Polygamy In Santal Culture

SEXUAL NORMS

In the Bangladesh community as in any community sexual practice and prevalence is linked to cultural norms. In the Muslim culture sexual acts are only permitted or confined to marriage as well as any other devices of sexual behaviour, that is premarital, extramarital and homosexuality. These acts are religiously out of bounds. Following puberty adolescent males and females need to continue their life separately and may not interact or visit one another. Both Muslim men and women are also to remain virgins until their wedding night. With regards to the Santal culture their rules aren’t as rigid and they are given more freedom regarding this behaviour. Santal men and women are allowed to interact with the opposite sex and live freely

They both also permit sororate and levirate remarriage, which is when a husband or wife can marry and have sexual relations with his wife’s sister or husband’s brother, only once their partner is deceased. Even though polygamy and sororate and levirate marriage is permitted they generally still practice monogamy or serial monogamy, which is engaging in alternating monogamous sexual relationships. Muslims practice more polygamy compared to the Santals. This is because the Sunna leads Muslim males to marry up to four wives at a given time depending on their situation. Both cultures follow endogamy, marrying within a community, and exogamy, marrying outside of a community. Muslims tend to be endogamous in religious contexts and exogamous with regards to class and pedigree, whereas the Santals are endogamous regarding tribal routes and exogamous with regards to interrelated families. Muslim communities often enter in contracted marriage whereas many Santals take part in romantic marriage. Often in Muslim and Santal relationships women don’t have any wants or needs but are rather seen as an item of a man’s sexual desire. These women often take on the role of a subordinate where they are of lesser importance. In most cases sexual intercourse is more regular and prevailing with Muslim couples compared to Santal couples. It is found that their levels of sexual satisfaction,

Muslim parents have a higher want for their children to have a good education, in comparison to the Santal parents due to their greater socio economic status and in general a greater range of job opportunities. Due to this Muslim parents encourage their children to enter school at an early age. They also put greater pressure on their children to do well. Santal children often cannot go to school due to their low economic status and in this way their circle of poverty tends to stay the same. The young children of The Muslim and Santal community are allowed to interact and acquaint with one other as freely as they wish. For Muslim children this is only allowed until after early or middle childhood. At adolescence their interaction is prohibited due to the conservations of the community in terms of sexual relations. Santal children at any age level are given a greater freedom to communicate with one another. At birth a Santal Gaasibudhi, or midwife, snips the umbilical cord of the baby with an arrow and deposits it in close proximity to the door. The child may only be named on their day of birth or the closest odd numbered day after their birth. Often their oldest son will be given his grandfathers name on the father’s side and their second born son will be named after a grandfather or relative from the maternal side. They are given calling,