The Regulation of Sex

Every society has rules about what sorts of people are permitted to marry each other. The strongest, most ancient prohibition against marriage within a certain group is the incest taboo. This rule strictly prohibits sexual intercourse between precisely those people who would be the natural and most accessible partners—close family members. Parents and сhildren and brothers and sisters are never allowed to marry; first cousins are sometimes included in the taboo as well. An extremely rare exception is the society of ancient Egypt, where cest was acceptable for gods; because the kings were believed divine, several of them were married to their sisters or daughters. According to popular belief, the incest taboo is a universal way of preventing the genetic deformities that result from inbreeding.

The incest taboo requires that the exchange of sexual partners must take place between and not within families. On a broader social level the prohibition of incest ensures that every marriage will unite not just two people but two previously unrelated families. The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski called this rule of family exchange the principle of reciprocity.

A "Haven in a Heartless World"

Industrial societies have been called a "heartless world" in which the family is uniquely able to provide a private haven of intimate companionship and emotional support. At work and at school, in hospitals and in courts of law, people in modern societies are subject to impersonal rules and bureaucratic regulations.

Of course, husbands and wives do not always give each other unconditional love, acceptance, and companionship. Some marriages are unhappy and some families erupt in violent conflict or drift into sullen indifference. When it is the only institution where personal feelings can be freely expressed, the family can also suffer from "emotional overload." Many people depend solely on their spouses or children for the emotional rewards that others find in their religion or their work. The family is frequently unable to support such a heavy burden, and the ties among its members may break down.

Nevertheless, families provide most of us with love and affection. Many people in a national survey say the family is the most important aspect of their lives.