Arranged Marriage And Love-Based Marriage

Arranged marriages have been a practice that has been around for a long time. It has been predominantly common in third world countries where the income gap is significantly obvious between the wealthy and the poor. By definition, arranged marriage is a marriage that is arranged by the parents of the man and woman getting married, instead of the man and woman choosing to date and marry each other. Shafer-Landau states that cultural relativism claims that the correct moral standards are relative to cultures, or societies, where as ethical subjectivism claims that the correct moral standards are those endorsed by each individual. The practice of arranged marriages and similar scenario of forced marriages alike are both controversial and up for discussion.

Marriage is described as two people as partners in a personal relationship. There are two typical ideas of marriage that we know today. The first one that comes to mind is the one we all know, based on love, but there is another one that some may not even know of and its arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is not typically in our culture we know but in different cultures arranged marriages are their normal marriage. Throughout this essay, I will discuss the importance of realizing cultural diversity and how we apply the perspectives we gain from cross-cultural comparison to our own experience using central concepts about marriage to compare and contrast marriage in several cultures.

ReferencesAugust, P. (2005, October). Arranged Marriages in the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriageBowman, H. & Spanier, G. (1978). Modern Marriage. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Marriage practices vary across cultures. Every culture has its own way of conducting marriage according to their traditions and customs. Most cultures share common customs and practices, while some cultures have unique practices. Marriage refers to a social union agreed upon by the couples to unit as spouses. The union of couples implies sexual relations, permanence in union, and procreation. This research paper focuses on comparing marriage practices in American and Indian culture. There is significant difference between the two cultures in marriage practices.

First of all, every culture has different customs implemented on its community. This is especially evident in “Matrimony with a Proper Stranger”, which details the circumstances of arranged marriage and its application in Indian life.

In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.

In recent years, marriage has become not only a relationship with one man and one woman, but in America same sex couples and men who have multiples wives are able to wed as well. Indian and Japanese men and women are able to wed through an arrangement of both families. In ancient China, Chinese couples also had arranged marriages, but in modern times the tradition has faded. Although the way people get married is different a woman’s role in the marriage is similar culture to culture throughout ancient India, China, and Japan, divorce is a common practice in American now, but thousands of years ago there were still laws and criticisms among couples in Indian and Chinese Civilizations preventing such action, and life after a death of a

Another area of similarity is the theme of love being explored exhaustively. There are different dimensions of love in the two stories. In 'The Word Love and Arranged Marriage,' 'We only have each other she often told her." (Banerjee 58) This suggests that there is a pure demonstration of compassion and maternal love displayed by the lady's mother towards her. The writer perfectly captured how she never remarried and dedicated her life to raising her despite the fact that her husband died two months after her birth. The passionate love that existed between the lady and her foreign lover is noticeable. Though she is overwhelmed by the impending consequence of her relationship which is antithetical to the Calcutta's marriage rite “(There has not been rain for a long time.) I am cherished.” (Banerjee 61). This suggests how intense and profound her love is to the guy; she feels she is blessed. She found it difficult to separate and work away. In fact, at a time, she almost forgot about the issue of arranged marriage. In the same vein, the theme of love is depicted in Silver Pavements

In modern culture and fully developed nations, the ideology of an arranged marriage is a foreign concept, but in reality the global percentage of arranged marriages is 60 (Toledo 1). Although the majority of these arranged marriages occur in Asian countries such as India and China, this type of matrimony should also be prominently implemented into the society of modernized nations like the United States. Before arranged marriages can completely fuse into industrialized cultures, one must fully understand the concept of an arranged marriage. As commonly thought, parents do not always select the marital partners in arranged marriages; spouses can also be chosen by a community, elders, matchmakers, or religious leaders ("Arranged...

It’s said that the happiest day in a girl’s life is when she walks down the aisle towards the man she wants to spend the rest of her days with and marries him. But what connotations does the word “marriage” have for this statement to be made? In her article, “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love,” Stephanie Coontz writes on the contrasting cultural ideas of marriage, relationships, and love. She explains that for thousands of years, love was not seen as a necessity for marriages in different cultures, but now as a Western society, has been idolized into a primary component for marriage. She adds that other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and Eskimo tribes, share spouses and relations as a societal norm. On the contrary, in “Will Your Marriage Last,” Aviva Patz writes on the research done by psychology professor, Ted Huston, on the ways Western society has failed with marriage and how it has affected marriages and divorces. Patz writes from a personal standpoint, including her own divorce. Although both authors hold to different views on love and how marriage should be, they share a common attitude about how Western society has made unrealistic expectations about marriage, and the effects because of it. While Coontz takes a historical and factual approach to these subjects, Patz contradicts with a more personal style and passion-filled tone.

In India arranged marriages have had a huge impact on the world’s society since the Elizabethan Era , this is why America should and is getting involved. Arranged marriages are most commonly found in eastern cultures like India or Japan. Arranged marriages are when relatives, close friends, or priests arrange for a couple to get married. The marriages are used for purposes like gaining wealth, allies, or power even if that means the marriage is unfair. In order for both families to be benefited with wealth they must both participate in arranging the marriage Think of it as more of an alliance between families, not a Union of couples (source 2). Getting married this way gives women very little choice in who they marry and why. Along with

In American culture the view on arranged marriages are not looked at very favorably. This is because we have grown up with the knowledge that when it comes time to marry we will have chosen our spouse of our own free will. The match will be a love match and one that is chosen through our own needs. Young men and women in India grow up with an opposite view on marriage. They know that when it comes time to marry their parents will find them a suitable mate and it will be considered scared and a lifelong commitment (Agence France-Presse.) A total of 74 percent of respondents from across India voted in favour of traditional "arranged" marriages, according to the poll by private television channel NDTV. In the Hindu faith, marriage is

marriages that occur in India and the United States have several dramatic differences. Marriages in India are based solely on parental decisions, whereas in the United States a marriage is based on individualism. Who, why and how the spouse is chosen, is very different in both countries. Most Americans date to discover who their future spouse is going to be, and they know the person very well before marriage. In India, dating is not something that occurs. Most individuals in India do not have any interaction with the bride or groom prior to their wedding day, therefore, they do not personally know who they are marrying (Nanda 624). Though these differences exist, pros and cons reflect on each of them.

Marriage is a union that has been around for as long as humans have walked the earth. The human race depends upon the union of its members, and as such, the subject of marriage has been an issue that receives more intense scrutiny and attention than many would likely believe. In today's day and age, with humanity continuing to move in a modern direction, many argue that marriage is a union that should be entered into freely and should be based exclusively on the love between two people. However, I argue that arranged marriage, which has taken place throughout the ages and throughout the world, is a union that offers its observers a marriage based in support, longevity and love, and is an institution that should not be frowned upon.

Arranged marriages are set up by friends and family, and sometimes by a matchmaker that sets up the marriage. But the bride’s father has the most responsibility in arranging marriage for his daughter, and is the one who approaches the father of a potential bridegroom. Important aspects when considering a possible match are financial status, caste, and the bride and bridegrooms horoscopes matching. The role of astrology is important, and if a Hindu priest finds that the horoscopes of the potential spouses do not match, they will not marry, and must begin the search all over again (Livermore, 2009). India’s view of marriage first and then love is very different from the Western view where love comes before marriage, seems to be successful. The