Kinship

Kinship is described as a connection by blood, marriage, or adoption. Basically, it is your family relationship. Kinship is very important in some countries; primarily the middle east. There your whole world is wrapped around your family. There your family is the most important thing. Americans today can't wait to get away from their families and live on our own. In Iraq the families move in next door to each other, otherwise they feel lonely.

Kinship - by K. Flanagan

I think everybody who has posted on this assignment has taken the words out of my mouth: that the phrase “blood is thicker than water” implies that family ties mean so much more personally than any other relationships. Regardless of the kind of culture one studies, it’s obvious that there is some group of immediate family that is significantly more important than others. It emphasizes our natural human need to be surrounded by people who take care of us, who love us, and provide some sort of sanctuary and base for us to fall back on when things go wrong. There is very strong connection between a child and his/her parents, no matter what culture or society they live in… and that’s because they are of the same blood and kin.

In the article about Iraq marriages between cousins, it says “In a modern state, a citizen’s allegiance is to the state. But theirs is to their clan and tribe… They don’t see individuals working for the common good. Their world is divided into two groups: kin and strangers.” This quote, I believe, is most important because it explains why some cultures are so vastly different from ours. Of course, marriages between cousins are not the MAIN reasons why Iraqi and American societies are different; it’s because their culture emphasizes so much on the importance of family ties that our culture has a difficult time understanding it. Our view of family, the interaction of the parents in the child’s life, how much they are involved after the child leaves the home, and how the child views his connection with his/her parents… all these aspects are completely opposite compared to an Iraqi family clan. Most Americans might actually lean towards the flipside of the phrase “blood is thicker than water”. A greater percent of American teens and young adults have a more personal inclination to follow their peers (outside the family) and friends than turn to the immediate family for guidance. Still, one can’t erase or ignore the natural feeling of “connection” between those who share the same blood and family tree.

Kinship comments - Sierra Armstrong

comment to Abbey Dahl- I don't think that I would tell my parents about getting a speeding ticket. That would have just stayed between me and the police officer that gave it to me.
comment to Sam Stangl- I agree that we can break down each ties into smaller groups in our culture. It allows us to deciede who to trust more and talk to more. There are some people in my family that I've never met who I wouldn't tell certain things. Then there is my best friend who is not realted my blood at all who knows everything.

Kinship-Sierra Armstrong

"Blood is thicker than water" means exactly what it says. Your blood ties are much thicker, richer, and deeper than any other ties you have to someone else. The article, "The Stuggle For Iraq" has a perfect example. One ofSheik Yousif son's said the only reason you have not found Saddam Hussein is because his family will not give him up. The bond between Hussein and his family is so thick the will not give him up for a reward of 30 million dollars. The bond between his family is much greater than any other bond in the Middle Eastern cultures.
An instance when a consanguiel relationship would help in life is when there is "family gossip". You're not going to run around and tell everyone your families business. It stays in the family.
Another instance would be abuse. You might tell your family that someone you know is abusing you and they can help. You don't want everyone to know that you are being abused and then they run and tell someone and it keeps going.

Kinship, Taylor Britt

When someone says "blood is thicker than water" they mean that family is way more important that a typical friendship. It means so much more to family when something goes wrong with one of their relatives. This can be displayed in the readings over the struggles in Iraq. When soldiers band together as one unit, they become part of a family and the term "blood is thicker than water" can play a serious role in the army. Once they become so bonded together, they consider themselves as one big family and their own blood. It also shows in the readings that family is very cherished in the Iraq culture. Each family has a large family tree that follows them and they always protect their own relatives. The term "blood is thicker than water" can also be used in the example of the Iraq culture.

An example of the distinction between affines and consanguineous would be when you do not pay your bills. The bank will send you notices that your bills have not been payed and eventually if you do not pay the bills then your house, car, or anything you pay bills on can be reposed. Another distinction example would be when someone is a part of a high school football team. You spend all summer getting ready for the season with your team. Various two or three a days practices throughout the summer an into the season will bring you close to the boys on your team and soon enough shortly through the season you will consider your teammates as a family and will protect your family. Such as the quarterback is protected by his offensive line. That can be a family and for a while you might consider the phrase "blood is thicker than water".

Kinship, Abbey Dahl

The saying, "blood is thicker than water," is emphasized immensely in The Struggle for Iraq: Traditions article, but also applies globally. Family bonds are much closer and stronger than typical friendships, or relationships with others. The article particularly describes how the family ties in Iraq are the strongest within their society. Citizens who abide by tradition in Iraq often marry a first or second cousin in the family in order to keep these strong ties prevalent. The family makes sure they are the priority, and look at non family members as strangers. As read in the article, although abrupt, Iqbal agreed to marry her cousin because it was the right path to choose according to their family's morals and traditions. It amazed me that their scroll that showed their family tree was 70 feet long. That alone can show how family is a prized possession in the Iraq culture. Although odd, it is true that we were not able to find Saddam Hussein because his family was so concerned and protective they would not give up his name to anyone.

An instance where the distinction between affines and consanguines would be important in a life experience could be when one received a third speeding ticket. That may result in points on your license, more expensive insurance, and one might have present themselves in court. This is something that they might share with their mom or dad and keep others out of it. As simple as that is, it could happen. Another instance when the distinction would be significant would be if one was apart of the mafia. That's strictly a family business, and no one else is allowed to know who is in the mafia. So that is an instance where, "blood is thicker than water,".

Kinship, Sam Stangl

The phrase "blood is thicker than water" implies that family, or "blood," has a tighter bond than strangers, or "water." In the article about marriages in Iraq, for instance, the narrator describes marriage as typically between first or second cousinds. These marriages showed a 2% divorce rate as opposed to the 30% divorce rate correlated with marriages between people outside their own clan. The couple (Iqbal and Muhammad, in the narrator's specific example) was happy to marry within the family because they thought it was easier that way.


In my family it is a very important aspect of life to keep in close contact with one another. However, I have an uncle who's wife I have never cared much for, and the fact that she is not my family (affinal kin) and has caused people who are my consanguineal kin to dislike her has caused the whole family to distance themselves from her, and thus my uncle and my cousins. If she was my blood, though, I would think of it in a different way. I would forgive her for being a wench, and I would probably be in touch with my cousin and uncle more often.

Iknew someone who was having problems with living with her dad because he just got re-married. She felt that he had replaced her and her mom with this new woman, and it made her mad and jealous. Because the woman (step-mom) was her affinal kin, she could not shake the anger and always reacted to her with a sarcastic tone of voice. Her mom did not care much and was able to accept that her ex husband got re-married, and I think that may be because they were not tied by blood. The man's daughter, however, was his blood, his consanguineal kin, and she envied a woman who entered her clan from the outside, as a "stranger."


These distinctions between consanguineal kin and affinal kin are important in my culture because we see this as two different kinds of people, which can be broken down into even smaller subgroups, and this shapes how we see and think of people. Without these distinctions we would never know who to trust, who we could rely on and be close to, who would teach us what we need to know when we need to know it. Marriage, though it causes new people to legally enter into the family, does not cause the affinal kin to become as close to each member as consanguineal kin are to eachother.