MARRIAGE CHANGED

Hokitika Guardian, 28 February 1931, Page 6

MARRIAGE CHANGED

NEW STANDARDS IN RUSSIA. FREEDOM OF WOMEN. In opening a new series of talks on “Marriage—past and present,” Professor Bronislaw Malinowski, the distinguished anthropologist, said tlnvt he wished to rule out from the discussions all political bias and moral judgment, says an English paper. He wished the problem to he approached dispassionately. In Soviet Russia, revolutionary chan, ges had taken place. Marriage had completely ceased to he a religious instruction. Tt had almost ceased to ho a legal institution. Divorce tabes plac" when the two consorts decide to separ. ate. ft may he registered, or it need not lie. Adultery is not a legal offeneo Bigamy is not punishable by law. The conditions arc such that group marriages or communal unions are possible if any desire them. The relations of parents to children are based on parenthood, not wedlock.

All around significant and disquieting changes were taking place. Woman was demanding freedom and independence. Either the double standard of morality would have to go or a new standard based on mutual trust he established. The control of children was undergoing a profound change. 'Flic State had taken over a number of functions hitherto the exclusive prerogative of parents, gradually replacing the moral influences previously exerted by the family. Was this a symptom of disease in the body politic? The Misbehaviourists. as Professor Malinowski called them, said that the family must j go. He himself thought that some ; changes were necessary, but that they would not affect the essential stand-, ards of the family. . j

In spite of the revolutionary changes in Russia, marriage appeared still to he going on happily. Group marriages were reported, and divorces did not appear to he unusually frequent. Professor Malinowski confidently affirmed the strength and permanency of the marriage bond and the family. Anthropology teaches us, he said, that marriage and the family are ’rooted in the deepest needs of humanity. Marriage and the family always have been, are. and will he the foundations of human society.