Cross-Cultural Marriage

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.

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.

A common issue seen with this is the concept of arranged marriage. Some might think that this tradition only happens in third world or foreign countries. This is not the case. A journalist from Harvard, Anita Jain, writes about her difficulties and her parent’s persistence to get her married. Anita said, “My parents, in a very earnest bid to secure my eternal happiness, have been trying to marry me off to, well, just about anyone lately.” Although this could be seen as her parents trying to help her and find her a spouse, think if it was you in that position.

Many cultures have certain traditions that are very important to them. For example, the Hmong culture has a tradition about marriage. When a Hmong man wants to get married and start a family, he has to ask two specific men called “Mekoob”, to go with him to his women’s house and formally ask the parents for their daughter’s hand in marriage. They later talk about the wedding plan and the price for everything. The husband and his family have to pay for all the expenses.

Growing up in a south asian family comes with many restrictions. Society has a big role in what families should and should not do. Especially in marriage. Sripathi is raised in a community where having the same cast, background and family traditions is important when choosing a life partner. Marrying outside of these terms is considered a sin to him. “...His eyes fell on a photograph of Maya, with her foreign husband

The marriage is one of the best things to make a happy life. Many years ago, parents had arranged marriages for their children. In Asia, as the customs of Vietnam, parents who decide and arrange the marriages of their children. Normally, parents flanked by close friends so they wanted their children to marry parent friend’s children, and gratitude between them will be even stronger together. Additionally, parents arranged for their children to marry the wealthy children to give their children full life. Also, parents choose their child partners and it is their customs. These children have no right to disobey and reject marriage. Their children married without ever knowing each other or see each other 's face. According to the book “The Immigrant Advantage,” it has a story of the Indian girl married under the marriage arranged by her parents. Until now, the Indian customs that still exist. Not only in India, in other countries, there is still customary marriages arranged by parents. Vietnam is no longer

It has been a long held prejudice that women from countries where their opportunities are limited, marry men from more financially developed countries just to gain citizenship. These women were long thought to be pursuing an international marriage in order to gain more preferable rights, have a more sophisticated lifestyle, and gain an abundant amount of money. Although these could very well be the motives of some, not all international or mail order brides marry for these reasons.

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

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.

Then, the problems also existing within the inter-cultural relationship. The cross-cultural couples, which mean the spouses within marriage from different racial/ethical groups, this kind of marriage usually have more problems due to the difficulties of communication and the gap between cultural and educational backgrounds (Lee 2013). According to Hsu (2001), intercultural couples have greater potential to face marital conflicts since their difference of value and behaviours is greater than couples growing in similar cultural

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.

Traditionally the decision to marry made mainly by both families and marriage is often contracted by agreement amongst families in order to expand their circle of alliances and enhance their prestige (Metz, 1993). A partner is chosen by a person’s family, not based on the Western concept of romantic love (Metz, 1993). A woman’s opinion may be respected

Finding a new job in a new culture is rather a hard than easy because a person can feel that the boss or manager may not like them due to their culture or there way of life that has to do with religion or the way they speak. Whenever you do get a job in a culture or country is mindful of all the things you should do and shouldn’t do because they can only help you cope with the decision on relocating and helping your family. While at the company you are working for they will help you in any way possible so you can get far in the business and they also know that you are fairly new to their country and need some help adjusting to their accustoms.

And how many people in marriages (arranged or not) that are based on culture wouldn’t, if possible, turn back the clock and do it differently in the hope of finding the kind of love that sees two 80 year old’s still holding hands, years after their parents are gone, their children have left and die together ?

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.