Lineage is more important than marriage
As far as my anthropological knowledge goes1 the lineage/marriage balance differs from one society to the next, and in matrilineal/matrilocal societies (like the northern Mozambican Makhuwa) the lineage group to which you belong by birth is more important that the one to which you are connected by marriage. This goes for men as well as for women, and as I have seen the system work, it gives the women several advantages, compared to the situations I met when previously I worked in patrilineal southern Mozambique (Arnfred 1990). As a young woman you stay put with your family, while the young man, who is going to be your husband, comes in as a stranger and is looked upon as such. It is only if he manages to convince his parents-in-law of his qualities in terms of procreation as well as in agricultural work that the marriage will prevail. Divorce is easy, and it often happens at the woman’s request. The husband then is the one that will have to leave, while the wife stays on in the house with the children, her daily life taken care of by lineage mates. Such a wife is much better off than in the patrilineal South of Mozambique, where the abandoned wife has to remain as a stranger in the husband’s family, even if he himself stays away, maybe taking another wife in the city. In Makhuwa society, even if the men (the big uncles) here as elsewhere are the masters in public contexts, women play significant roles, also in lineage matters. The male lineage head must have a woman of the lineage (his sister, cousin or niece) at his side for important decisions. In certain ceremonies this woman will take the lead (Arnfred 2001). According to my own experience Karen Sacks’ point that women are better off as sisters than as wives (Karen Sacks 1979) holds true. Thus from a feminist point of view the Caldwell generalization sounds quite acceptable: If lineages are more important than marriages—all the better for women’s social positions.