Talk:Exogamy

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Contents 1 Exogamy in humans section is extremely one sided 2 Endogamy and incest? 3 Proposed Merger with Exogamy 4 Lack of names

[edit] Exogamy in humans section is extremely one sided

I've read studies from the National Society of Genetic Counselors as well as others, that say marrying your cousin will produce little more risk of birth defects than marrying someone outside your race. Even a quick google search on the subject shows plenty of sources and articles. I'm not a geneticist nor have I really studied the subject to great degree, but the facts of history refute this sections assertions. While there maybe certain genetic mutations that certain racial groups are more prone to, this doesn't prove that endogamy is the causal factor.

It's well known that marrying a cousin increases the chance of a recessive gene to appear, which in turn increases the risk of a birth defect. If a person has a rare recessive gene that causes birth defects and has two children with a person who does not have that recessive gene, there is a 1 in 4 chance that both those children will have the gene. If they outbreed, there is a 1 in 64 chance that cousins will have the recessive gene. If those cousins inbreed, there is a 1 in 256 chance that their child will have the birth defects. That may sound pretty good, but if they marry someone outside their family, there is essentially 0% chance that the child will have the birth defect. 49giantsharks 17:59, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Blonde hair and Blue eyes are recessive genes. I'd hardly call them birth defects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.74.48.25 (talk) 16:12, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Endogamy and incest?

Do prohibitions on incest have anything to do with this article? Endogamy does not equal incest, as this article in its present state seems to suggest Stettlerj 20:06, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

I have the same comment and I was going to discuss it before editing it. Link9er 20:30, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm afraid that Endogamy is essentially incestuous, the only question is the degree. Don't forget that the likelyhood of a child being born with a genetic condition is much higher even where there is no immediate blood relationship. For example cystic fibrosis when two europeans have children or sickle cell anaemia where two people of african ethnicity have children.--Hontogaichiban 01:29, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

This is too much from a human perspective. Exogamy occurs in almost all mammals, with the exception of the naked mole rat. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.253.240.212 (talk • contribs) .

I think that was not what the author meant; rather that this "horror of incest" is - according to one theory - an important factor in the decision of choosing one's mating partner either group-externally or -internally. I think the article should only be changed in order to make that clearer; that should suffice. Please don't drop the point altogether. -- Kavaiyan <°)))o>< 15:02, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

I think we can keep the human perspective: the term exogamy was created by social anthropologists (i.e. scholars of human cultural variation) to refer to particular marriage patterns (naked mole rats mate, they don't marry :) ). --Ngio 09:16, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm especially concerned about the close linking of groups that are described as exclusively practicing endogamy with the mention of incest. Placing groups such as the Yazidi and "Jews" (while s/he also makes no mention of the religious aspect of this sporadic and non-universal practice) into such close contact with this inflammatory subject is going to cause offense and encourage racist feelings.

This is about scientific fact. Though the intention of this article is not to offend, whether people are offended is irrelevant. There is no call to take into account any religious aspects. It is well acknowledged that the Yazidi do face problems related to inbreeding. Inbreeding is by it's nature incestous in the scientific sense. It should be noted that in all of our ancestories we will have many ancesters born from incestuous relationships of one kind or another, luckily a return to healthy offspring can occur in a single generation through exogamy.--Hontogaichiban 00:29, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed Merger with Exogamy

• I agree, Exogamy is an anthropologically useful—and neutral—notion, Intermarriage is mixed up with culture-specific value judgements. Ngio 05:35, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Intermarriage is a confusing term, it should be removed.--Hontogaichiban 00:30, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

• Disagree with merger 85.138.1.15 23:26, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lack of names

Most of the people who have theories discussed on this page have no first name associated with them. I think that takes away from the article. BioTube 06:12, 24 June 2006 (UTC)