Endogamy

Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another Greek Orthodox Christian.

Endogamy is common in many cultures and ethnic groups. Several ethnic religious groups are traditionally more endogamous, although sometimes with the added dimension of requiring marital religious conversion. This permits an exogamous marriage, as the convert, by accepting the partner's religion, becomes accepted within the endogamous rules. Certain groups, such as Orthodox Jews, have practiced endogamy as an inherent part of their religious beliefs and traditions. Roman Catholics traditionally practiced religious endogamy as well.

Adherence

Proponents claim that endogamy encourages group affiliation and bonding. It is a common practice among displanted cultures attempting to make roots in new countries while still resisting complete integration. It encourages group solidarity and ensures greater control over group resources (which may be important to preserve when a group is attempting to get established within an alien culture).

Endogamy can serve as a form of self-segregation; it helps a community to resist integrating and completely merging with surrounding populations. It helps minorities to survive as distinct communities over a long time, in societies with other practices and beliefs.

Ethno-religious groups which have long resisted complete integration, for example, the Romani people and the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe, practice a higher level of endogamy.

Notable examples of endogamous religious groups have been the Arab Christians in the Middle East, Assyrians, Jews, Yazidi in Northern Iraq also the Mandaeans (early Christians and followers of John the Baptist) in Southern Iraq (all under Islamic majority), Turkmens and Armenians in Iran, Greek Orthodox Christians, Old Order Amish, Jehovah's Witnesses, Memons, Muslims, and the Parsi of India (a non-Hindu minority in India).^{[citation needed]} The caste system in India is based on an order of (predominantly) endogamous groups. Its formation is described in a shloka (verse) of the Purusha Sukta, a Vedic hymn, as follows:

ब्रा॒ह्म॒णॊ॓‌உस्य॒ मुख॑मासीत् । बा॒हू रा॑ज॒न्यः॑ कृ॒तः । ऊ॒रू तद॑स्य॒ यद्वैश्यः॑ । प॒द्भ्याग्ं शू॒द्रॊ अ॑जायतः ॥

brāhmaṇosya mukhamāsīt | bāhū rājanyaḥ kṛtaḥ | ūrū tadasya yadvaiśyaḥ | padbhyā śūdro ajāyata ||

The Brahmins came from His mouth; and from His arms came the kings. The merchants sprang forth from His thighs; and from His feet, the laborers were born.

Islam, although generally opposed to ethnic endogamy, typically enforces a limited form of religious endogamy. Its patriarchal rule allows Muslim men to take wives from Christian and Jewish populations, but Muslim women are normally forbidden to marry outside of the Muslim community. This rule is based on the rule of Islamic law that presumes that if a child is too young to be accountable in his own right for his decisions regarding religious practice, his religion (or at least his outwardly exhibited one, given the tenet that all humans are born with knowledge of Islam's truth), is that of his father. The latter rule implies that Islam gains followers in the next generation if a Muslim man marries a non-Muslim woman, but loses them if a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim man.

Population genetics

Further information: Population genetics and inbreeding

The isolationist practices of endogamy may lead to a group's extinction rather than its survival, as genetic diseases may develop that can affect a larger percentage of the population. For instance, while long serving to preserve their religion, the Samaritans' practice of endogamy threatens this community: refusal to intermarry, in conjunction with their non-acceptance of converts, has led the population of this ethnic group to decrease to fewer than one thousand.

Social dynamics

Endogamy also plays an important role in social stratification of different social factors, such as occupations, activities, or education. This type of social endogamy is apparent in the United States because occupations have become a chief form of social networking for many adults after college.^{[citation needed]} For instance, actors and actresses generally marry or bond with people in a similar industry.^{[citation needed]}

Class endogamy affects social mobility: children of top executives have an easier time following a similar path as their parents due to similarities between the two, but also the power that executives have in modern corporations allowing them to influence hiring and promotion decisions. Elite families generally contribute to endogamy within big business, producing social links that are carried forward and keep certain groups restrictive. There have been such rapid changes in business and technology, however, that new fields open up where people of achievement can create new hierarchies. Professions also establish endogamy: A child growing up with doctor parents, for instance, learns to feel at home in that world and is likely to choose a similar education and career; a son or daughter of a famous actor or musician has a much greater chance of becoming a successful performer compared to the son or daughter of an average worker.

See also

• Consanguinity
• Inbreeding
• Ethnic nepotism
• Arranged marriage
• Auto-segregation

Cousin marriage:

• Cousin marriage
• List of coupled cousins

Marriage systems:

• Homogamy
• Exogamy
• Hypergamy