Exogamy

From the Greek εντòζ + γαµώ (“out” + “to marry”), exogamy is the marital rule according to which the spouse must be sought outside the social group (e.g. kindred, totem, royal) one belongs to. It is the opposite of endogamy.

The explanation of exogamy has been a major concern for anthropologists. In addition, as it has been mainly linked to the interdiction of incest, which constitutes the most important form of exogamy, exogamy as a social phenomenon was considered to [Page 935]be of natural origin. However, Lévi-Strauss theorized that the interdiction of incest, and therefore exogamy, is not of natural but of cultural origin. Based on a quote from Tylor, he proceeded to give the succinct interpretation that man very soon realized that he needed to choose “between marrying-out and being killed-out.” Under these conditions, no society can exist without exogamy.

Just as social groups aim to preserve and transmit their constitutive elements (for example, power, wealth, religion, language) to the following generations through endogamy in order to perpetuate their existence, exogamy aims at forming alliances between the groups connected through marriage for the same purpose. This perpetuation is achieved as well through biological replenishment as well as any sort of strengthening (financial, military, etc.) and the resolution of enmities, and so on, as has been and is the case with royal families, for which exogamy is the norm. An example of this is the marriage of Eric Tudor, heir of the house of Lancaster from his mother's side, with Elisabeth from the house of York. Eric was crowned king by setting an end to the War of the Two Roses (1455–1458), fought between the houses of Lancaster and York over the throne of England. The war took its name from the crests of the houses, Lancaster's being a red rose and York's a white one. With his marriage, Eric united the two roses on his crest and became the head of a new dynasty.