A Tribute to Forever: A Walk Down the Aisle of the Evolution of Marriage

Marriage is the unification between a man and a woman, instituted and ordained by God, for the lifelong relationship between one man as husband and one woman as a wife. This is what the ritual of marriage means in Christian churches. Many people choose not to marry in the Christian church due to the strict format you have to follow. However, based on my ethnographic results and research, there are wide ranges of options where marriages in Catholic and Anglican religions can be adapted to, however; it is directed by their Church authorities to a certain degree.

Marriage is a significant part of Judaism bringing together a woman and man under God’s reign. It is the mitzvah (122) “To marry a wife by means of ketubah and keddushin” (Deut 22:13), all Jewish adherents see marriage as a necessity in order to obey God and to experience the fullness of life. In Genesis God says: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” It is a link between individuals and the wider community as it recognises two individuals coming together, celebrated by the wider community. Also the marriage ceremony itself contains symbolic significance to Judaism, conveying Jewish beliefs through symbols, actions and words.

With the centrality of the family in Hmong culture, having sons or a son is very important as they are the ones who will take on the last name and lead the future generation of the family (Cha, 2010). Cha states, “The clannish nature of Hmong society favors a son. A family that does not have a son is viewed as a burden to the clan and community, because such a family will not contribute much to the community,” (p. 24). In the culture, the son(s) will take care of the parents as the daughter will get married and move to live with the husband’s family. Religion also plays a role since the traditional belief is that although the daughter can take care of the parents physically when they are alive, they cannot take care of them spiritually after they pass away. This is because the daughter becomes a part of the other family and cannot worship her parents’ spirits after death (Cha, 2010).

Marriage is very common among societies. Depending on the culture, the definition and the type of marriages differ. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Marriage is a physical, legal and moral union between man and woman in complete community life for the establishment of a family(2013).”A broader definition of marriage is that it’s ritually and socially recognized union between people who establishes rights and obligations between them.

The foundation of Hmong life is marriage and family (Millett, 2002). An ancient ritual requires the groom to pay “a bride-price,” a negotiated sum of money paid to the bride’s parents. Hmong newlyweds live with the husband’s parents until they have two or more children. However, Hmong culture expects the last-born married son, his wife, and children to permanently live with, support, and care for his parents and grandparents until their death.

Love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection. Although it is not as easily defined as some may make it. Every situation and the lessons we learn from those times, help to form what we believe love to be. For some it may be a physical attachment that others degrade to lust. For some it may be their reason for continuing on in life; but overall for most, love is what drives our lives. From childhood to adulthood we seek to find relationships that will fulfill our hearts and make our short time on Earth a little more enjoyable. However as well as any other activity we partake in, ways in which we perceive love and marriage have changed over time. Although there is slight variations, when most imagine the life of a married couple pure happiness is what is expected. As wonderful as that expectation may be, not every marriage fits into this ideal. The criteria of marriage used to be based off of what your partner can offer you. However as times have changed and gender roles have begun to disappear, marriage has now

Hmong followed a patrilineal kinship system. Only men can inherit properties and belongings; the father holds title to family property. When couples are married, “residence after marriage is either patrilocal or neolocal, but in the vicinity of paternal house” (LeBar, 75). When daughters marry, they move out of the house. Hmong marriage is regarded as a bond between two clans, so they have strict exogamy practices. Hmong men remain members of their birth clan for life (Hein, 68). Each of the family clans have a leader, who is the eldest male of the line. Their society was male-centered (Lecture, 01/26/17). On the other hand, Lao followed the Southeast Asian pattern, which was a bilateral kinship system. Kinship ties are felt to be equally strong on both sides, the mother and the father (LeBar, 217). Lao kinship is more laid back compared to Hmong. They pay little attention to genealogies, since tracing more than three generations is difficult for them (LeBar, 217). Both men and women can inherit in the family as well, so Lao women are less subordinate to Lao men. Unlike Hmong, Lao couples have freedom in choosing whether to live on their own or with either spouses’ family (Lecture, 01/26/17). Lao marriage does not ensue strict exogamy practices, and Lao, traditionally, have no “family” names. Lao are known by their given names, not family names. Overall, Hmong and Lao have the exact opposite types of

Marriage is a system of binding a man and woman together for the reproduction, care (physical/emotional), and socialization of offspring. Marriage is a social and legal contract between a couple and the state in which they reside that regulates their economic and sexual relationship. (David, Caroline: 2005)

but, It is not the most preferred: Monogamy is the ideal and preferred form of marriage in only 81 cultures out of a sample 400cultures.

Marriage has been defined differently throughout the centuries. Today Merriam-Webster defines marriage as, “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law” (“Marriage”). Due to the recent Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transsexual or LGBT movement, Merriam-Webster also added a second line to the definition reading “The state of being

What is the definition of marriage? Over the years, the word marriage has been challenged from its current definition as listed in Merriam-Webster 's Dictionary as an act of marrying or being married between a man and a woman. Marriage can also be defined in the Oxford Dictionary as the formal union of a man and a woman, typically recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife. The word marriage becomes a special type of bond between two people that share the same desire to become the other person’s life partner. Marriage can be challenging between two people based on their current government state laws, in their religious and cultural beliefs as well as challenging to the word to be defined

Calling something marriage does not make it marriage. Marriage is a legal contract between a man and a woman. It is the institution that establishes kinship and relations in the family. Marriage is mostly recognized by a state, organization, religious authority, local community, or peers. Marriage is for procreation, education, the unity, and well-being of the couple. Some say marriage is for two people who love each other and ready for commitment. Nevertheless, in the bible times, couples were not allowed to choose the one him or her married. Therefore, the person he or she married was not the person him or her loved. Divorce was not an option; the couples had to learn to love the person they married. Stating this, marriage is not all about love and emotions, but the purpose of marriage. Marriage is unique and universal. (Rauch) Marriage of homosexual couples would not provide the same benefits of a heterosexual couple. Homosexual are not allowed to produce children. They must have vitro-fertilization or surrogacy. Same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry, because marriage is for a man and a woman, all religion is against gay marriages, and gay marriages are the slippery slope for other marriages. (Ferguson)

What does marriage mean? By definition, marriage is “the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife” (Webster’s Dictionary). Most people claim that they want their marriage to last a lifetime. Because over half of all marriages in the United States end in a divorce, most people lack the understanding of what it takes to stay married. I believe that couples should become more aware of the commitment that they are making when they enter into marriage.

Marriage is the joining of a couple in the eyes of God and in the eyes of the State. When

Today, the idea of marriage conjures images of bashful brides beautifully draped in all white, of grandiose flower arrangements climbing towards the ceiling, of romance personified. As an institution in this modern world, marriage represents the apex of romantic love, with an entire industry of magazines, movies, and television shows devoted to perpetuating marriage as an idealized symbol of the ultimate love between two people. Contrarily, as a sociological institution, marriage comes from much more clinical and impersonal origins, contrasting with the passion surrounding modern understandings of the institution. Notably, french anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss theorizes that the institution of marriage emerged from a need to form alliances between groups, with women functioning as the property exchanged so that such alliances could be solidified (Levi-Strauss).