研究生英语课件---unit four The Cultural Patterning of Space.ppt

According to the Chinese way of thinkig,it would be a serious mistake to allow two young people to follow their romantic feeling and choose their own partners.The all-important decision of marriage was made by older family members,who understood that the goal of marriage was to the produce healthy sons.In tradtional Chinese society,sons were important because they would take positions of leadership in the family and keep the family name alive.  As part of our cultural background,beliefs about marriage can be as different as the cultures of the wourld.Whild the tradintonal Chinese did not believe that young people should be free to choose their own marriage partners,the Hopi,a native people of North America,had a very different idea about the freedom. The hopi allowed boys to leave their parners home at age thirteen to live in a kiva,a special home for young males.Here they enjoyed the freedom to go out alone at night and secretly visit young girls.Most boys tried to leave the girls home before daylight,but a girls parents usually did not get angry about the night visits. They allowed the visits to continue if they thought the boy was someone who would make make a good marriage partner.After a few months of receiving visits,most girs became pregnant.As a consequence,they could choose their favorite boy for a husband.  The Hopi culture is not the only one allowed young people to visit each other at night.Some Bavarian people of southern Germany one had a windowingcustom that took place when young woman left their windows open at night so that young men could enter their bedrooms. When a woman became pregnant,the man usually asked her to marry him.But women who did not get pregnant after windowing were often unable to find a husband.This was because fertility was a very important requirement for women in this culture,and the windowing custom allowe them to prove their fertility to others in the community. Some people are surprised when they learn of this unique custo