Visual markers of marital status
Encyclopedia
Visual markers of marital status, as well as social
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...

 status, may include Clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

, hairstyle
Hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.-History of...

, accessories, jewelry, tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

s and other bodily adornments. Visual markers of marital status
Marital status
A person's marital status indicates whether the person is married. Questions about marital status appear on many polls and forms, including censuses and credit card applications.In the simplest sense, the only possible answers are "single" or "married"...

 are particularly important because they indicate that a person should not be approached for flirtation, courtship
Courtship
Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...

 or sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

 . In some cultures, married people enjoy special privileges or are addressed differently by members of the community .

Marital status markers are usually gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

-specific.

Male

Male marital status markers are usually less elaborate than female marital status markers. In many cultures, they may be non-existent .

Jewellery

In many Western countries, some married men wear a wedding ring
Wedding ring
A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...

 on the third finger of the left hand. In parts of Europe, especially in German-speaking regions, as well as Denmark, Greece, Russia, Poland, Norway, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia, the wedding ring is worn on the ring finger of the right hand.

In modern times, the material for wedding rings has become less strictly defined, and includes gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, white gold
White Gold
White Gold is a 2003 Russian action film directed by Viktor Ivanov from a screenplay by John Jopson and Viktor Ivanov. The story begins with the actual events of 1919 when a White Army train carrying the bulk of Czar Nicholas' gold reserves arrives empty at Siberia's Irkutsk station...

, red gold, tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide is an inorganic chemical compound containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. Colloquially, tungsten carbide is often simply called carbide. In its most basic form, it is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into shapes for use in industrial machinery,...

, platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

, and titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....

.

Manual laborers sometimes use rings from inexpensive or durable materials like tungsten or an ink tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

 while working to avoid damage to the ring or the possibility of injury .

Beards

Among the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...

 and Hutterite
Hutterite
Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Since the death of their founder Jakob Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially living in a community of goods and absolute...

 communities of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, only married men are entitled to wear beard
Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...

s. Unmarried men must shave
Shave
Shave may refer to:*to shave refers to the act of shaving*"Shave," a song by Enon from their 2003 album Hocus Pocus*Shave , a periodical magazine...

.

Prayer shawl

In some Ashkenazi Jewish communities, men wear a prayer shawl, known as a "tallit" or "tallis", only after marriage. It is customary for the father of the bride to present the groom with a tallit as a wedding present.

In other Jewish communities, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, all males wear the "tallis", but only the married ones wear it over their heads.

Jewellery

  • Engagement ring
    Engagement ring
    An engagement ring is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, engagement rings are traditionally worn only by women, and rings can feature diamonds or other gemstones. In other cultures...

     - In many Western cultures, a proposal of marriage is traditionally accompanied by the gift of a ring. The man proposes and offers the ring; if the woman accepts this proposal of marriage, she will wear the ring, showing she is no longer available for courtship. In British-American tradition, diamond
    Diamond
    In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

     rings are the most popular type of engagement ring. The engagement ring is usually worn on the left ring finger (sometimes this ring is switched from the left to the right hand as part of the wedding ceremony).
  • Wedding ring
    Wedding ring
    A wedding ring or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married. Depending on the local culture, it is worn on the base of the right or the left ring finger. The custom of wearing such a ring has spread widely beyond its origin in Europe...

     - Many Western wedding ceremonies include the exchange of a wedding ring or rings. A common custom is for the groom to place a ring on the bride's finger and say, "With this ring I thee wed." Sometimes both bride and groom present each other with rings and repeat either these or similar words. After the ceremony, the rings are worn throughout the marriage. In the event of divorce, the couple usually removes their rings; but some widows continue to wear their wedding ring, sometimes switching it to the right hand, while others do not. In Jewish tradition, the wedding ring must be a plain band, without gemstones. In Chinese tradition women wear the wedding ring on the right hand, men on the left (representing yin and yang
    Yin and yang
    In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...

    ).
  • Mangalsutra
    Mangalsutra
    A Mangalsutra is a symbol of Hindu marriage union in South Asia. It is a sacred thread of love and goodwill worn by women as a symbol of their marriage...

     - In many Hindu wedding ceremonies, the groom gives the bride a gold pendant or necklace incorporating black beads or black string. This is called a mangal-sutra. It not only proclaims a woman's married state, it is believed by many to exercise a protective influence over the husband. That is, a wife's love and concern, as shown by her donning of the mangal-sutra, is magically helpful to the husband. This resembles the karwa-chauth celebration, in which a wife fasts and prays for her husband's welfare.
  • Bangle
    Bangle
    Bangles or churi are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women in India and Bangladesh, especially Hindus. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks...

    s - Married Hindu women also wear bangles on both hands, and never remove them until they are divorced or widowed. Often made of glass, they are broken when the marriage has ended. Bollywood
    Bollywood
    Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

     uses this to great dramatic effect in Hindi
    Hindi
    Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

     films, with a woman being informed of the demise of her husband by the messenger (often her son) smashing her glass bangles and wiping the sindoor
    Sindoor
    Sindoor is a traditional red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the parting of their hair. Usage of sindoor denotes that a woman is married in many Hindu communities, and ceasing to wear it usually implies widowhood...

     off her forehead. Bangles made of gold and silver, as well as other materials are also worn by the middle class.


The concept of mourning jewelry, the wearing of black jewelry, is becoming an accepted, visible choice for widows and widowers. Usually a black wedding band is worn on the third finger of the left hand for a spouse. Usually the ring is a black wedding band but black eternity bands and black solitaires are also being used. The term is "widow's ring" and the mourning ring is added to the marriage rings, and worn for the duration of the mourning period.

Hats and head coverings

In Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 tradition, a married woman is expected to cover her head when entering a synagogue. In Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 communities, head coverings are worn by women at all times outside her home. In some Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....

 communities, women shave their heads after the wedding and wear a close-fitting black scarf. The type of head covering may be determined by local custom or personal preference. In some communities, it is permissible for hair to show; in others, no strand is left uncovered. Hats, headscarves, snoods and wigs are used, sometimes in combination.

Cosmetics

  • Sindoor
    Sindoor
    Sindoor is a traditional red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the parting of their hair. Usage of sindoor denotes that a woman is married in many Hindu communities, and ceasing to wear it usually implies widowhood...

    , a red powder (vermilion), is put on a woman's forehead to indicate her marital status.

Clothing

  • White for Hindu
    Hindu
    Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

     widows. (See White clothing (religious)
    White clothing (religious)
    White clothing has significance in many religious faith traditions. Some of these traditions include:*Christianity: Christian baptismal garments are traditionally white...

    )

  • Aprons for Tibetan wives.

  • In western and northern Europe, it used to be common for widows to wear black, at least for the first year after the death of the husband. This custom has withered away in recent decades.
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