Institutions

• – terms from sociology
• – concern with organizing structures of society
• – social, cultural, political, economic relations
• – principles, values, rules that underlie these
• e.g. ‘marriage’ is an institution: why??
• Historical continuities
• industry
• Expectations –> values (monogamy)
• Rituals, symbolic
• Legal framework/regulatory
• Reproduces social relations/expectations
• Meta-institutional frame
• Romantic love- cultural narratives
• Widely accepted/practice
• Cultural ‘rules’
• Community/social recognition

I found this whole discussion very interesting, with everyone having a different upbringing, morals, opinions, thoughts, experiences, etc., also the concept of marriage being an institution; this is not something you may immediately link with the generally romance drenched word ‘marry’. Giving it the connotation of being an institution creates an ugly, industrial feel to a wedding, as though you are joining a club, a cult, a foundation. This is likely how a lot of people already feel about marriage, not a new concept or thought at all, maybe the reason I am the child of an unmarried once-couple.