THE INTEGRATION OF THE SEXES MARRIAGE 283 



there are existing forms of relationship which strongly hint 

 of a time when fathers regularly married their daughters. 

 RecaUing that under primitive conditions the biological 

 relation of the husband to the daughter of his wife is 

 uncertain, such union may or may not be incest as we use 

 that term. It is also true that brother and sister marriages, 

 though unusual, are found among a few peoples. Cousin 

 marriage, on the other hand, occurs in many parts of the 

 world. However, most primitive groups set up arbitrary 

 divisions between which the incest taboo holds. These 

 rules are equally binding upon the married and the unmar- 

 ried, the young and the old. In many cases death is the 

 penalty for transgression. So, as a controller of sex activity, 

 incestuous prohibitions are often more effective than mar- 

 riage, even when so clumsily formulated as to be inconsistent 

 with biological relationship. It is this inconsistency in 

 primitive incest regulations that makes it difficult to explain 

 incest as an instinct. 



ECONOMIC CONTROL OF THE FORM OF MARRIAGE 



Suppose at this point we turn aside to consider marriage 

 as the economic integration of the sexes; perhaps that is too 

 high-sounding a term, but society does seem to have an 

 economic cornerstone. There 'is a school of thought which 

 teaches that humanity sweetens the course of fife by pre- 

 tending that the stern unpleasant realities do not exist; 

 perhaps that is why so many people reject the idea that 

 society has an economic side. Their excuse is that such a 

 statement is rank materiahsm and they further profess 

 horror at the suggestion that marriage, the acme of senti- 

 ment, could have grown up as an economic adjustment. 

 But when we face the reahties of fife, the truth of the 

 old Chinese proverb comes to mind with special force, 

 "After food and clothing are sufficient, honor and disgrace 

 can be distinguished. After a regular stipend is guaranteed, 

 good manners can be appreciated." One might with equal 

 truth say that after the family is housed, clothed, and fed, the 

 future looks bright. Anyway, the most serious business 

 that confronts a social group, or a tribe, is to feed itself, 

 and close upon the heels of this need are shelter and clothing. 



