Marriage facts for kids
Marriage is a union between individual people. It is like a contract. Sometimes people also call this matrimony. The fact of being married is called wedlock. Very often, people celebrate that they are getting married. The ceremony is usually called a wedding.
In most of the world, this is a union between a man and a woman (who become husband and wife). However, such ceremonies can occur between same-sex couples. A civil marriage is secular and is performed by a government official. A religious marriage may be performed by clergy.
The most common form of marriage is a legally binding heterosexual union. Some societies recognize polygamy and polyandry. In polygamy, a man may be married to many women; in polyandry a woman may be married to many men. In Senegal, for example, nearly 47 percent of marriages are multiple. A temporary marriage is called a wedlease.
Contents
Overview
There are many reasons why people marry, but they usually include one or more of the following:
- They want to have a family that is legally recognised.
- They want to have children and be able to pass on property or money to their children with fewer problems
- They want to officially declare their love for the other.
- They want to get a certain citizenship of a state or country.
Rights and obligations
Marriage usually leads to rights and obligations to those married, these may include:
- The right to visit the spouse in hospital, or in prison
- The right to make decisions for the spouse, when the spouse is unable to do so.
- The spouses are both responsible for all the debts and obligations of the couple.
Religion
Often there is also a spiritual part of marriage. In addition to the civil act (wanted by the state) there is sometimes a religious one. A Christian marriage ceremony usually happens in a church. There are certain restrictions on who can marry or be married; those closely related, like brothers and sisters usually cannot marry. This is usually to prevent genetic problems for the children. Those marrying also have to be of a certain age to be able to marry. If that age is not specified it is usually the age of consent. In Hinduism marriage is considered to be holy and is seen as a union of the goddess "Laxmi" and the god "Narayan".
Same-sex marriage
Some countries and religious communities also permit the union of two partners of the same sex. This is generally known as same-sex marriage. In the Netherlands, the marriage law was changed to allow such unions, called Marriage. Other countries that allow them sometimes have a different name for them.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Indonesian wedding
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Nepali wedding
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Islamic wedding
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In an 1828 "Wife Wanted" advertisement, an Englishman claiming a "great taste for building" pledges to apply a prospective wife's dowry-like £1000+ to build property that will be "settled on her for life"
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An arranged marriage between Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain
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Traditional, formal presentation of the bridewealth (also known as "sin sot") at an engagement ceremony in Thailand
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Couple married in a Shinto ceremony in Takayama, Gifu prefecture
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A newly married Assyrian couple
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Various advocates of same-sex marriage, such as this protester at a demonstration in New York City against California Proposition 8, consider civil unions an inferior alternative to legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
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"Esposas de Matrimonio" ("Wedding Cuffs"), a wedding ring sculpture expressing the criticism of marriages' effects on individual liberty. Esposas is a play on Spanish, in which the singular form of the word esposa refers to a spouse, and the plural refers to handcuffs.
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Anti-dowry poster in Bangalore, India
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Percentage of births to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007
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A man and woman exchange rings
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Crowning during Holy Matrimony in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church and a part of the Saint Thomas Christian community in India
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Christian wedding in Kyoto, Japan
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Russian orthodox wedding ceremony
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A couple following their marriage in the Manti Utah Temple
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Newlywed couples visit Timur's statues to receive wedding blessings in Uzbekistan.
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A Muslim bride of Pakistan origin signing the nikkah nama or marriage certificate
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A Muslim couple being wed alongside the Tungabhadra River at Hampi, India
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A Jewish wedding, painting by Jozef Israëls, 1903
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A Ketubah in Hebrew, a Jewish marriage-contract outlining the duties of each partner
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Hindu marriage ceremony from a Rajput wedding
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A Nepali Hindu couple in marriage ceremony
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Seuso and his wife
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A marriage in 1960 in Italy. Photo by Paolo Monti.
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Newlyweds after a civil ceremony in the tower of Stockholm City Hall in 2016
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See also
In Spanish: Matrimonio para niños
