Bugis - Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriages are traditionally arranged by parents or noble patrons. Nobles tend to favor marriages among close relatives, with first-cousin marriage especially preferred. Marriage is hypergamous, with the bride-price received for daughters and sisters the clearest marker of family status. As a matter of family honor, a young girl should be married off as soon as possible after menarche. By Islamic law, men may have up to four wives, but polygyny, even among nobles, is increasingly rare, although a few decades ago the highest nobles sometimes had dozens of wives. Among commoners, immediate postmarital residence is uxorilocal, but among nobles a lower-status wife may move to the residence of her higher-status husband. Divorce is common, especially among couples originally united in arranged marriages.

Domestic Unit. The developmental cycle is based on the stem family, although most domestic groups reside neolocally in nuclear family residences at some point in the cycle. Often the youngest daughter remains or is called back to provide for elderly parents. Households frequently contain retainers, often poor relatives but sometimes unrelated children of clients, who perform household chores for room, board, and (in cities) schooling expenses.

Inheritance. In accordance with Islamic law, women receive half the inheritance portion of their brothers. But intervening factors such as which child (often a daughter) has remained to take care of the parents influence inheritance shares, especially of the parental house. Both men and women may inherit rice land.

Socialization. Both parents are involved in the upbringing of children, and elder siblings, especially sisters, often act as caretakers. Fathers often administer corporal punishment, encouraging sons to act aggressively by taunting and mock fighting. Cross-sex sibling ties are especially strong, while the same-sex sibling relation can be full of tension and opposition. Allowing elderly and childless relatives to raise some of one's children is common, as is the practice of allowing children living with urban relatives to attend higher levels of school.