A Worldwide Look at Marriage by Megan
FleetusMcGee posted in Rituals And Traditions
One of the most common rituals in the world is marriage. In our culture, weddings are very personal and important. This is because the couple has decided to spend the rest of their lives with each other. In some countries, the practice of arranged marriages still exists, meaning those to be wed do not choose their husband or wife, generally, parents chose for their children.
The age of marriage, who chooses the spouse, acceptance of divorce, children, and treatment of spouses all depend on the culture. In the United States, all of these issues are free will and services are offered to lend any necessary assistance. In countries such as India, where arranged marriages are common, the men or women may only see their spouse a few times before the wedding day and divorce carries a serious social backlash. If the couple decides to get divorced, the people of their village ridicule them and parents basically disown them.
Another issue with these marriages is if a husband doesn’t like his wife he is more likely to mistreat her and the wife can’t get out of the bad marriage. It has also been brought up in articles on this subject that these marriages violate the human right of choice, since these men and women don’t choose their spouse.
The marital age differs depending on the culture, but in most, people marry by their late 20’s. In some countries, girls marry very young and generally wed much older men. Marriages like these often happen in impoverished countries where parents hope to give their daughters—and themselves—a better life.
The subject of children also differs among cultures. In China, each family can only have one child and in India, women can have up to 8 sons. However, in many cultures, daughters are not wanted for various reasons; for example, it is believed that they are too expensive because their families are expected to provide dowry for the wedding.
Getting married is one of the most common rituals and it differs throughout the world. However, it seems to have the same goal in all parts of the world; if you are a parent, you want your son or daughter to find a spouse and have a family of their own, continuing the family tradition.
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