perfectly legitimate way of dealing with affronts to honor.

History

Gender Roles

Family honor within society

Middle East and Africa

Turkey

Civility

Family

Marriage

Domestication

Asia

Far East Asia

Europe

Hispanic countries and culture

Brazil

Honor of women in Brazil

The Old South

See also