Arranged Marriages in India

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.

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.

In our society, we wouldn’t consider arranged marriages as a normal thing we are, use to consensual heterosexual serial monogamy. But in some countries, they do consider arranged marriages normal. In India, arranged marriages have been apart of the Indian culture since the fourth century and many consider it a central fabric of Indian society (Arranged Marriages, Matchmakers, and Dowries in India, 2000). Pakistan also considers arranged marriages as normal in Pakistani culture elders of the family are considered wise and they are the ones who help pick out a spouse a family member (Arranged Marriages are the Part of Pakistani Culture, 2012). Japan still practices arranged marriage but now less than ten percent of marriages are arranged compared to half a century ago when about seventy percent were arranged(Tying the Knot, 1998). In China, they have marriage markets where parents line the pathways share with other parents their clippings they have on their child, hoping to find a good match for their child (Epatko, 2015). Still, today many countries consider arranged marriages normal.

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.

A person is considered homeless when they do not have a permanent place to live. Homelessness is becoming more common every day. I had the rare opportunity to see and interact with the people facing the challenge of homelessness at the Homeless Connection Event. This paper will discuss my perceptions of the homeless before the event, a few interesting facts, and my thoughts after the event. The paper will also discuss my impressions of the homeless after the event and my opinion of the interprofessional relationship between students who participated in the event.

Ali explained to me that in her Hindu culture and religion, it was custom to have a marriage between two people arranged by the parents. My shock turned to confusion; I had only heard of arranged marriages in movies and books. Not something seen in real life. I was used to a culture where the majority of the population is Catholic and Hispanic and couples choose each other. Since she’s my friend, my first thought was concern for her happiness in an arranged marriage after living in the United States for so long. How much of our culture and customs has she absorbed and what impact will it have on her “arrangement”? But, she then mentioned she was happy and excited because she knew and liked the person whom she is set to marry. My concern for her arranged marriage dissipated; I knew that what may not seem normal for me was normal for her. So, I also came to realize the important part here was that she was happy. I didn’t know it then, but those thirty minutes around lunch table altered my views and they were forever changed for the better. It also exposed me to a small part of the world outside of my non-diverse border

For thousands of years, parents have chosen their children's spouses; hopefully with some success. Some countries still practice the tradition today. India turn most, if not all, of the wedding decision over to the Patriarchs of the groom. In other countries only a portion of the country's population practice it: even though the urban areas are controlled by the government many chinese dwelling in rural farming areas still practice arranged marriages. In the United States of America people have moved on to the idea of letting the young adults choose their own marriages, but do children make the same choices as their parents? It is often the idea that younger adults will make the wrong choices in marriage; however, marriage in today’s world

In eastern countries especially in India, there is a little chance given for individuals to determine the course of life they want. For childhood, the majority of families define what career path the children will take, what partner they will marry, what dress they will wear and what food they will eat. Instead, in America, at best, the parents lay down the choices for their children. While the parents may try to influence the child on the direction they see fit, the parents will ultimately leave the ultimate decision to the child. (D’Souza 1) In matters like marriage, there are no issues of arranged marriages. In America, marriages are based on romantic affairs, not only are individuals free to choose who they marry, the can chose not to get married altogether or marry an individual of the same sex. These are things earners have not unheard of in the East, and therefore, the eastern people often try to gain entry to America to access such liberties.

One of the major areas this reality is demonstrated is the process of arranged marriages (Ross 279). Typically, Renaissance women were used as a way to combine families and increase political or financial growth for both families. Lucrezia Borgia is a perfect example of how young women were used during this time. When Lucrezia was just thirteen years old, she was married to Giovanni Sforza who was twice her age. She was married to him because an alliance with Giovanni would bring great political advantage to Lucrezia’s family (Hibbert 44). These marriages were basically business transactions with the daughters and sisters of the family being moved around like pawns to create the best possible outcome for the men. In some extreme cases, a widowed woman could be taken away from her children and forced to remarry because it would benefit her family (Keuhn 62).

The “Renaissance man” was a term coined during the High Renaissance which referred to a man whose talents expanded into many areas. Leonardo da Vinci was such a man, however, his greatest talent resided in his ability to seamlessly use one talent to improve his skill in that of others.

Cultural Competence based on the Purnell Model can provide a comprehensive, systematic, and concise structure for learning and understanding the Palauan culture. Based on the previous paper regarding my Palauan friend, S.S., I will be discussing five areas where I can further improve my transcultural care pertaining to this specific community. These areas are in communications, high-risk health behaviors, nutrition, pregnancy and the childbearing practices, and death rituals (Purnell, 2014). Furthermore, I will present a reassessment of my culture competency to evaluate my learning that can positively affect the nursing care of individuals from diverse cultures represented by the Palauans.

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

When thinking about how people in the United States find someone to marry, it’s obvious of the major differences the two countries have. In the US, people usually choose who they want to spend the rest of their life with based on compatibility and who they find is the best person to keep them happy. Parents typically do not choose their child’s spouse and are supportive no matter who their child chooses. Some parents try to make their

Marriage through Matrimony Site / Newspaper Advt in India ? --- say -- Never. Why ?