Practice question · Multiple choice
Kinship diagrams use a triangle for a man and a circle for a woman whatever society is being described. Why does that notation survive when kin categories differ everywhere?
Hints
- Ask what the symbols actually assert about a relationship.
- Something has to stay constant for two societies to be compared at all.
Show the answer
D. Because it records only biological and marital links
Why
The diagram is deliberately thin. It pins down the links so that the thick part — who counts as kin, and what that obliges them to do — can vary and still be written down comparably.
Practise Kinship and Family Systems
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