title: Harry Chapin

text: He originally intended to be a documentary film-maker and took a job with The Big Fights, a company run by Bill Cayton that owned a large library of classic boxing films. Chapin directed "Legendary Champions" in 1968, which was nominated for a documentary Academy Award. In 1971, he began focusing on music. With John Wallace, Tim Scott, and Ron Palmer, Chapin started playing in various nightclubs in New York City.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 1972, there was a bidding war over Chapin between music business heavyweights Clive Davis at Columbia and Jac Holzman at Elektra. Chapin signed a multi-million dollar recording contract with Elektra Records. The contract was one of the biggest of its time. It granted him free recording time, along with many other perks.


title: Harry Chapin

text: The same year, he released his debut album, "Heads & Tales." The album was an international success, selling over 1 million units. Its success was due to the top 25 Billboard Hot 100 hit single, "Taxi." The song also became a top 5 hit in Canada. The success of the song in America is credited to American radio personality Jim Connors, who helped promote the song on the radio despite its length, and helped it to stay on the charts for 16 weeks. It became the number one requested song for 10 weeks in a row. The song was performed on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," which received so many calls that Chapin returned the next night. It was the first time in the show's history that a performer had been called back the next night. It was also one of the first performances on The Midnight Special, with John Denver hosting.


title: Harry Chapin

text: When asked if the song was true, Chapin said "It's emotionally true, if not literally true. I've been in the film business on and off for a lot of years, and wasn't doing well at one point. So I went out and got a hack license for bread, and during the month that I was waiting for it to come through, I heard an old girlfriend of mine had gotten married and instead of becoming an actress she married a rich guy. I envisioned some night I'd be driving a cab in the big city streets and this lady would get in the back, and I'd turn and look at her and she'd look at me and know we both sold out our dreams." Billboard ranked "Taxi" as the 85th song of the year. "Taxi" also earned Chapin a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist of the Year.


title: Harry Chapin

text: The follow up album, "Sniper and Other Love Songs," was also released in 1972. The album's title song, "Sniper," is a semi-fictional account of the University of Texas tower shooting. The single release from the album, "Sunday Morning Sunshine," charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top 40 on Billboard Adult Contemporary. The album was less successful than the last, selling 350,000 units. The album also contained the Chapin anthem, "Circle." In 2004, the double album "Sniper and Other Love Songs and Heads & Tales" was released. It contained previously unreleased tracks from both albums.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 1973, Chapin released his third album, "Short Stories." The album sold over 1 million units and produced another international hit, "W·O·L·D," a song about an aging disc jockey who has given up his entire life and family for his career. The song is sung from the point of view of the disc jockey, who is singing to his ex-wife. It was inspired by American radio personality Jim Connors. Chapin wrote the song when he listened to Connors calling his ex-wife in the WMEX studio. The song became a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, a top 10 in Canada, and top 10 and 20 in various other countries. Other notable songs from the album not released as singles are "Mr. Tanner," "Mail Order Annie," and "They Call Her Easy." The song, "Mr. Tanner," was loosely based on a pair of "New York Times" concert reviews of baritone Martin Tubridy – once in 1971 and once in 1972.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 1974, Chapin released his most successful album, "Verities and Balderdash." The album sold 2.5 million units due to the number 1 hit, "Cat's in the Cradle." The song is about a father who doesn't find time for his son during the boy's childhood; ultimately the son grows up to be just like his father, not making any time for his dad. The song earned Chapin another Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and he was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. "Verities and Balderdash" peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200. The album's follow-up single, "I Wanna Learn a Love Song," charted at number 7 on Billboard Adult Contemporary. The song is a true story of how he met his wife, Sandra Chapin. "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" was included on the album and became the number one requested song for a few weeks, despite not being released as a single. It is a semi-fictional account of a truck crash that occurred in Scranton, Pennsylvania, transporting bananas -- based loosely on a March 18, 1965, accident involving truck driver Gene Sesky. Other notable songs from the album include "Shooting Star," "Halfway to Heaven," and "Six String Orchestra."


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 1975, Chapin released his fifth album, "Portrait Gallery." The album produced a top 40 Billboard Adult Contemporary hit, "Dreams Go By." However, the album was less successful than the last, selling 350,000 units. In addition, he wrote and performed a Broadway play, "The Night That Made America Famous." The play earned two Tony Award nominations and two Drama Desk Award nominations.


title: Harry Chapin

text: By 1976, Chapin was established as one of the most popular singers of the decade. He released his first live album, "Greatest Stories Live." The album sold 2.1 million units. However, Elektra Records underwent a management change and gave almost no promotion for his later albums with Elektra, but they all sold at least 250,000 units each and charted successfully.


title: Harry Chapin

text: By the end of the decade, Chapin concentrated more on touring than producing hit singles, but still released one album a year. He earned an estimated $2,000,000 per year (approximately $11,75 M in 2017) until his death in 1981, making him one of the highest paid artists in the world. His album Dance Band on the Titanic sold poorly, but was voted Album of the Year by The Times of London. In 1980, his recording contract with Elektra expired. He signed a one-album contract with Boardwalk Records, and released his ninth studio album, "Sequel." The album has been described as his fastest breaking album. Three singles were released, with all of them becoming hits. The first single, "Sequel," became a top 25 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is a followup to Taxi. The second single, "Remember When the Music," became a top 50 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The last single, "Story of a Life," became a hit on the Bubbling Under chart. The album sold 500,000 units.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Chapin met Sandra Gaston, a New York socialite eight years his senior, in 1966 after she called him asking for music lessons. They married two years later. The story of their meeting and romance is told in his song "I Wanna Learn a Love Song." Chapin wrote several additional songs about her, including "Shooting Star" about their relationship, and "Sandy." He had two children with her, Jennifer and Joshua, and was stepfather to her three children from a previous marriage, Jaime, Jason, and Jonathan.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Chapin resolved to leave his imprint on Long Island. He envisioned a Long Island where the arts flourished, universities expanded, and humane discourse was the norm. "He thought Long Island represented a remarkable opportunity", said Chapin's widow, Sandy.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In the mid-1970s, Chapin devoted much time and effort to social activism, including raising money to combat hunger in the United States. His daughter Jen said: "He saw hunger and poverty as an insult to America." He co-founded the organization World Hunger Year with radio personality Bill Ayres, before returning to music with "On the Road to Kingdom Come". He also released a book of poetry, "Looking ... Seeing", in 1975. More than half of Chapin's concerts were benefit performances (for example, a concert to help save the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York, as well as hunger causes such as food banks), and proceeds from his concert merchandise were used to support World Hunger Year. Among those he helped is filmmaker Michael Moore, who, in 1977, got help funding his Mid-Michigan based independent newspaper startup, "The Flint Voice", with Chapin benefit concerts. Chapin's social causes at times caused friction among his band members. Chapin donated an estimated third of his paid concerts to charitable causes, often performing alone with his guitar to reduce costs. Mike Rendine accompanied him on bass throughout 1979.


title: Harry Chapin

text: One report quotes his widow saying soon after his death – "only with slight exaggeration" – that "Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations, and 82 charities. Harry wasn't interested in saving money. He always said, 'Money is for people,' so he gave it away." Despite his success as a musician, he left little money and it was difficult to maintain the causes for which he raised more than $3 million in the last six years of his life. The Harry Chapin Foundation was the result.


title: Harry Chapin

text: On the afternoon of July 16, 1981, Chapin was driving on the Long Island Expressway en route to perform at a free benefit concert at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, that evening. At 12:27 PM, Chapin was fatally injured in a fiery traffic collision with a semi-trailer truck outside Jericho, New York. Passers-by managed to help the unconscious Chapin out of his engulfed 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit and he was immediately taken by helicopter to the nearby Nassau County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:05 PM due to internal bleeding. Chapin's widow Sandy won a $12 million decision in a negligence lawsuit against Supermarkets General, the owners of the truck involved.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Chapin is buried in the Huntington Rural Cemetery in Huntington, New York. His epitaph is taken from his 1978 song "I Wonder What Would Happen to This World":


title: Harry Chapin

text: His work on hunger included being widely recognized as a key player in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger (under 39th President Jimmy Carter) in 1977 (he was the only member who attended every meeting).


title: Harry Chapin

text: He was also the inspiration for the antihunger projects USA for Africa and Hands Across America, which were organized by Ken Kragen, who had been Chapin's manager at the end of Chapin's career, after Fred Kewley. Kragen, explaining his work on these benefit events, said, "I felt like Harry had crawled into my body and was making me do it."


title: Harry Chapin

text: From around 1975 until the owners changed the format of the station in the late 1990s, WNEW-FM, 102.7, a NYC radio station with the motto "Where Rock Lives" held an annual "Hungerthon" every Thanksgiving, to benefit Harry Chapin's World Hunger League. During the 24-hour period of the event, little to no music was played, with the exception of the iconic "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie played at noon and 6 pm. For the remainder of the day, during every DJ's four-hour show, guests such as Harry himself, other music stars, and experts on hunger brought to the listeners information about the severity of hunger in America, in New York City, and in the tri-state area, sometimes in graphic detail.


title: Harry Chapin

text: After Harry's death, the "Hungerthon" continued, and at the "U.S. Live Aid" concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium in 1985, Kenny Loggins was presented with the first "Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award" by actor Jeff Bridges for his work for the World Hunger League in fighting hunger in America. Since WNEW-FM changed formats, other New York stations have continued to do fundraisers for the charity. In 1987, singer Kenny Rogers was awarded the first-ever "Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award" from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Since 1987, the ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award has been bestowed more than 20 times to various artists for their various "humanitarian contributions." The ASCAP awards are now presented by Why Hunger, the organization originally co-founded by Harry Chapin and Bill Ayres as World Hunger Year.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Four additional organizations once presented awards in the name of Harry Chapin in the past. They include: the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award—now known as the Music Business Association or MusicBiz, the Harry Chapin Award for Contributions to Humanity by the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA), the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award for Community Service from the Long Island Association, and the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award by Long Island Cares.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Chapin had co-operated before his death with the writer of the biography entitled "Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story", by Peter M. Coan, released posthumously, from which the family withdrew their support. Some concern existed about the accuracy of the details included in the book.


title: Harry Chapin

text: The Lakeside Theatre at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, was renamed Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre during a memorial concert held one month after his death, as a tribute to his efforts to combat world hunger. Other Long Island landmarks named in honor of Chapin include a graduate-student apartment complex at Stony Brook University, a theater in Heckscher Park in Huntington, New York, and a playground at the intersection of Columbia Heights and Middagh Street in Brooklyn Heights.


title: Harry Chapin

text: The village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, has hosted the Harry Chapin Run Against Hunger, a 10k, 5k, and Fun Run, since 1981.


title: Harry Chapin

text: On December 7, 1987, on what would have been his 45th birthday, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his campaigning on social issues, particularly his highlighting of hunger around the world and in the United States.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 1994, admirers of the late singer's passionate fight against hunger renamed the then 11-year old Southwest Florida Food Bank (Fort Myers, FL) the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, in tribute to Chapin, and with the permission of his widow.


title: Harry Chapin

text: In 2001, Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" was ranked number 186 of 365 on the Recording Industry Association of America list of Songs of the Century.


title: Harry Chapin

text: On September 27, 2011, former U.S. Representative Alan Grayson wrote an article on the internet publication "The Huffington Post" about Chapin's song "What Made America Famous".


title: Harry Chapin

text: Singer and songwriter Guthrie Thomas has long publicly stated that Chapin's song "Cat's in the Cradle" is one of the most difficult songs to perform, due to Chapin's master guitar playing and his brilliant syncopation of the lyrics, meaning each word must fit perfectly and in time with the playing. Also, despite seeming social and political differences with Chapin, Dr. James Dobson often quotes the entirety of "Cat's in the Cradle" to illustrate dynamics of contemporary American families.


title: Harry Chapin

text: A children's picture book was created using the lyrics of "Mr. Tanner" and the illustrations of Bryan Langdo; it was published by Ripple Grove Press in May 2017.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Greenwich Entertainment released a documentary film titled "". It was directed by Rick Korn and produced by Jason Chapin. The film was released theatrically and through virtual cinema on October 16, 2020 (World Food Day).


title: Harry Chapin

text: Harry's widow Sandy is now chair of the Harry Chapin Foundation, where she continues to pursue Harry's legacy. His son Josh is involved with the foundation, along with other family members.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Chapin often remarked that he came from an artistic family. His father Jim, brothers Tom and Steve, and daughter Jen Chapin are musicians. His nieces Abigail and Lily Chapin perform under the name the Chapin Sisters. His paternal grandfather, James Ormsbee Chapin, was an artist who illustrated Robert Frost's first two books of poetry; his maternal grandfather was the philosopher and rhetorician Kenneth Burke.


title: Harry Chapin

text: Harry Chapin's brothers sometimes performed with Harry at various times throughout his career, particularly during live performances. They played with him before his solo career took off, and were credited on the albums "Greatest Stories Live," "Legends of the Lost and Found," and "Chapin Music!" Tom and Steve continued to perform together (often with Harry's former bandmates) from time to time after his death.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery (from Latin "adulterium") is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept exists in many cultures and is similar in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Adultery is viewed by many jurisdictions as offensive to public morals, undermining the marriage relationship.


title: Adultery

text: Historically, many cultures considered adultery a very serious crime, some subject to severe punishment, usually for the woman and sometimes for the man, with penalties including capital punishment, mutilation, or torture. Such punishments have gradually fallen into disfavor, especially in Western countries from the 19th century. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from fines to caning and even capital punishment. Since the 20th century, criminal laws against adultery have become controversial, with most Western countries decriminalising adultery.


title: Adultery

text: However, even in jurisdictions that have decriminalised adultery, it may still have legal consequences, particularly in jurisdictions with fault-based divorce laws, where adultery almost always constitutes a ground for divorce and may be a factor in property settlement, the custody of children, the denial of alimony, etc. Adultery is not a ground for divorce in jurisdictions which have adopted a no-fault divorce model.


title: Adultery

text: International organizations have called for the decriminalisation of adultery, especially in the light of several high-profile stoning cases that have occurred in some countries. The head of the United Nations expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to them in terms of implementation or impact, Kamala Chandrakirana, has stated that: "Adultery must not be classified as a criminal offence at all". A joint statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that: "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women’s human rights".


title: Adultery

text: In Muslim countries that follow Sharia law for criminal justice, the punishment for adultery may be stoning. There are fifteen countries in which stoning is authorized as lawful punishment, though in recent times it has been legally carried out only in Iran and Somalia. Most countries that criminalize adultery are those where the dominant religion is Islam, and several Sub-Saharan African Christian-majority countries, but there are some notable exceptions to this rule, namely Philippines, and several U.S. states. In some jurisdictions, having sexual relations with the king's wife or the wife of his eldest son constitutes treason.


title: Adultery

text: The term "adultery" refers to sexual acts between a married person and someone who is not that person's spouse. It may arise in a number of contexts. In criminal law, adultery was a criminal offence in many countries in the past, and is still a crime in some countries today. In family law, adultery may be a ground for divorce, with the legal definition of adultery being "physical contact with an alien and unlawful organ", while in some countries today, adultery is not in itself grounds for divorce. Extramarital sexual acts not fitting this definition are not "adultery" though they may constitute "unreasonable behavior", also a ground of divorce.


title: Adultery

text: Another issue is the issue of paternity of a child. The application of the term to the act appears to arise from the idea that "criminal intercourse with a married woman ... tended to adulterate the issue [children] of an innocent husband ... and to expose him to support and provide for another man's [children]". Thus, the "purity" of the children of a marriage is corrupted, and the inheritance is altered.


title: Adultery

text: In archaic law, there was a common law tort of criminal conversation arising from adultery, "conversation" being an archaic euphemism for sexual intercourse. It was a tort action brought by a husband against a third party (“the other man”) who interfered with the marriage relationship.


title: Adultery

text: Some adultery laws differentiate based on the sex of the participants, and as a result such laws are often seen as discriminatory, and in some jurisdictions they have been struck down by courts, usually on the basis that they discriminated against women.


title: Adultery

text: The term "adultery", rather than "extramarital sex", implies a moral condemnation of the act; as such it is usually not a neutral term because it carries an implied judgment that the act is wrong.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery refers to sexual relations which are not officially legitimized; for example it does not refer to having sexual intercourse with multiple partners in the case of polygamy (when a man is married to more than one wife at a time, called polygyny; or when a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, called polyandry).


title: Adultery

text: In the traditional English common law, adultery was a felony. Although the legal definition of "adultery" differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is sexual relations outside of marriage, in one form or another.


title: Adultery

text: Traditionally, many cultures, particularly Latin American ones, had strong double standards regarding male and female adultery, with the latter being seen as a much more serious violation.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery involving a married woman and a man other than her husband was considered a very serious crime. In 1707, English Lord Chief Justice John Holt stated that a man having sexual relations with another man's wife was "the highest invasion of property" and claimed, in regard to the aggrieved husband, that "a man cannot receive a higher provocation" (in a case of murder or manslaughter).


title: Adultery

text: The "Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert", Vol. 1 (1751), also equated adultery to theft writing that, "adultery is, after homicide, the most punishable of all crimes, because it is the most cruel of all thefts, and an outrage capable of inciting murders and the most deplorable excesses."


title: Adultery

text: Legal definitions of adultery vary. For example, New York defines an adulterer as a person who "engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse."


title: Adultery

text: North Carolina defines adultery as occurring when any man and woman "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed, and cohabit together."


title: Adultery

text: Minnesota law provides: "when a married woman has sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband, whether married or not, both are guilty of adultery." In the 2003 New Hampshire Supreme Court case Blanchflower v. Blanchflower, it was held that female same-sex sexual relations did not constitute sexual intercourse, based on a 1961 definition from "Webster's Third New International Dictionary"; and thereby an accused wife in a divorce case was found not guilty of adultery. In 2001, Virginia prosecuted an attorney, John R. Bushey, for adultery, a case that ended in a guilty plea and a $125 fine. Adultery is against the governing law of the U.S. military.


title: Adultery

text: In common-law countries, adultery was also known as "criminal conversation." This became the name of the civil tort arising from adultery, being based upon compensation for the other spouse's injury. Criminal conversation was usually referred to by lawyers as "crim. con.", and was abolished in England in 1857, and the Republic of Ireland in 1976. Another tort, alienation of affection, arises when one spouse deserts the other for a third person. This act was also known as desertion, which was often a crime as well. A small number of jurisdictions still allow suits for criminal conversation and/or alienation of affection. In the United States, six states still maintain this tort.


title: Adultery

text: A marriage in which both spouses agree ahead of time to accept sexual relations by either partner with others is sometimes referred to as an open marriage or the swinging lifestyle. Polyamory, meaning the practice, desire, or acceptance of intimate relationships that are not exclusive with respect to other sexual or intimate relationships, with knowledge and consent of everyone involved, sometimes involves such marriages. Swinging and open marriages are both a form of non-monogamy, and the spouses would not view the sexual relations as objectionable. However, irrespective of the stated views of the partners, extra-marital relations could still be considered a crime in some legal jurisdictions which criminalize adultery.


title: Adultery

text: In Canada, though the written definition in the "Divorce Act" refers to extramarital relations with someone of the opposite sex, a British Columbia judge used the "Civil Marriage Act" in a 2005 case to grant a woman a divorce from her husband who had cheated on her with another man, which the judge felt was equal reasoning to dissolve the union.


title: Adultery

text: In England and Wales, case law restricts the definition of adultery to penetrative sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, no matter the gender of the spouses in the marriage. Infidelity with a person of the same gender can be grounds for a divorce as unreasonable behavior; this situation was discussed at length during debates on the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill. However, the practical effect of this ceased with the introduction of no-fault divorce in April 2022, which meant that unreasonable behavior ceased to be grounds for divorce.


title: Adultery

text: In India, adultery was the sexual intercourse of a man with a married woman without the consent of her husband when such sexual intercourse did not amount to rape, and it was a non-cognizable, non-bailable criminal offence; the adultery law was overturned by the Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2018.


title: Adultery

text: Durex's Global Sex Survey found that worldwide 22% of people surveyed admitted to have had extramarital sex. According to a 2015 study by Durex and Match.com, Thailand and Denmark were the most adulterous countries based on the percentage of adults who admitted having an affair.


title: Adultery

text: In the United States Alfred Kinsey found in his studies that 50% of males and 26% of females had extramarital sex at least once during their lifetime. Depending on studies, it was estimated that 22.7% of men and 11.6% of women, had extramarital sex. Other authors say that between 20% and 25% of Americans had sex with someone other than their spouse.


title: Adultery

text: Three 1990s studies in the United States, using nationally representative samples, have found that about 10–15% of women and 20–25% of men admitted to having engaged in extramarital sex.


title: Adultery

text: The Standard Cross-Cultural Sample described the occurrence of extramarital sex by gender in over 50 pre-industrial cultures. The occurrence of extramarital sex by men is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 29 cultures, "occasional" in 6 cultures, and "uncommon" in 10 cultures. The occurrence of extramarital sex by women is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 23 cultures, "occasional" in 9 cultures, and "uncommon" in 15 cultures.


title: Adultery

text: In the Greco-Roman world, there were stringent laws against adultery, but these applied to sexual intercourse with a married woman. In the early Roman Law, the "jus tori" belonged to the husband. It was therefore not a crime against the wife for a husband to have sex with a slave or an unmarried woman.


title: Adultery

text: The Roman husband often took advantage of his legal immunity. Thus we are told by the historian Spartianus that Verus, the imperial colleague of Marcus Aurelius, did not hesitate to declare to his reproaching wife: "Uxor enim dignitatis nomen est, non voluptatis." ("'Wife' connotes rank, not sexual pleasure", or more literally "Wife is the name of dignity, not bliss") (Verus, V).


title: Adultery

text: Later in Roman history, as William E.H. Lecky has shown, the idea that the husband owed a fidelity similar to that demanded of the wife must have gained ground, at least in theory. Lecky gathers from the legal maxim of Ulpian: "It seems most unfair for a man to require from a wife the chastity he does not himself practice".


title: Adultery

text: According to Plutarch, the lending of wives practiced among some people was also encouraged by Lycurgus, though from a motive other than that which actuated the practice (Plutarch, Lycurgus, XXIX). The recognized license of the Greek husband may be seen in the following passage of the pseudo-Demosthenic "Oration Against Neaera":


title: Adultery

text: The Roman Lex Julia, "Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis" (17 BC), punished adultery with banishment. The two guilty parties were sent to different islands ("dummodo in "diversas" insulas relegentur"), and part of their property was confiscated. Fathers were permitted to kill daughters and their partners in adultery. Husbands could kill the partners under certain circumstances and were required to divorce adulterous wives.


title: Adultery

text: Both Judaism and Christianity base their injunction against adultery on passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament in Christianity), which firstly prohibits adultery in the Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."


title: Adultery

text: And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.


title: Adultery

text: Significantly, the Hebrew Bible’s definition of adultery and penalty for adultery does not apply to either participant if the female participant is unmarried, irrespective of the marital status of the male participant (he himself could be married or unmarried, it is irrelevant).


title: Adultery

text: This means that, if the man was married to another woman, but the woman he had sexual relations with was unmarried to anyone, both might be guilty of fornication, but the actions of neither of them adulterate or risk adulterating the genetic lineage of a married man, thus their actions do not fall under the Hebrew Bible’s definition of adultery in these passages.


title: Adultery

text: The Biblical definition of adultery concerns itself with the adulteration or potential adulteration of an innocent husband’s genetic lineage. Since sexual intercourse between a wife and a man other than her husband can result in that other man’s impregnation of the wife with that other man’s adulterant genetic material, the genetic lineage of a child conceived from that act would be adulterated, that is, not genetically the husband’s. Yet, such a child would nevertheless be deemed in Biblical law to be the legal child of the husband due to its birth to the wife while she was in a marital contract (lawful wedlock) with the husband. This adulteration of a victimized husband’s family lineage (consanguinity), by the wife's adulterous conception of a child, would detrimentally impact the lawfully wedlocked husband and his birth family, as all the responsibilities, burdens, and privileges of and for the child, due to the contract of marriage, attach to the husband and his birth family. By contrast, an unmarried woman becoming pregnant or risking pregnancy as a result of sexual intercourse with a man married to another woman does not create the same situation, because the unmarried woman's child would not be regarded in law as his. Since there is no aggrieved party whose genetic lineage can be adulterated by their act, it is not defined as adultery per the Hebrew Bible.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery in the Hebrew Bible is prohibited and capitally punished because it would result in the unjust and fraudulently diverted imposition of financial burdens on a husband to a child which is not his own (until its adulthood), the usurpation of Biblical inheritance rights from the rightful consanguineous heirs of the husband then converted to the male offender’s family via the adulterated child (from the moment the child is born and for its lifetime), including rights to inherit the property of the aggrieved husband’s birth family and his own personally accumulated property and assets, citizenship rights into one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to which the aggrieved husband belongs, usurpation of inherited priestly status with all its accompanying rights and responsibilities if the aggrieved husband was a Kohen (Aaronic priestly caste halakhically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron brother of Moses) or a Levite, up to usurpation of royal status and line of succession rights for an aggrieved husband of royal lineage including the king himself.


title: Adultery

text: Thus, adultery was regarded as the highest and most despicable form of fraudulent theft meriting capital punishment, because the crime affected not only the husband, but his family and rightful heirs, depriving the husband of genetic posterity and killing off his family’s genetic line. The form of capital punishment employed to execute those convicted of adultery is Biblically required to be more torturous if the guilty wife was a Bat-Kohen (daughter of a Kohen).


title: Adultery

text: In the event of a married woman being raped by a man who is not her husband, only the rapist is guilty of adultery against the husband of his married victim; the victim herself is not guilty of adultery against her husband.


title: Adultery

text: Furthermore, a wife who has intercourse with another man at her husband’s instigation is still committing adultery against her husband, and is as guilty as that other man; and her husband is guilty of the adultery against himself and his birth family. For this reason, in the modern era, with advancements in assisted reproduction, the position of Jewish religious law (Halacha) on the use of donor sperm is classified as adultery. In all cases of adultery, whether through traditional sexual intercourse or non-sexual assisted pregnancy, the crime of adultery is the adulteration of the genetic lineage, while the sexual intercourse, or the Petri dish, or the more unsophisticated turkey baster, are simply the weapons.


title: Adultery

text: Though Leviticus 20:10 prescribes the death penalty for adultery, the legal procedural requirements were very exacting and required the testimony of two eyewitnesses of good character for conviction. The defendant also must have been warned immediately before performing the act. A death sentence could be issued only during the period when the Holy Temple stood, and only so long as the Supreme Torah Court convened in its chamber within the Temple complex. Technically, therefore, no death penalty can now be applied.


title: Adultery

text: The death penalty for adultery was strangulation, except in the case of a woman who was the daughter of a Kohen (Aaronic priestly caste), which was specifically mentioned in Scripture as the penalty of burning (pouring molten lead down the throat). The punishment of stoning for adulterers is directly mentioned in Deuteronomy 22:24. Other ancient Near Eastern law collections treat adultery as an offense against the husband alone, and allow the husband to waive or mitigate the punishment whereas Biblical law allows no such mitigation, on the grounds that God as well as the husband is offended by adultery, and an offense against God cannot be forgiven by man.


title: Adultery

text: At the civil level, however, Jewish law (halakha) forbids a man to continue living with an adulterous wife, and he is obliged to divorce her. Also, an adulteress is not permitted to marry the adulterer, but, to avoid any doubt as to her status as being free to marry another or that of her children, many authorities say he must give her a divorce as if they were married.


title: Adultery

text: According to Judaism, the Seven laws of Noah apply to all of humankind; these laws prohibit adultery with another man's wife.


title: Adultery

text: The Ten Commandments were meant exclusively for Jewish males. Michael Coogan writes that according to the text wives are the property of their husband, marriage meaning transfer of property (from father to husband), and women are less valuable than real estate, being mentioned after real estate. Adultery is violating the property right of a man. Coogan's book was criticized by Phyllis Trible, who argues that he failed to note that patriarchy was not decreed, but only described by God, patriarchy being specific to people after the fall. She states that Paul the Apostle made the same mistake as Coogan.


title: Adultery

text: The extramarital intercourse of a married man is not in itself considered a crime in biblical or later Jewish law. Sexual intercourse between an Israelite man, married or not, and a woman who was neither married nor betrothed was not considered adultery. This concept of adultery stems from the economic aspect of Israelite marriage whereby the husband has an exclusive right to his wife, whereas the wife, as the husband's possession, did not have an exclusive right to her husband.


title: Adultery

text: David's sexual intercourse with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, did not count as adultery. According to Jennifer Wright Knust, this was because Uriah was no Jew, and only Jewish men were protected by the legal code from Sinai. However, according to the Babylonian Talmud, Uriah was indeed Jewish and wrote a provisional bill of divorce prior to going out to war, specifying that if he fell in battle, the divorce would take effect from the time the writ was issued.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery is considered immoral by Christians and a sin, based primarily on passages like and . Although does say that "and that is what some of you were. But you were washed", it still acknowledges adultery to be immoral and a sin.


title: Adultery

text: Until a few decades ago, adultery was a criminal offense in many countries where the dominant religion is Christianity, especially in Roman Catholic countries (for example, in Austria it was a criminal offense until 1997). Adultery was decriminalized in Argentina in 1995, and in Brazil in 2005; but in some predominantly Catholic countries, such as the Philippines, it remains illegal. The Book of Mormon also prohibits adultery. For instance, Abinadi cites the Ten Commandments when he accuses King Noah's priests of sexual immorality. When Jesus Christ visits the Americas he reinforces the law and teaches them the higher law (also found in the New Testament):


title: Adultery

text: Some churches such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have interpreted "adultery" to include all sexual relationships outside of marriage, regardless of the marital status of the participants. Book of Mormon prophets and civil leaders often list adultery as an illegal activity along with murder, robbing, and stealing.


title: Adultery

text: "Zina'" is an Arabic term for illegal intercourse, premarital or extramarital. Various conditions and punishments have been attributed to adultery. Under Islamic law, adultery in general is sexual intercourse by a person (whether man or woman) with someone to whom they are not married. Adultery is a violation of the marital contract and one of the major sins condemned by God in the Qur'an:


title: Adultery

text: Punishments are reserved to the legal authorities and false accusations are to be punished severely. It has been said that these legal procedural requirements were instituted to protect women from slander and false accusations: i.e. four witnesses of good character are required for conviction, who were present at that time and saw the deed taking place; and if they saw it they were not of good moral character, as they were looking at naked adults; thus no one can be convicted of adultery unless both of the accused also agree and give their confession under oath four times.


title: Adultery

text: According to "a hadith" attributed to Muhammad, an unmarried person who commits adultery or fornication is punished by flogging 100 times; a married person will then be stoned to death. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found support for stoning as a punishment for adultery mostly in Arab countries; it was supported in Egypt (82% of respondents in favor of the punishment) and Jordan (70% in favor), as well as Pakistan (82% favor), whereas in Nigeria (56% in favor) and in Indonesia (42% in favor) opinion is more divided, perhaps due to diverging traditions and differing interpretations of Sharia.


title: Adultery

text: The Hindu Sanskrit texts present a range of views on adultery, offering widely differing positions. The hymn 4.5.5 of the "Rigveda" calls adultery as "pāpa" (evil, sin). Other Vedic texts state adultery to be a sin, just like murder, incest, anger, evil thoughts and trickery. The Vedic texts, including the "Rigveda", the "Atharvaveda" and the Upanishads, also acknowledge the existence of male lovers and female lovers as a basic fact of human life, followed by the recommendation that one should avoid such extra marital sex during certain ritual occasions (yajna). A number of simile in the Rigveda, a woman's emotional eagerness to meet her lover is described, and one hymn prays to the gods that they protect the embryo of a pregnant wife as she sleeps with her husband and other lovers.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery and similar offenses are discussed under one of the eighteen "vivādapadas" (titles of laws) in the "Dharma" literature of Hinduism. Adultery is termed as "Strisangrahana" in "dharmasastra" texts. These texts generally condemn adultery, with some exceptions involving consensual sex and "niyoga" (levirate conception) in order to produce an heir. According to "Apastamba Dharmasutra", the earliest dated Hindu law text, cross-varna adultery (adultery across castes) is a punishable crime, where the adulterous man receives a far more severe punishment than the adulterous "arya" woman. In "Gautama Dharmasutra", the adulterous "arya" woman is liable to harsh punishment for the cross-class adultery. While "Gautama Dharmasutra" reserves the punishment in cases of cross-class adultery, it seems to have been generalized by "Vishnu Dharmasastra" and "Manusmiriti". The recommended punishments in the text also vary between these texts.


title: Adultery

text: The "Manusmriti", also known as the "Laws of Manu", deals with this in greater detail. When translated, verse 4.134 of the book declares adultery to be a heinous offense. The "Manusmriti" does not include adultery as a "grievous sin", but includes it as a "secondary sin" that leads to a loss of caste. In the book, the intent and mutual consent are a part that determine the recommended punishment. Rape is not considered as adultery for the woman, while the rapist is punished severely. Lesser punishment is recommended for consensual adulterous sex. Death penalty is mentioned by Manu, as well as "penance" for the sin of adultery. even in cases of repeated adultery with a man of the same caste. In verses 8.362-363, the author states that sexual relations with the wife of traveling performer is not a sin, and exempts such sexual liaisons. The book offers two views on adultery. It recommends a new married couple to remain sexually faithful to each other for life. It also accepts that adulterous relationships happen, children are born from such relationships and then proceeds to reason that the child belongs to the legal husband of the pregnant woman, and not to the biological father.


title: Adultery

text: Other "dharmasastra" texts describe adultery as a punishable crime but offer differing details. According to "Naradasmriti (12.61-62)", it is an adulterous act if a man has sexual intercourse with the woman who is protected by another man. The term adultery in "Naradasmriti" is not confined to the relationship of a married man with another man's wife. It includes sex with any woman who is protected, including wives, daughters, other relatives, and servants. Adultery is not a punishable offence for a man if "the woman's husband has abandoned her because she is wicked, or he is eunuch, or of a man who does not care, provided the wife initiates it of her own volition". Brihaspati-smriti mention, among other things, adulterous local customs in ancient India and then states, "for such practices these (people) incur neither penance nor secular punishment". Kautilya's "Arthashastra" includes an exemption that in case the husband forgives his adulterous wife, the woman and her lover should be set free. If the offended husband does not forgive, the "Arthashastra" recommends the adulterous woman's nose and ears be cut off, while her lover be executed.


title: Adultery

text: The "Kamasutra" discusses adultery and Vatsyayana devotes "not less than fifteen sutras (1.5.6–20) to enumerating the reasons ("karana") for which a man is allowed to seduce a married woman". According to Wendy Doniger, the "Kamasutra" teaches adulterous sexual liaison as a means for a man to predispose the involved woman in assisting him, working against his enemies and facilitating his successes. It also explains the many signs and reasons a woman wants to enter into an adulterous relationship and when she does not want to commit adultery. The "Kamasutra" teaches strategies to engage in adulterous relationships, but concludes its chapter on sexual liaison stating that one should not commit adultery because adultery pleases only one of two sides in a marriage, hurts the other, it goes against both "dharma" and "artha".


title: Adultery

text: According to Werner Menski, the Sanskrit texts take "widely different positions on adultery", with some considering it a minor offense that can be addressed with penance, but others treat it as a severe offense that depending on the caste deserves the death penalty for the man or the woman. According to Ramanathan and Weerakoon, in Hinduism, the sexual matters are left to the judgment of those involved and not a matter to be imposed through law.


title: Adultery

text: According to Carl Olsen, the classical Hindu society considered adultery as a sexual transgression but treated it with a degree of tolerance. It is described as a minor transgression in "Naradasmriti" and other texts, one that a sincere penance could atone. Penance is also recommended to a married person who does not actually commit adultery, but carries adulterous thoughts for someone else or is thinking of committing adultery.


title: Adultery

text: Other Hindu texts present a more complex model of behavior and mythology where gods commit adultery for various reasons. For example, Krishna commits adultery and the "Bhagavata Purana" justifies it as something to be expected when Vishnu took a human form, just like sages become uncontrolled. According to Tracy Coleman, Radha and other gopis are indeed lovers of Krishna, but this is "prema" or "selfless, true love" and not carnal craving. In Hindu texts, this relationship between gopis and Krishna involves secret nightly rendezvous. Some texts state it to be divine adultery, others as a symbolism of spiritual dedication and religious value. The example of Krishna's adulterous behavior has been used by Sahajiyas Hindus of Bengal to justify their own behavior that is contrary to the mainstream Hindu norm, according to Doniger. Other Hindu texts state that Krishna's adultery is not a license for other men to do the same, in the same way that men should not drink poison just because Rudra-Shiva drank poison during the Samudra Manthan. A similar teaching is found in Mahayana Buddhism, states Doniger.


title: Adultery

text: The "Linga Purana" shows that sexual hospitality existed in ancient India. The sage Sudarshana, asks his wife Oghavati to please their guests in this way. One day, he comes home while she is having sex with a mendicant who visits their house. Sudarshaan tells them to continue. The mendicant turns out to be Dharma, the lord of righteous conduct, who blesses the couple for their upholding of social law.


title: Adultery

text: Buddhist texts such as Digha Nikāya describe adultery as a form of sexual wrongdoing that is one link in a chain of immorality and misery. According to Wendy Doniger, this view of adultery as evil is postulated in early Buddhist texts as having originated from greed in a previous life. This idea combines Hindu and Buddhist thoughts then prevalent. Sentient beings without body, state the canonical texts, are reborn on earth due to their greed and craving, some people become beautiful and some ugly, some become men and some women. The ugly envy the beautiful and this triggers the ugly to commit adultery with the wives of the beautiful. Like in Hindu mythology, states Doniger, Buddhist texts explain adultery as a result from sexual craving; it initiates a degenerative process.


title: Adultery

text: Buddhism considers celibacy as the monastic ideal. For he who feels that he cannot live in celibacy, it recommends that he never commit adultery with another's wife. Engaging in sex outside of marriage, with the wife of another man, with a girl who is engaged to be married, or a girl protected by her relatives (father or brother), or extramarital sex with prostitutes, ultimately causes suffering to other human beings and oneself. It should be avoided, state the Buddhist canonical texts.


title: Adultery

text: Buddhist Pali texts narrate legends where the Buddha explains the karmic consequences of adultery. For example, states Robert Goldman, one such story is of Thera Soreyya. Buddha states in the Soreyya story that "men who commit adultery suffer hell for hundreds of thousands of years after rebirth, then are reborn a hundred successive times as women on earth, must earn merit by "utter devotion to their husbands" in these lives, before they can be reborn again as men to pursue a monastic life and liberation from "samsara".


title: Adultery

text: There are some differences between the Buddhist texts and the Hindu texts on the identification and consequences of adultery. According to José Ignacio Cabezón, for example, the Hindu text "Naradasmriti" considers consensual extra-marital sex between a man and a woman in certain circumstances (such as if the husband has abandoned the woman) as not a punishable crime, but the Buddhist texts "nowhere exculpate" any adulterous relationship. The term adultery in "Naradasmriti" is broader in scope than the one in Buddhist sources. In the text, various acts such as secret meetings, exchange of messages and gifts, "inappropriate touching" and a false accusation of adultery, are deemed adulterous, while Buddhist texts do not recognize these acts under adultery. Later texts such as the "Dhammapada", "Pancasiksanusamsa Sutra" and a few Mahayana sutras state that "heedless man who runs after other men's wife" acquire demerit, blame, discomfort and are reborn in hell. Other Buddhist texts make no mention of legal punishments for adultery.


title: Adultery

text: In some Native American cultures, severe penalties could be imposed on an adulterous wife by her husband. In many instances she was made to endure a bodily mutilation which would, in the mind of the aggrieved husband, prevent her from ever being a temptation to other men again. Among the Aztecs, wives caught in adultery were occasionally impaled, although the more usual punishment was to be stoned to death.


title: Adultery

text: The Code of Hammurabi, a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1772 BC, provided drowning as punishment for adultery.


title: Adultery

text: Amputation of the noserhinotomywas a punishment for adultery among many civilizations, including ancient India, ancient Egypt, among Greeks and Romans, and in Byzantium and among the Arabs.


title: Adultery

text: In the tenth century, the Arab explorer Ibn Fadlan noted that adultery was unknown among the pagan Oghuz Turks. Ibn Fadlan writes that "adultery is unknown among them; but whomsoever they find by his conduct that he is an adulterer, they tear him in two. This comes about so: they bring together the branches of two trees, tie him to the branches and then let both trees go, so that he is torn in two."


title: Adultery

text: In England and its successor states, it has been high treason to engage in adultery with the King's wife, his eldest son's wife and his eldest unmarried daughter. The jurist Sir William Blackstone writes that "the plain intention of this law is to guard the Blood Royal from any suspicion of bastardy, whereby the succession to the Crown might be rendered dubious." Adultery was a serious issue when it came to succession to the crown. Philip IV of France had all three of his daughters-in-law imprisoned, two (Margaret of Burgundy and Blanche of Burgundy) on the grounds of adultery and the third (Joan of Burgundy) for being aware of their adulterous behaviour. The two brothers accused of being lovers of the king's daughters-in-law were executed immediately after being arrested. The wife of Philip IV's eldest son bore a daughter, the future Joan II of Navarre, whose paternity and succession rights were disputed all her life.


title: Adultery

text: The christianization of Europe came to mean that, in theory, and unlike with the Romans, there was supposed to be a single sexual standard, where adultery was a sin and against the teachings of the church, regardless of the sex of those involved. In practice, however, the church seemed to have accepted the traditional double standard which punished the adultery of the wife more harshly than that of the husband. Among Germanic tribes, each tribe had its own laws for adultery, and many of them allowed the husband to "take the law in his hands" and commit acts of violence against a wife caught committing adultery. In the Middle Ages, adultery in Vienna was punishable by death through impalement. Austria was one of the last Western countries to decriminalize adultery, in 1997.


title: Adultery

text: The "Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert", Vol. 1 (1751) noted the legal double standard from that period, it wrote:


title: Adultery

text: "Furthermore, although the husband who violates conjugal trust is guilty as well as the woman, it is not permitted for her to accuse him, nor to pursue him because of this crime".


title: Adultery

text: Historically, many cultures considered adultery a very serious crime, some subject to severe punishment, especially for the married woman and sometimes for her sex partner, with penalties including capital punishment, mutilation, or torture. Such punishments have gradually fallen into disfavor, especially in Western countries from the 19th century. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from fines to caning and even capital punishment. Since the 20th century, such laws have become controversial, with most Western countries repealing them.


title: Adultery

text: However, even in jurisdictions that have decriminalised adultery, adultery may still have legal consequences, particularly in jurisdictions with fault-based divorce laws, where adultery almost always constitutes a ground for divorce and may be a factor in property settlement, the custody of children, the denial of alimony, etc. Adultery is not a ground for divorce in jurisdictions which have adopted a no-fault divorce model, but may still be a factor in child custody and property disputes.


title: Adultery

text: International organizations have called for the decriminalising of adultery, especially in the light of several high-profile stoning cases that have occurred in some countries. The head of the United Nations expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to them in terms of implementation or impact, Kamala Chandrakirana, has stated that: "Adultery must not be classified as a criminal offence at all". A joint statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that: "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women’s human rights".


title: Adultery

text: In Muslim countries that follow Sharia law for criminal justice, the punishment for adultery may be stoning. There are fifteen countries in which stoning is authorized as lawful punishment, though in recent times it has been legally carried out only in Iran and Somalia. Most countries that criminalize adultery are those where the dominant religion is Islam, and several Sub-Saharan African Christian-majority countries, but there are some notable exceptions to this rule, namely Philippines and several U.S. states.


title: Adultery

text: In jurisdictions where adultery is illegal, punishments vary from fines (for example in the US state of Rhode Island) to caning in parts of Asia. In fifteen countries the punishment includes stoning, although in recent times it has been legally enforced only in Iran and Somalia. Most stoning cases are the result of mob violence, and while technically illegal, no action is usually taken against perpetrators. Sometimes such stonings are ordered by informal village leaders who have "de facto" power in the community. Adultery may have consequences under civil law even in countries where it is not outlawed by the criminal law. For instance it may constitute "fault" in countries where the divorce law is fault based or it may be a ground for tort.


title: Adultery

text: In some jurisdictions, the "intruder" (the third party) is punished, rather than the adulterous spouse. For instance art 266 of the Penal Code of South Sudan reads: "Whoever, has consensual sexual intercourse with a man or woman who is and whom he or she has reason to believe to be the spouse of another person, commits the offence of adultery [...]". Similarly, under the adultery law in India (Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, until overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018) it was a criminal offense for a man to have consensual sexual intercourse with a married woman, without the consent of her husband (no party was criminally punished in case of adultery between a married man and an unmarried woman).


title: Adultery

text: Historically, paternity of children born out of adultery has been seen as a major issue. Modern advances such as reliable contraception and paternity testing have changed the situation (in Western countries). Most countries nevertheless have a legal presumption that a woman's husband is the father of her children who were born during that marriage. Although this is often merely a rebuttable presumption, many jurisdictions have laws which restrict the possibility of legal rebuttal (for instance by creating a legal time limit during which paternity may be challengedsuch as a certain number of years from the birth of the child). Establishing correct paternity may have major legal implications, for instance in regard to inheritance.


title: Adultery

text: Children born out of adultery suffered, until recently, adverse legal and social consequences. In France, for instance, a law that stated that the inheritance rights of a child born under such circumstances were, on the part of the married parent, half of what they would have been under ordinary circumstances, remained in force until 2001, when France was forced to change it by a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) (and in 2013, the ECtHR also ruled that the new 2001 regulations must be also applied to children born "before" 2001).


title: Adultery

text: There has been, in recent years, a trend of legally favoring the right to a relation between the child and its biological father, rather than preserving the appearances of the 'social' family. In 2010, the ECtHR ruled in favor of a German man who had fathered twins with a married woman, granting him right of contact with the twins, despite the fact that the mother and her husband had forbidden him from seeing the children.


title: Adultery

text: Laws against adultery have been named as invasive and incompatible with principles of limited government (see Dennis J. Baker, The Right Not to be Criminalized: Demarcating Criminal Law's Authority (Ashgate) chapter 2). Much of the criticism comes from libertarianism, the consensus among whose adherents is that government must not intrude into daily personal lives and that such disputes are to be settled privately rather than prosecuted and penalized by public entities. It is also argued that adultery laws are rooted in religious doctrines; which should not be the case for laws in a secular state.


title: Adultery

text: Historically, in most cultures, laws against adultery were enacted only to prevent women—and not men—from having sexual relations with anyone other than their spouses, with adultery being often defined as sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband. Among many cultures the penalty was—and to this day still is, as noted below—capital punishment. At the same time, men were free to maintain sexual relations with any women (polygyny) provided that the women did not already have husbands or "owners". Indeed, (ba`al), Hebrew for "husband", used throughout the Bible, is synonymous with "owner". These laws were enacted in fear of cuckoldry and thus sexual jealousy. Many indigenous customs, such as female genital mutilation and even menstrual taboos, have been theorized to have originated as preventive measures against cuckolding. This arrangement has been deplored by many modern intellectuals.


title: Adultery

text: Opponents of adultery laws argue that these laws maintain social norms which justify violence, discrimination and oppression of women; in the form of state sanctioned forms of violence such as stoning, flogging or hanging for adultery; or in the form of individual acts of violence committed against women by husbands or relatives, such as honor killings, crimes of passion, and beatings. UN Women has called for the decriminalization of adultery.


title: Adultery

text: An argument against the criminal status of adultery is that the resources of the law enforcement are limited, and that they should be used carefully; by investing them in the investigation and prosecution of adultery (which is very difficult) the curbing of serious violent crimes may suffer.


title: Adultery

text: Human rights organizations have stated that legislation on sexual crimes must be based on consent, and must recognize consent as central, and not trivialize its importance; doing otherwise can lead to legal, social or ethical abuses. Amnesty International, when condemning stoning legislation that targets adultery, among other acts, has referred to "acts which should never be criminalized in the first place, including consensual sexual relations between adults". Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said: "It is unbelievable that in the twenty-first century some countries are condoning child marriage and marital rape while others are outlawing abortion, sex outside marriage and same-sex sexual activityeven punishable by death." The "My Body My Rights" campaign has condemned state control over individual sexual and reproductive decisions; stating "All over the world, people are coerced, criminalized and discriminated against, simply for making choices about their bodies and their lives".


title: Adultery

text: For various reasons, most couples who marry do so with the expectation of . Adultery is often seen as a breach of trust and of the commitment that had been made during the act of marriage. Adultery can be emotionally traumatic for both spouses and often results in divorce.


title: Adultery

text: Adultery can also lead to feelings of guilt and jealousy in the person with whom the affair is being committed. In some cases, this "third person" may encourage divorce (either openly or subtly). If the cheating spouse has hinted at divorce in order to continue the affair, the third person may feel deceived if that does not happen. They may simply withdraw with ongoing feelings of guilt, carry on an obsession with their lover, may choose to reveal the affair, or in rare cases commit violence or other crimes.


title: Adultery

text: While there is correlation, there is no evidence that divorces "causes" children to have struggles in later life.


title: Adultery

text: Like any sexual contact, extramarital sex opens the possibility of the introduction of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) into a marriage. Since most married couples do not routinely use barrier contraceptives, STDs can be introduced to a marriage partner by a spouse engaging in unprotected extramarital sex. This can be a public health issue in regions of the world where STDs are common, but addressing this issue is very difficult due to legal and social barriersto openly talk about this situation would mean to acknowledge that adultery (often) takes place, something that is taboo in certain cultures, especially those strongly influenced by religion. In addition, dealing with the issue of barrier contraception in marriage in cultures where women have very few rights is difficult: the power of women to negotiate safer sex (or sex in general) with their husbands is often limited. The World Health Organization (WHO) found that women in violent relations were at increased risk of HIV/AIDS, because they found it very difficult to negotiate safe sex with their partners, or to seek medical advice if they thought they have been infected.


title: Adultery

text: Historically, female adultery often resulted in extreme violence, including murder (of the woman, her lover, or both, committed by her husband). Today, domestic violence is outlawed in most countries.


title: Adultery

text: Marital infidelity has been used, especially in the past, as a legal defence of provocation to a criminal charge, such as murder or assault. In some jurisdictions, the defence of provocation has been replaced by a partial defence or provocation or the behaviour of the victim can be invoked as a mitigating factor in sentencing.


title: Adultery

text: In recent decades, feminists and women's rights organizations have worked to change laws and social norms which tolerate crimes of passion against women. UN Women has urged states to review legal defenses of passion and provocation, and other similar laws, to ensure that such laws do not lead to impunity in regard to violence against women, stating that "laws should clearly state that these defenses do not include or apply to crimes of "honour", adultery, or domestic assault or murder."


title: Adultery

text: The Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence states that member states should "preclude adultery as an excuse for violence within the family".


title: Adultery

text: Honor killings are often connected to accusations of adultery. Honor killings continue to be practiced in some parts of the world, particularly (but not only) in parts of South Asia and the Middle East. Honor killings are treated leniently in some legal systems. Honor killings have also taken place in immigrant communities in Europe, Canada and the U.S. In some parts of the world, honor killings enjoy considerable public support: in one survey, 33.4% of teenagers in Jordan's capital city, Amman, approved of honor killings. A survey in Diyarbakir, Turkey, found that, when asked the appropriate punishment for a woman who has committed adultery, 37% of respondents said she should be killed, while 21% said her nose or ears should be cut off.


title: Adultery

text: Until 2009, in Syria, it was legal for a husband to kill or injure his wife or his female relatives caught in flagrante delicto committing adultery or other illegitimate sexual acts. The law has changed to allow the perpetrator to only "benefit from the attenuating circumstances, provided that he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing." Other articles also provide for reduced sentences. Article 192 states that a judge may opt for reduced punishments (such as short-term imprisonment) if the killing was done with an honorable intent. Article 242 says that a judge may reduce a sentence for murders that were done in rage and caused by an illegal act committed by the victim. In recent years, Jordan has amended its Criminal Code to modify its laws which used to offer a complete defense for honor killings.


title: Adultery

text: Crimes of passion are often triggered by jealousy, and, according to Human Rights Watch, "have a similar dynamic [to honor killings] in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable."


title: Adultery

text: Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at an individual until the person dies, or the condemned person is pushed from a platform set high enough above a stone floor that the fall would probably result in instantaneous death.


title: Adultery

text: Stoning continues to be practiced today, in parts of the world. Recently, several people have been sentenced to death by stoning after being accused of adultery in Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mali, and Pakistan by tribal courts.


title: Adultery

text: In some jurisdictions flogging is a punishment for adultery. There are also incidents of extrajudicial floggings, ordered by informal religious courts. In 2011, a 14-year-old girl in Bangladesh died after being publicly lashed, when she was accused of having an affair with a married man. Her punishment was ordered by villagers under Sharia law.


title: Adultery

text: Married people who form relations with extramarital partners or people who engage in relations with partners married to somebody else may be subjected to violence in these relations. Because of the nature of adulteryillicit or illegal in many societiesthis type of intimate partner violence may go underreported or may not be prosecuted when it is reported; and in some jurisdictions this type of violence is not covered by the specific domestic violence laws meant to protect persons in legitimate couples.


title: Adultery

text: The theme of adultery has been used in many literary works, and has served as a theme for notable books such as "Anna Karenina", "Madame Bovary", "Lady Chatterley's Lover", "The Scarlet Letter" and "Adultery". It has also been the theme of many movies.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Fighting with My Family is a 2019 biographical sports comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephen Merchant. Based on the 2012 documentary "The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family" by Max Fisher, it depicts the career of English professional wrestler Paige as she makes her way to WWE, while also following her brother Zak Zodiac, as he struggles with his failure to achieve similar success. Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden star as Paige and Zodiac respectively, alongside Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn, and Dwayne Johnson, with the latter also acting as producer.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on 14 February 2019. It received positive reviews from critics, particularly for the performances of Pugh and Vaughn. The film grossed $41.5 million worldwide.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Wrestlers Rick and Julia Knight raise their children, Saraya and Zak, to follow in their footsteps; as young adults, the siblings apply to join the WWE, and are evaluated by veteran trainer Hutch Morgan, who agrees to let them try out before a SmackDown taping at The O2 Arena, where they meet WWE legend Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Shortly before her tryout, Saraya adopts the stage name "Paige".


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Morgan chooses Paige to train for the WWE, but not Zak, despite Paige's protests. Morgan forces Zak to return home after making it clear he will never be signed to the WWE, leaving Paige with no one to stick up for her. Arriving at NXT in Florida, Paige has difficulty with the training, especially given that her fellow trainees are mostly models and cheerleaders who have no wrestling experience and thus make poor opponents. Paige also struggles with performing choreographed promos as they clash with her own natural instincts, and suffers from Morgan's constant belittlement of her mistakes.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: During her WWE debut at an NXT live event, Paige is heckled by the crowd and freezes, leaving the ring in tears. She tries bleaching her dark hair and gets a spray tan in a desperate attempt to fit in with her peers. After failing an obstacle course, Paige lashes out at the other trainees for gossiping about her when they weren't. A sympathetic Morgan then reveals to Paige the real reason he didn't let Zak sign up: the league would have forced him to work as a jobber, which would have ruined his health. Morgan implies that a similar experience forced him to give up on his own wrestling career.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Believing that professional wrestling isn't worth it and that she'd have a much happier life helping her parents train other wrestlers, Paige decides to quit the WWE and return to her hometown. She travels home for the Christmas break to inform her family of her decision. Angry that she is giving up on the dream that he failed to achieve, Zak attacks Paige during a wrestling match, then gets in a drunken bar fight. Paige changes her mind after Zak berates her for giving up, and she returns to Florida to rejoin the WWE. She reasserts her individuality by re-adopting her original hair color and skin tone, rapidly improves in training, and befriends and encourages many of her fellow trainees.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Morgan brings the trainees to WrestleMania XXX, where The Rock greets Paige and tells her she will make her Raw debut the following night against the current WWE Divas Champion, AJ Lee. Paige makes her Raw debut, where she again freezes, and takes a severe beating from Lee before finally turning the tables and beating the champion. Claiming Lee's title for herself, she proudly declares that "this is MY house now!" as her family and friends cheer her victory back home.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Additionally, WWE wrestlers Big Show, Sheamus and The Miz make appearances as themselves, while an uncredited actor played John Cena. Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John Layfield provide commentary on the Paige vs. AJ Lee match. Several other WWE wrestlers (including Cena himself), as well as the real Knight family, appear in archival footage throughout the film.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: On 7 February 2017, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Dwayne Johnson and Stephen Merchant had teamed with WWE Studios and Film4 to produce a film based on the life of Saraya "Paige" Bevis, a professional wrestler with the WWE. Merchant would write and direct the film, while Johnson would cameo in the film and executive produce. In the days after the announcement, the main cast was revealed: Florence Pugh as Saraya, Jack Lowden as Saraya's brother Zak, and Lena Headey and Nick Frost as their parents. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the distribution rights on 10 February for US$17.5 million. On 14 February, Johnson announced that Vince Vaughn had been cast, and filming would commence the following day. In-ring scenes were filmed after "WWE Raw" on 20 February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Filming also took place around Bracknell, Berkshire, specifically the Harmans Water area, also in and around Norwich, Norfolk, England, with locations around the city used in the film, as well as the seaside town of Great Yarmouth, and at Pinewood Studios.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Like many biographical films, the film took several liberties with Paige's journey with WWE. The film had her start her WWE career performing for NXT when she actually first performed in Florida Championship Wrestling, Paige's time in NXT was kept minimal with no mention of her reign as NXT Women's Champion, and several characters were fictional, including Hutch Morgan. Additionally, Paige had previously failed a WWE tryout before being successful in another. Johnson himself never met Paige (or any of the Bevis/Knight family) until seeing the original documentary in 2012, unlike the film's fictionalized portrayal of Johnson meeting Paige and Zak backstage of a WWE event in England; Johnson himself had just returned to WWE in 2011 after a seven-year absence when Paige signed with WWE in April 2011.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: "Fighting with My Family" premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on 28 January. It was released in the United States on 14 February 2019, in four theatres in Los Angeles and New York, and expanded to a wide release on 22 February 2019. It was released on 27 February 2019 in the United Kingdom.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: In its limited opening weekend, "Fighting with My Family" made $162,567 from four theaters over the four-day President's Day weekend. The film expanded to 2,711 theaters the following weekend and made $2.6 million on its first Friday wide, including $450,000 from Thursday night previews, and went on to gross $8 million for the weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. In its second weekend of wide release, the film made $4.7 million, dropping 40% and finishing seventh.


title: Fighting with My Family

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Much like the sport it celebrates, "Fighting with My Family" muscles past clichés with a potent blend of energy and committed acting that should leave audiences cheering." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 83% and a 57% "definite recommend."


title: Fighting with My Family

text: Nick Allen of "RogerEbert.com" opined in a three-out-of-four star review: "Even though "Fighting with My Family" is undoubtedly about branding the WWE as a fantasy factory, its biggest strengths are its wit and surprisingly big heart."


title: Malt

text: Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.


title: Malt

text: Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, confections such as Maltesers and Whoppers, flavored drinks such as Horlicks, Ovaltine, and Milo, and some baked goods, such as malt loaf, bagels, and Rich Tea biscuits. Malted grain that has been ground into a coarse meal is known as "sweet meal".


title: Malt

text: Malting grain develops the enzymes (α-amylase, β-amylase) required for modifying the grains' starches into various types of sugar, including monosaccharide glucose, disaccharide maltose, trisaccharide maltotriose, and higher sugars called maltodextrines.


title: Malt

text: It also develops other enzymes, such as proteases, that break down the proteins in the grain into forms that can be used by yeast. The point at which the malting process is stopped affects the starch-to-enzyme ratio, and partly converted starch becomes fermentable sugars.


title: Malt

text: Malt also contains small amounts of other sugars, such as sucrose and fructose, which are not products of starch modification, but which are already in the grain. Further conversion to fermentable sugars is achieved during the mashing process.


title: Malt

text: Various cereals are malted, though barley is the most common. A high-protein form of malted barley is often a label-listed ingredient in blended flours typically used in the manufacture of yeast bread and other baked goods.


title: Malt

text: The term "malt" refers to several products of the process: the grains to which this process has been applied, for example, malted barley; the sugar, heavy in maltose, derived from such grains, such as the baker's malt used in various cereals; or a product based on malted milk, similar to a malted milkshake (i.e. "malts").


title: Malt

text: Malted grains have probably been used as an ingredient of beer since ancient times, for example in Egypt (Ancient Egyptian cuisine), Sumer, and China.


title: Malt

text: In Persian countries, a sweet paste made entirely from germinated wheat is called "samanū" () in Iran, "samanak" () in Afghanistan, (); () or "sümölök" (), which is prepared for Nowruz (Persian new year celebration) in a large pot (like a "kazan"). A plate or bowl of "samanu" is a traditional component of the Haft sin table symbolising affluence. Traditionally, women have a special party to prepare it during the night, and cook it from late in the evening until the daylight, singing related songs. In Tajikistan and Afghanistan, they sing: "Samanak dar Jūsh u mā Kafcha zanēm – Dīgarān dar Khwāb u mā Dafcha zanēm" (meaning: ""Samanak is boiling and we are stirring it, others are asleep and we are playing daf""). In modern times, making "samanu" can be a family gathering. It originally comes from the Great Persian Empire.


title: Malt

text: "Mämmi", or Easter Porridge, is a traditional Finnish Lenten food. Cooked from rye malt and flour, "mämmi" has a great resemblance (in the recipe, color, and taste) to "samanū". Today, this product is available in shops from February until Easter. A (nonrepresentative) survey in 2013 showed that almost no one cooks" mämmi" at home in modern-day Finland.


title: Malt

text: Malting is the process of converting barley or other cereal grains into malt for use in brewing, distilling, or foods, and takes place in a maltings, sometimes called a malthouse, or a malting floor. The cereal is spread out on the malting floor in a layer of depth.


title: Malt

text: A "maltings" is typically a long, single-storey building with a floor that slopes slightly from one end of the building to the other. Floor maltings began to be phased out in the 1940s in favor of "pneumatic plants", where large industrial fans are used to blow air through the germinating grain beds and to pass hot air through the malt being kilned. Like floor maltings, these pneumatic plants use batch processes, but of considerably greater size, typically 100-ton batches compared with 20-ton batches floor maltings.


title: Malt

text: Barley is the most commonly malted grain, in part because of its high content of enzymes, though wheat, rye, oats, rice, and corn are also used. Also very important is the retention of the grain's husk, even after threshing, unlike the bare seeds of threshed wheat or rye. This protects the growing acrospire (developing plant embryo) from damage during malting, which can easily lead to mold growth; it also allows the mash of converted grain to create a filter bed during lautering.


title: Malt

text: As all grains sprout, natural enzymes within the grain break down the starch of which the grain is composed into simpler sugars, which taste sweet and are easier for yeast to use as food. Malt with active enzymes is called "diastatic malt". Malt with inactive enzymes is called "nondiastatic malt". The enzymes are deactivated by heating the malt.


title: Malt

text: Base malts have enough diastatic power to convert their own starch and usually, that of some amount of starch from unmalted grain, called adjuncts.


title: Malt

text: Specialty malts have little diastatic power, but provide flavor, color, or "body" (viscosity) to the finished beer. Specialty caramel or crystal malts have been subjected to heat treatment to convert their starches to sugars nonenzymatically. Within these categories is a variety of types distinguished largely by the kilning temperature.


title: Malt

text: In addition, malts are distinguished by the two major cultivar types of barley used for malting, two-row, and six-row.


title: Malt

text: Malt extract, also known as extract of malt, is a sweet, treacle-like substance used as a dietary supplement. It was popular in the first half of the 20th century as a nutritional enhancer for the children of the British urban working class, whose diet was often deficient in vitamins and minerals. Children were given cod liver oil for the same reason, but it proved so unpalatable that it was combined with extract of malt to produce "Malt and Cod-Liver Oil."


title: Malt

text: The 1907 "British Pharmaceutical Codex"'s instructions for making a nutritional extract of malt do not include a mashout at the end of extraction and include the use of lower mash temperatures than is typical with modern beer-brewing practices. The "Codex" indicates that diastatic activity is to be preserved by the use of temperatures not exceeding .


title: Malt

text: Malt extract is frequently used in the brewing of beer. Its production begins by germinating barley grain in a process known as malting, immersing barley in water to encourage the grain to sprout, then drying it to halt the progress when the sprouting begins. The drying step stops the sprouting, but the enzymes remain active due to the low temperatures used in base malt production. In one before-and-after comparison, malting decreased barley's extractable starch content by about 7% on a dry matter basis and turned that portion into various other carbohydrates.


title: Malt

text: In the next step, brewers use a process called mashing to extract the sugars. Brewers warm cracked malt in temperature-modulated water, activating the enzymes, which cleave more of the malt's remaining starch into various sugars, the largest percentage of which is maltose. Modern beer-mashing practices typically include high enough temperatures at mash-out to deactivate remaining enzymes, thus it is no longer diastatic. The liquid produced from this, wort, is then concentrated by using heat or a vacuum procedure to evaporate water from the mixture. The concentrated wort is called malt extract.


title: Malt

text: Two forms of malt extract are used by brewers: liquid malt extract (LME), containing about 20% water, and dry malt extract (DME), dehydrated to 2% water. LME is a thick syrup that typically gives off more pleasant flavors than its counterpart, while DME provides better consistency in color. When using large amounts of extract, LME is typically used because its ability to dissolve in boiling temperatures, whereas DME can clump up and become a hassle to liquefy. However, those in favor of DME, enjoy its longer shelf life. LME is also sold in jars as a consumer product.


title: Malt

text: A new encapsulating technology permits the production of malt granules. This process dries and coats layers of wort such that flavoring substances within the original wort are not volatized during storage or transport, further extending shelf life, and reducing dust during handling. This new process may allow for more centralized and standardized production of the extract than what would have been traditionally prepared at individual breweries.


title: Malt

text: Scientists aim to discover what happens inside barley grains as they become malted to help plant breeders produce better malting barley for food and beverage products. The United States Agricultural Research Service scientists are interested in specialized enzymes called serine-class proteases that digest beta-amylases, which convert carbohydrates into "simple sugars" during the sprouting process. The enzyme also breaks down stored proteins into their amino-acid derivatives. The balance of proteins and carbohydrates broken down by the enzyme affects the malt's flavor.


title: Cousin marriage

text: A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited. Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins. Cousin marriage is an important topic in anthropology and alliance theory.


title: Cousin marriage

text: In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as incestuous and are subject to social stigma and taboo. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by indigenous cultures in Australia, North America, South America, and Polynesia.


title: Cousin marriage

text: In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is legally prohibited: for example, in mainland China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines and 24 of the 50 United States. The laws of many jurisdictions set out the degree of consanguinity prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as discrimination, while opponents may appeal to moral or other arguments.


title: Cousin marriage

text: Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of first-cousin marriages have an increased risk of autosomal recessive genetic disorders, and this risk is higher in populations that are already highly ethnically similar. Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population. A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in Iceland, more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.


title: Cousin marriage

text: The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.


title: Cousin marriage

text: Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are arranged (see also pages on arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent, arranged marriages in Pakistan, and arranged marriages in Japan).


title: Cousin marriage

text: Confucius described marriage as "the union of two surnames, in friendship and in love". In ancient China, some evidence indicates in some cases, two clans had a longstanding arrangement wherein they would only marry members of the other clan. Some men also practiced sororate marriage, that is, a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname, but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable. In the ancient system of the "Erya" dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ( "shēng"), with father's brother's children ( "shēng") and mother's sister's children ( "cóngmǔ kūndì" for boys and "cóngmǔ zǐmèi" for girls) both being distinct. However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD. Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set. This usage remains today, with "biǎo" () cousins considered "outside" and paternal "táng" () cousins being of the same house.


title: Cousin marriage

text: Anthropologist Francis Hsu described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage. Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or "táng" relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored. The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling sibling marriage. In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation. In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family. Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.


title: Cousin marriage

text: The following is a Chinese poem by Po Chu-yi (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.


title: Cousin marriage

text: In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent Qing dynasty, the former laws had been restored. During the Qing dynasty era (1636-1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged". Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.


title: Cousin marriage

text: Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the Middle East for all recorded history. Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities. Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.


title: Cousin marriage

text: Raphael Patai reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent. The force of the custom is seen in one case from Jordan when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage. In Iraq, the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed and males sometimes murdered female cousins who sought to marry without obtaining consent The Syrian city of Aleppo during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women, merchant families, and older well-established families.


title: Cousin marriage

text: In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic Hijaz than in ancient Egypt. It existed in Medina during Muhammad's time, but at less than today's rates. In Egypt, estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of "fellahin" married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in Cairo than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study. In ancient Persia, the Achaemenid kings habitually married their cousins and nieces, while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%. Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European Ashkenazim, who assimilated European marital practices after the diaspora.