Cousin Marriages in African American Families Living In Washington District
English 103 Essay Prompt from the Instructor: In Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, we have read Chapters 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 that address how Freud believes civilization and the individual are at odds with one another. Freud suggests such conflicts arise through a pleasure principle that cannot be fulfilled, a suffering that cannot be avoided, and/or an "art of living" that clings too tightly to the external world. The individual becomes too engulfed in the demands of civilization, and out of the want of love, of family, and often a desire to be part of the "totemic culture," he or she permits the super-ego to rule the conscience, wherein instinct can become subdued. Writing Task: Write a thesis driven essay of 6 pages analyzing one way in which civilization and a specific individual or a specific type of individual seem to be in conflict, using Freud (what you have read in the Chapters 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 of the book) and at least two more additional outside sources to support your analysis. Tips for writing your 6 page essay: Start by simply asking yourself the ways in which civilization imposes its expectations upon us. How we live, what we eat, and whom we associate with are broad beginnings, or ways. You are looking for one way, so you need to be more specific. For example, looking at how some people are not permitted to live outside of their own culture because of an ongoing prejudice against those who are "different" is a start, but it's still too general. Who are these people? What is "different" about them? Who, in particular, has to face and process such daunting bias? So, you get deeper. These people are homosexuals. But this still too big why because homosexuals are a big group. You need to get deeper. Since one's personal culture is often a heavy influence , what might be the challenges a gay individual faces within his or her own particular culture? The only difference is a choice of partner. This difference often - qualifier - "forces" this person to sacrifice personal happiness first and confronts cultural demands and deals with whatever ridicule he/she has to face. That's another argument (one essay). Or he/she realizes that cultural demands and personal fulfillment will never achieve acceptable compromise and departs to find a more acceptable community- civilization - in which to live happily. That, too is another argument (one essay). In other words, be as specific as you can with a specific individual or specific type of individual has to face. Based on the example above, regardless of the choice or argument, the writer would identify a specific person (perhaps someone even known by name) from a specific culture (race, class, lineage, environment, etc... also identified by name) Guidelines for your essay: 1). Remember to make your thesis and points clear. 2). Create an outline to help you write your essay. 3). Your outside sources must be valid. No web blogs, obscure websites, or dictionaries. Think news, journals, books, etc... (Make sure any web sources you do use are written by noted journalist, experts in the field, etc. and not some unknown with an opinion.) You also must incorporate them effectively and consistently in addition to your use of Freud; the rule of thumb is at least one means of support- quote or paraphrase- per point. Two to four quotes in a paper of this magnitude and depth will not be sufficient. 4). REMEMBER YOU CAN'T WRITE ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY OR RELIGION OR YOURSELF. Notes from me the student: The essay must be with Font Times New Roman and 1 inch margins. Here is the book I'm using in my English course: The ISBN number is 0393301583 Sigmund, Freud. and Peter Gay "Civilizations and Its Discontents". Standard Edition. New York: W.W Norton and Company, 1989. Page numbers for Chapters 1, 3, 4, 7 , and 8 are as follows: Chapter 1 is from page 10 through 36. Chapter 3 is from page 37 through 52. Chapter 4 is from page 53 through 63. Chapter 7 is from page 83 through 96 Chapter 8 is from page 97 through 112.
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Outline
Cousin Marriages in African American Families Living In Washington District
Introduction
Thesis statement
Elements of Cousin Marriages in Washington State, America
First Cousin Marriages
First cousin marriages among African American families in Washington
Banning Cousin Marriages
Challenges for First Cousin Couples
Cousin Coupling
Conclusion
Works cited
Cousin Marriages in African American Families Living In Washington District
Introduction
Civilization in the human society is lined with conditions that every member of the society is supposed to conform to, if they do not want to develop conscious of guilt. According to the elements of civilization, there are social norms which define how the society should act, especially when happy with reference to the pleasure principle. According to Sigmund Freud, in the book ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’; every society has set up a cultural super ego, ego and super ego that every other person should use and identify with. This means that the common values in any society are predetermined. As such, people are always faced with the fear of loss of love from the society if they want to do or act in a way that is prescribing to the social norms. The pillar of every other society is based on the family unit. It is the family unit that makes the start point of every society, looked at from every other angle. At the heart of the family union as an institution, is the marriage element (Younus).
There are different types of marriages and they all depend on the Culture Super Ego of the society within which the union is being formed. As the human society grows on the civilization fronts, some of the marriage institutions that may have been normal are deemed as primitive behavior while others are taken to be normal and legalized (Cooper). In civilized societies, marriage is taken to be the ceremonial indication of the partners’ commitment to each other and their future plans which ideally relate to the formation of a family (Sigmund, Freud. and Peter Gay, 25). One of the marriage arrangements that have been hotly debated is that between cousins. Marriage between cousins does account for quite a huge number of the marriages that are in record today. Partners that are cousins and are considering engaging in marriage are taken to have renounced their instincts as defined by the cultural ego and the super ego. This stirs a sense of guilt among cousins that have intimate feelings for one another as they fear that the society will no longer love them and may result to aggression. There are a number of reactions that are associated with the cousin marriages within the African American families in Washington.
Thesis statement: cousin marriages are not widely accepted among the African Americanin Washington District United States.
Elements of Cousin Marriages in Washington State, America
First Cousin Marriages
In more than one occasion the consciousness of guilt tends to conflict with the social norms and the religious beliefs that are held in the society. According to the standards that have been set up in the social circles, limits to what one can or cannot do (Cooper). The principle of happiness that is defined by the act of finding happiness and the values upheld by society is also conflicted. In the African American society, a person can only marry outside their close family circles and this is a super ego that should never be defied. When one marries their cousin in a quest to find happiness, this conflicts with social values in this society. This would explain the amount of aggression that cousin marriages have experiences.
In themid-19th century, there were debates regarding the applicability of the cousins’ marriages. Much of the opposition came from those that felt that the cousins’ marriages were a threat to the social norms (Cooper). This meant that the idea of marrying ones cousin was outdated and was surrendering the human population and continuity to primitive social orders. At the same time most of the religious persons did not advocate for cousins marriages on the grounds of morality. It was during this time that the debate about the effects of marrying a cousin would have on the offspring.
Quite a number researches conducted at the time revealed that the act of having children with cousins lead to mental and physical handicapped offspring. Recent genetic studies have also indicated that the results of these previous studies were quite relevant, as there is significant evidence indicating genetic disorders that are caused by marrying in the family. Following the results of the various studies indicating the dangers of marrying a first cousin, some of the states have made it a criminal offense, others have legalized it, while other have allowed the cousin marriages with certain exceptions. The state of Washington is one of the states that have prohibited the first cousin marriages on social, cultural and genetic grounds.
Several centuries back, all of the human population that is present to day was not around. The human population at the time was quite small, and the persons within these societies would more often than not marry from within their families with close reference to their cousins. This means that there was quite a significant amount of marriages that led to inbreeding.
Over the years the population has grown significantly, increasing the chances of marrying someone that is not even close to the family lineage. As the options of marriage partners increase and the level of civilization raised, the first have also reduced. During the slavery era, much of the African Americans in the United States came from African countries and their cultures did not accept cousin marriages as it was considered primitive behavior. This is an ideal that is still held by majority of the African families to date. Most of the African Americans believe that some of the marriage arrangements that have come up during the last few centuries are also part of the white American culture and they do not approve of the same and thus very few practice against the cultural super ego. The super ego which is a conscience of guilt dictates that one should not marry in their family. As such, cousins’ marriages are fitting remorse and where possible the persons should be punished.
First cousin marriages among African American families in Washington
The African American society living within the confines of the Washington District State do not believe in marrying within the family, as it is taken to be against social norms. Persons that come from the African American families have a hard time trying to fit in within the society, as they have the sense of guilt and the fear of loss of ...