| Résumé: | The author approaches the topic of celibacy in terms of the changes that have occurred in the place held by marriage and celibacy in cultural and social structures. She also attempts to view the question of celibacy in a wider framework encompassing personal autonomy and loneliness in diverse socio-cultural contexts. Her analysis is carried out on two different levels: the individual level, for the purpose of examining the transition between bachelorhood and marriage, the different ways in which this transition occurs, actual practices, and the cultural norms governing said transition; and the institutional level, so as to determine the status of single persons within family structures, as well as their participation in the family division of labor and functions.
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