Marriage Viewpoints over the World

God created marriage as a union between man and woman. A woman, while still having a mind of her own and control over her own life, is under the authority of her husband. This frightens some women, who fear oppression at the hands of their husbands. While it is true that some men abuse the system that God set up for man and woman, not all men act as such. The Bible states monogamy is what God laid down as a foundational law of 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.

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.

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

In modern day marriages, American’s face several changes and challenges. "Not referring to the current legal battles regarding who is and who is not allowed to marry, but rather the 'hurdles' facing couples who do enter into marriage." Marriages in the new century has changed because now many people are choosing to live their lives with their companion without getting actually married. Americans are growing a lot more by accepting this option of not getting married correctly such as

Avril Lavigne revealed her split with Chad Kroeger ending their two years of marriage on her Instagram account on Wednesday. The Canadian-French singer shared the sad news along with their wedding photo which made it more dramatic.

Marriage recognizes the lifelong union of two people, which sounds like a private thing. But every person, in every culture, has a different opinion about what actually defines marriage, creating an endless controversy over marriage ethics. Pressure from family, overall expenses, and the excruciating stress from planning marriage deters a lot of people from marrying. Not every marriage has a pleasant motive, and not every marriage will last. There are significantly less younger people getting married today than there were 30 years ago. New priorities and a different social outlook on wedlock is scaring people away, and postponing the ceremony for when they are older and happier. Where has the magic of matrimony gone?

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston, a former slave named Nanny perception of a classic marriage is if the marriage provides security, protection, and wealth. Other people view marriage in a different perspective such as class or race, or maybe even to break their insecurity of being alone. To Nanny's personal view of marriage, being safe and well fed is enough for a wife to live. Nanny's perspective of marriage was deprived from the harsh living conditions during her time as a slave. She now has this thought that race isn't an issue, and that class is the only security a women can receive from a spouse.

The concepts of arrange marriages seems impractical to American society, but in India it is a culture that is still being practiced to this day, and still preferred even though modernization has been changing India. Arranged marriages are a good way for the family to make sure there son/daughter marry into the right religion, social order, and class. To make sure that no mishaps happen the boys and girls are often separated. Meaning going to a different school, girls are faced with more restrictions in some cases talking to boys is frowned upon. To insure the female doesn’t get to promiscuous she is married off early on even before the legal age 18. I found an article that looked at the statistics taken from a survey “found that 74% of young Indian women (18-35 yrs) prefer an arranged marriage over free- choice.” And “90% percent are arranged” (2015, November). As a young women growing up in the American society and the way our culture is free willed marry whom you choice to make a life with best blessings and all. And learning about the Indian culture, at first the feelings I felt were 1) offensive as if we cant choice our own mate for our self but chosen for us. 2) Confusion of why the culture chooses to do that.

The typical American family has changed drastically. Focusing on marriage as part of this change. In the past, people got married because they fell in love. The marriage

Parents will only choose spouses that are best suited for their children, and they know that their children will have the security and stability with their partners. Such arranged marriages prevents unions that are grounded on pure compulsions. It is a matrimony that may not be about love but about what is best for the couple’s future. Often, in love matrimonies, the couple is too blinded by what they perceive as “love” to see the faults of one another and their unsuitability. In arranged marriages it is the parents that decide and they offer an impartial opinion on the personality of their partner. They know what is best for their children. For example, a religious family would want their children to have the same religious background as their spouse. For example, a Muslim family would want or maybe even demand a matrimony between another Muslim families. By having an arranged marriage, families can now check and be sure of the other party’s background and make an informed decision before their children got married. In normal “love” marriages, the family might have little say in who their children falls in love with, thus reducing the chances of having an “ideal” partner. Therefore, arranged marriages has its benefits as they offer security and stability to the couple and thus preserving the families customs and practices if need be before the couple are to be

“It is based on biological instinct in man and nature’s urge for production. It begins with earliest man and woman”8Basically everything about marriage and above all romantic – marriage will continue to fascinate every mind for times to come.”9 Marriage is often controlled by tradition and custom. It is universally acknowledged that marriages in every country are ceremonized through religious authority, sometimes by social reformers and legislators. But India remains disunited in marriage customs and rites. This aspect of the Indian life helps one to study the marriage and marriage customs through the ages. There is no denying the fact that most vital factors in marriage are love and beauty, nearness, contact and mutual admiration and contact. It may be said that in Hindu marriage, fortunately the sastric ideals are not universally observed and mutual admiration and reciprocal sentiments have not become extinct in

According to Prasad and Ramesh (2007), Indians believe that a son is an asset that can bring wealth to a family. Arranged marriage is accepted and marriage is an important institution in Indian culture. A girl is seen as a burden to her family and will leave the family in debt of a dowry. Wedlock creates inequality that women’s

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).

Human rights are the rights that every single human being on this planet has. However, there are multiple cases all over the world where these inherent rights are being violated. The Enlightenment era of European history allowed for the beginning of the consideration of these rights. One philosopher named Mary Wollstonecraft wrote about the many violations of rights for women in society. These violations have continued to occur up to the present day. One area where this oppression is occurring is India concerning the topic of teenage marriage. India holds 12th place in the world for child marriage and although tradition is changing to allow for women to be educated and marry later, this way of thinking is not consistent in all parts of India. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everybody has “the right to marry and found a family… at full age”, yet India is home to thousands of unwanted and underage marriages. Underage marriage has many difficult repercussions, including restricted job opportunities for women. Traditions force young girls into marrying and having children very early, which creates a mental block where they can do nothing but take care of their family. This brings up the question, “to what extent is teen marriage limiting the job opportunities of women in India”? India is a very religious and traditional country where customs mean everything. Families usually marry their children to relatives for to a safe and