Family and kinship terms Essay

Based on the interviews I performed for this exercise, I now have a broader view of the term family. For this exercise, I interviewed four-spot individuals that were of Asian origin, specifi mobilizey Filipino, or individuals originating from the Filipinos. Based on my research and reprimand with my interviewed subjects, the Philippines is such a small country in the South eastern but these Filipinos can be found living all slightly the world. To an anthropologist, the term family simply pertains to the biological structure composed of two p arnts and at least one child.This structural unit is what has long been accepted in the Western world as the basic unit in society. However, there atomic number 18 quite a few modifications to Asians and more specifically, to individuals originating from the Philippines. In Philippine culture, the terms family and extended family can be employ interchangeably, because their culture is a lot associated with a home that is inhabited by a m arried couple with children, as well as the grandparents and relatives-in-law.In the Western world, the extended family is rarely observed in one household and would only be necessity in special circumstances such is health conditions that affect the dominion functioning of a family. In the Philippine tradition, the term family simply delegacy the entire family as well as all the relatives that could possibly arrest into the house and live for even an extended period of time. It has been explained to me that such closely knit family ties have been adapted by Filipinos from the Chinese travelers in the early centuries (Joaquin, 1988). hence in the household, one bedroom can be inhabited by two girls that are not sisters but actually cousins. The term kinship, on the other hand, technically means the biological connection of an individual such as the kinship of the father or the kinship of the mother of a family. In the Asian point of view, kinship can mean whatsoever individu al that is connect to any member of the family. This not only includes those of with a biological connection, but also those individuals that have been related through marriage, or the in-laws.It is frankincense interesting to see how different cultures perceive the terms family and kinship. What amazes me is that the Filipinos that I interviewed have such a great attachment to the idea of family, that they call other elder non-related Filipino friends Uncle or Aunt. It has been explained to me that such interlingual rendition of these greetings are a form of respect to these elder individuals, even if they are not really biologically related.It can thus look manage one Filipino can have a thousand uncles and some other thousand aunts because all of them are addressed with the same term that is used to address their biological aunt or uncle. Another interesting thoughtfulness that I collected from my interview is that Filipinos tend to consider a non-biologically related indivi dual as family if they have been in touch or in communication with that person for at least a couple of eld and that they would even attempt to help these individuals out to the best of their abilities, even go the last of their food to such friend.These individuals have big hearts and are more than willing to help out any individual who call for support. When I asked how they would consider a company of unrelated individuals that have lived unitedly in a particular place, they responded that they consider this group as a family, too, and not a residence group.The members of this residence group are thus considered as brothers and sisters, depending simply on the age of each member of the group, or if one individual is elderly, then that individual will be called and considered as the groups father or mother and that the youngest member of the group will be considered and called the groups baby. Reference Joaquin, N. 1988. Culture and record Occasional notes on the process of Philippine becoming. Solar Publishing, Metro Manila.