Arranged Marriage Essays (Examples)

Arranged Marriages v. Traditional Dating:

Which Method Results in the most Successful Union?

According to Yumiko Asano, success in marriage is characterized by longevity, financial stability, compatibility and a strong commitment on the part of both the man and the woman to keep the union together. Yumiko Asano also asserts that successful marriages arise more frequently from using a matchmaker than the traditional dating method as preferred by the majority of Americans. He believes that the dating method is frivolous, and marriages that are formed by young, immature people who do not realize the commitment that is needed to make a marriage work often ends in divorce. Additionally, Yumiko Asano cites statistics that reveal that more than 40% of American marriages end in divorce, he proudly boasts that Japan's divorce is half that of America's. Mr. Asano further contends that arranged marriages lead to success since both people have a…

ARRANGED MARRIAGES IN INDIA VS. AMERICAN TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE

Arranged marriages are common in South Asian communities and India is thus no exception. People with traditional bend of mind hesitate to even mention any other form of marriage and for them, love-based marriages are a threat to family honor and values since it involves dating and pre-marital mingling. In India, youth whether educated or illiterate, modern or traditional, religious or not are fully aware of the possibility of an arranged marriage for them since they have grown up in this system, knowing that arranged marriages have as great a chance of success as love-based unions. Majority of marriages in India are arranged so this is not something new or strange for people in that country. (Kurian, 1991)

An arranged marriage is defined as a "contractual agreement, written or unwritten, between two families, rather than individuals" where " ... The principle of…

Arranged Marriages

The social custom and institution of arranged marriages makes up a large part of the history of marriage and society. However the custom has been criticized and often condemned in the contemporary Western world. Many people see arranged marriages as unethical and as a deprivation of human rights and of the right to free choice of life partner. However, this view is sometimes contradicted by many modern youths from cultures that have traditionally approved of arranged marriages. The view in favor of arranged marriages is that it promotes social integration, security and the continuation of worthwhile cultural traditions and norms. There are many modern youths living on counties like the United States who accept and approve of their arranged marriages. oth these views will be explored in a modern context in this paper.

Arranged marriages still take place throughout the world. There have however also been many changes…

Marriage in Eastern and Western Nations

A Comparative Analysis of Marriage Rituals and Customs in the North America and Asia

Throughout the history of humanity, distinctions and differences between the Eastern and Western cultures had been studied, most especially during the 20th century, wherein anthropological studies uncovered the various cultures extant in the world during the said period. Indeed, between the 20th century and the present time, these differences prevail, primarily because there are still evident distinctions that characterize both Eastern and Western cultures.

One important aspect of these numerous distinctions is the differences in marriage rituals among peoples of the Eastern from the Western cultures. Take as an example the differences in the marriage practices between North American and Asian nations: the latter are considered as subsisting to more elaborate and implicitly meaningful ceremonies while cultures in Western societies are often considered as straightforward and practical. Furthermore, religion plays…

In J. Smith (Ed.), Understanding families into the new millennium: A decade in review (p. 357-381). Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations.

Ferree, M. (1984). The view from below: Women's employment and gender equality in working-class families. In .. Hess, & M.. Sussman (Eds), Women and the family: Two decades of change (p. 57-75). New York: Haworth Press.

Fung, J. (2010). Factors associated with parent-child (dis)agreement on child behavior and parenting problems in Chinese immigrant families. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 3993), 314-327.

Hewlett, S., & West, C. (1998). The war against parents: What we can do for America's beleaguered moms and dads. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Hwang, K., Chang, S., Chen, S., Chen, C., & Yang, K. (2001). Chinese relationism and depression. Unpublished manuscript.

Lai, E., & Fang, S. (2001). Sex role attitude and housework participation among men and women in Taiwan. Paper presented at the…

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In a Pakistani family, a person who get married with kin, will be having a life long obligation with the relatives from the same caste. In this frame work, there is a bit of flexibility but as socio economic considerations are significant for particular marriage choices. In such cases, an individual who is involved in such situation, calls upon an idea of a shared blood concept even if there is no inherited relationship. This way, participants considers themselves as the nature of the relationship between the inherited kinship and the household. This however, it effect's the rule of fraternal solidarity, which is explained in various ways. It highlights the give and take concept forming a mutual bond between the households. This concept does involve the members of family or friends clearly reflecting both kinship relationships plus fraternal solidarity between kin and non-kin.

Anthropologists describe the exchanging of gift as…

Sex and Marriage:

When a person gets married to another, one of the first rules is that there should be 'exogamy' in the selection of the partner, which also means that the partner has to belong to a well defined outside group, or there should be 'endogamy', which means that the partner must be within some large defined group of people, and both of these two rules work within any given society at any given time, so that there are limits maintained as to the preferability and the acceptability of the marriage partner. The number of spouses that an individual is allowed to marry, however, is generally dictated by the culture and the religion to which the individual belongs. In most of Europe as well as in America, the general rule followed by almost everyone is that of 'monogamy', and this means that one person is only allowed one spouse…

I do not feel that the state should be allowed to draft marriage terms that do not adequately protect the liberty and equality of each spouse. I believe that cultures of the world are slowing moving towards a global culture that embraces liberty and equality through globalization and advances of information technologies. In fact, this point seems evident in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 16 of this document states (the United Nations, N.d.):

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection…

Japanese Family and Marriage Life

Understanding the family and marriage life of the Japanese people has been a challenge to most in the current global society. The constant changes of the Japanese family structure, roles, and marriage system as explained in the nuclearization theory attests to the challenges most face in understanding their family and marriage life. Demographic transitions witnessed over the last four decades also compound to the challenges people encounter in the quest of understanding the family and marriage structure of the Japanese people (Kumagai 87). As such, this research paper analyzes in detail the family structure and marriage life of the Japanese people. The analysis considers both the traditional and the modern family structure and marriage life of the Japanese people.

Japanese Family

Like many families of the Asian region, the Japanese family has extended family system that includes the distant relatives to the family as well…

Kung San Trial Marriages and U.S. Divorce Rates.

The!Kung San are a hunter-gatherer people that inhabit the Kalahari desert in Africa. They are the ushmen who have managed to live a contented, self-governed life while the rest of the world has sprung up around them in a mass of technology and dysfunction. They live a community life where the economy is based on sharing and "among the first words a child learns are na ("give it to me") and ihn ("take this")" (Shostak 2000:44) giving outsiders the impression of a quaint carefree nomadic life.

Nevertheless there are many similarities shared between Americans and the!Kung San, some of which are as simple as equal love for their children, to the interesting arrangements of a 'trial marriage'. A!Kung trial marriage could be acquainted with people living together before getting married, or cohabiting as part of a condition before marriage, depending on religious…

Shape of Marriage Depends on Where "Home" Is

In the story, the definition and shape of marriage was shown to depend on the sense of what and where "home" is by the characters of Mala and her husband. oth of the characters live in Calcutta, India. Despite of the fact that their marriage was arranged, it was a responsibility in their culture to live as husband and wife. For the couple, marriage is to be shaped by this responsibility and by their togetherness. Thus, when the husband went to America for a job, Mala followed after some time to live with her husband. America was not their home but the sense of being a "home" was there in America, as it was in Calcutta, for the couple. Even though they were in another land, America, their second "home," helped them to establish their marriage as well as their family.

From…

estern world thinks of Muslim women, it is often in terms of Muslim women as an oppressed stereotypes. This includes images of women in hijabs, Turkish women in chadors and women who must be veiled in public at all times. Distorted beliefs about Islamic beliefs regarding polygamy and the subservient role of women further contribute to the stereotype that Muslim women are more oppressed than their Christian counterparts.

However, while strict laws do present limits to the public lives of many Arab and Muslim women, these stereotypes do not present a complete picture of their lives. As ethnographer Susan Schafer Davis observed, Muslim women have and continue to exert considerable influence in the private sphere of family and women's associations. This gave them much more autonomy and power than Christian women of the same era.

This paper examines the scope of a Muslim woman's authority and power within the private…

According to this research, these trends are due to changes in the association of husbands' and wives' education rather than by changes in the relative supply of more- and less-educated partners.

In addition to income and education, individuals select marriage partners along racial lines (Fu, 2001). In fact, although racial homogamy has declined over time, it remains as the strongest pattern in assortative mating according to Fu. Further, many individuals remain particularly resistance to marriage between whites and blacks than they do between whites and other minorities. Fu (2001) also reveals that African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans who are in interracial marriages tend to have a higher socioeconomic status than others from these groups. Fu theorizes that this higher socioeconomic status helps to equalize their status with majority group partners.

In summary, forced marriages may be dead, at least in the modern Western world, but individual preferences are alive and well. Ironically,…

Homosexual marriage does not pose a threat to me or my manhood therefore I am for it." Although I am heterosexual, I know what it means to long for union with another human being. I will choose a woman for my partner, but if another man desires to choose one of his own sex, there is no harm for me in his choice. In fact, since we are both part of humanity, his legal union, as does mine, brings positive reinforcement to the institution of marriage.

As early as 400 BC Plato in his Symposium discussed the mystery of sexual desire, concluding that humans are always searching for their other half, having been cut in two as punishment by Zeus. The whole humans that existed before this action, according to Aristophanes, Plato's debating companion, all had two heads, four legs and four arms. They were of three types: some with…

Adultery and any sort of infidelity turns out to be a different story for men as Rosenthal stresses: "prohibition against adultery is not about property, pregnancy, misdirected male desire, or bloodlines, as one might have thought, but about the prevention of female comparison" (Rosenthal, 2008) as sharing men would be established by the size of their sexual organs.

A recurrent theme in the play from a gender perspective relates to the fact that the play is generally a patriarchal type of play in which paternal figures are predominant and the evolution of the other characters is a direct result of this way of using power. The women in this play, especially Doralice and Melantha are victimized as women had lesser rights to speak their minds or act according to their decisions. The paternalistic environment is also observed in the way Palamede and Rhodophil behave, as all four of them find…

Fried rice or popcorn is offered into the sacred fire (Hinduism.co.za).

The marriage ceremony itself takes place at the Vedi, where banana tree trunks are decorated against the open sky. The boy and girl sit together on a wooden seat. Parents of the bride, groom, and two priests surround the couple. Vedic mantras are said throughout the ceremony (Mypurohith).

The sacred fire is a crucial part of the marriage ceremony, and begins the rites and ceremonies that make up the ceremony. The sacred fire provides a pure and spiritual atmosphere for the marriage (Hinduism.co.za). The boy and girl, tied together by the symbolic marriage knot, walk around the sacred fire seven times. Traditionally, the new marriage is not considered to be complete until the seventh round around the consecrated fire. Before this time, the marriage can be revoked (Mypurohith).

Samagree, a mixture of herbs, sandalwood, clarified butter, rice, twigs, and…

same-sex marriage. This subject interests me from both a moral and a legal standpoint. The topic has gained national as well as global attention. The debate is especially heated in the United States where the matter is being decided on a state by state basis.

The essential question that surrounds this topic is if same-sex marriage good for society. The ongoing debate over same-sex marriage often generates more heat than light as there are people who feel very strongly about the issues involved on both sides of the argument. This debate cannot be ignored, as legislators and voters around the country wrestle with whether and how to recognize same-sex relationships.

Almost two decades ago William Bennett and Andrew Sullivan argued this issue. Sullivan (1996) asserted that forbidding same-sex partners to marry prevents them from being a full and equal part of America and forces these couples to lie or hide…

Artistic Expression in Van Eyk and Grant: A Comparison

There are few things that convey such intimate detail about any given period in history as its work of art. By incorporating certain principles of design and composition, the artist can visually represent or rebel against the artistic and social conventions of his or her time. As such, visual arts such as painting and sculpture become not only a representation of their creators, but also of the wider context within which they existed. This becomes all the more poignant and clear when works from different time periods are compared and contrasted, especially where these concern similar types of relationships among the elements being presented for scrutiny. IN Van Eyk's "The Arnolfini Marriage" and Wood's "American Gothic," the center stage is taken by a romantic couple in each case; in both cases the protagonists are most likely married or at least involved…

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS AND ANSWER EITHER a OR B. AND ANSWER C...YOU WILL ANSWER a TOTAL OF TWO QUESTIONS: 1. Answer AB.A. Asian, Hispanic, White American, Black American students tend agree makes attractive female face.

Social psychology

Arranged marriage seems fundamentally anathema to the American culture of individualism and choice. Historically, in Western culture, the ideal of romantic love has emphasized passion and personal autonomy. In Romeo and Juliet, the 'bad' parents try to push Juliet into an arranged marriage vs. her desired match with her true love Romeo. However, the Indian writer Shoba Narayan states that our belief in star-crossed love may be a cultural illusion. She points to her own, modern arranged marriage with a man with whom she has an equal partnership and her failed attempts at traditional American courtship. Narayan points out cultures with high rates of arranged marriages have low divorce rates…

Gitangeli Sapra "I'm Happy with an Arranged Marriage"

There are several differences in author Gitangeli Sapra's vision of the process of choosing a mate for an arranged marriage and my own approach to doing the same thing. In her essay entitled "I'm Happy with an Arranged Marriage," Sapra provides what largely functions as a point by point comparison between arranged marriages and those in which the initial impetus for marriage was largely the product of both people deciding to get married. My own perspective on the subject is certainly at variance with the one provided by Sapra, and is based on consent on the part of both parties. After considering my viewpoint with that of Sapra, I believe that mine is superior.

In the form of arranged marriages that Supra advocates, there is little opportunity for the prospective husband and wife to get to know one another prior to their…

Tagalog Charts

hat did I learn?

The interview with an individual named Beverly Santa Maria was intellectually rewarding and I learned a lot of about her past, her culture, and her language. Her middle name is her mom's maiden which is a common practice for this culture, and subsequently got her last name from her father which is common in almost every culture. Furthermore, her mom was named after Beverley Hills which seems to indicate the power of the American culture and its influence on other societies. Another interesting tidbit that was identified was that nearly everyone in her family was a very strong, or even famous, person in her country. Despite this, her family still decided to immigrate to the United States.

The decision to immigrate to the United States could not have come lightly. It is hard to imagine the fear of uncertainty that the family faced. However,…

hile Indian women and those of mixed races were certainly lower class citizens, they could easily become elite through their marriage to a white male of Spanish decent (Mabry 1990). Marriage was often seen to transcend any race or class issue, and thus prompted many women to act in non-virtuous ways in order to secure a future (Johnson 1998).

This difference in virtuous intent also relates to the very real danger for women in Bahia who committed acts considered to be sexually outlandish or improper, whether married or single. For married women, the punishment for adultery could include death until 1830. Prior to that time, men who killed their adulterous wives were often acquitted, since they were defending their honor in the eyes of the social system of the time (Caulfield 2000). Further, even single women found to be concubines could be killed by their families, to prevent a loss…

In the peer-reviewed article by Watkins, et al., the authors focus on the implications of and reasons for longer live spans between 1800 and 1980. Watkins asserts that notwithstanding higher divorce rates and "declining fertility," women in the 1960 to 1980 window of time "spent more years in marriage and as parents than did earlier generations" (Watkins, et al., 1987, p. 346). While Watkins offers a great deal of data about families and marriage, she also says there is a "lack of historical data" to back up some of those assertions. The article goes through some mathematical calculations and models that attempt to explain family status with reference to how long people lived, their marriage patterns and fertility patterns (Watkins, 347). The bottom line for the Watkins article is to establish "…an essential skeleton for the social history of the family" along with a perspective from which today's family can…

Yimou Zhang's 1991 film Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gua) offers a stunning peek at a unique segment of Chinese culture. Set in 1920s Northern China, Raise the Red Lantern is based on the novel Wives and Concubines by SU Tong. The story focuses on nineteen-year-old Songlian (played by Li Gong), who is cajoled into marrying a wealthy householder to become his fourth wife. Songlian is educated, but she dropped out of college following her father's death. Afterwards, her life becomes wrought with restrictions and sadness. Thus one of the primary themes of Raise the Red Lantern is the role of women in turn of the century Chinese culture. Although the status of women in China differed greatly from their role in contemporary America, it must be noted that American women did not get the vote until 1920. The film is laced with dialogue that reveals…

The wife's lie is revealed in "Bisclavet" because the inner humanity of the werewolf does shine through, albeit to another man. "This beast understands, feels like a man," says the king. (p.5) Ultimately, the king's friendship, a relationship forged in the male sphere of the hunt with Bisclavet is more meaningful and lasting than that of the marital bond, borne of a lie of concealment, first on the part of the man, then on the part of the woman. After the full truth is revealed and the werewolf becomes human again: "The king ran to hug him tight;/He kissed him a hundred times that day." (p.9) hen he learns that his friend is in fact a man, and also that the truth has set the man free, the king cannot restrain his lover-like affection. For the first time in the werewolf's life, the man has honest relationship that allows him…

This entertainment is the ceremonial or festive taking of alcoholic drinks at events called "beer parties." Researchers noted the significance of the festive element of work among the laborers but showed beer as an essential aspect of work. The rule in these beer work parties are adjusted to the particular workers involved. It invokes the overall value and morality of helpfulness and reciprocity, which are part of beer-drinking events. It is an expression of a general interdependence between homesteads. Ordinary beer parties emphasize the general principle of mutual helpfulness and mutual relationships in homesteads. ut beer parties for harvest give thanks to ancestors for the homestead's harvest. These parties give recognition to those who plow the homestead's garden (McAllister).

A recent analyzed the relation between cooperative work and beer drinking. It found that beer drinks served as a contact point of everyday activity and ideas in the Xhosa society in…

Yanomamo people of Central Brazil are one of the oldest examples of the classic pre-Columbian forest footmen. They are believed to be the most primitive, culturally intact people in existence in the world. They are literally a Stone Age tribe. Cataloged by anthropologists as Neo-Indians with cultural characteristics that date back more than 8000 years. They have never discovered the wheel and the only metal they use is what has been traded to them from the outside. Their numbering system is one, two, and more than two.

The Yanomamo live in almost complete seclusion in the Amazon rain forests of South America. Apart from their periodic warfare, they have managed to build and sustain their unique culture through adaptations to their environment for generations.

There are approximately 23,000 Yanomamo spread among roughly 225 villages in the Amazon Basin. Each village acts autonomously, but has alliances with other villages that carry…

There can be several reasons behind this enduring practice. Men and women feel that if parents have chosen someone for them, they would also support them through hard times. We understand that all marriages go through rough patches and some more than others. In these trying times, parents and other family members normally intervene to resolve problems. This is a common practice in India and all countries where arranged marriages are still in practice. However if a person chose to marry someone of their choice, it is very likely that during hard times, others would distance themselves saying; "didn't we already warn you." The fear of being left alone to ride out the tide might actually push some people in favor of arranged marriages.

The second reason is the ease and convenience that comes with having a partner chosen for you. In the western world, getting married doesn't come easy.…

In addition, the ceremony also contained firecrackers which were symbolic of purification and joy. The food that was served at a marriage ceremony was also symbolic. For example, fruit and longevity noodles were symbolic of harmony, happiness, and prosperity.

Indeed the marriage arrangement was detailed and extravagant (for the wealthy) during the Qing dynasty. Now that we understand the marital arrangement let us focus on the role of the ideal wife during Qing's Dynasty.

The role of the ideal wife (Qing Dynasty)

Once the transfer was complete, the wife was totally immersed in pleasing her husband and his family. All kinship ties to the wife's family were broken and when she visited her family, she was considered a guest not a relative. Smith (1994) asserts that this was a cause of distress for many new wives because they were usually amongst strangers and the mother in law had a great…

Culture

As ai (2012) points out, just a generation ago, women had far fewer options in India. Even when they attended college, their job prospects were low and they were more frequently diverted to family life and domestic servitude. Now, increasing numbers of Indian women are empowering themselves through the IT services industry. As much flack as outsourcing receives in the United States, the truth is that Indian women are largely the beneficiaries, while Americans are being increasingly challenged to discover creative ways of contributing to the economy. Social norms in India for women differ greatly from those in the United States, where it is much easier for a woman to start a business and avoid marriage and childbirth. In India, a woman is steered in the direction of motherhood at an earlier age and could be socially shunned if her path seems more career-focused than family focused. In many…

Theseus reminds Hermia that the person she is, with her beauty as an asset that is so appreciated by Lysander, is because she is the product of her father. She is "but as a form in wax (Shakespeare online), a reproduction of her father, "By him imprinted within his power (Shakespeare online).

Johnnie Patricia Mobley resolves the conflict between the characters of Hermia and Helena (on whose behalf Oberon intercedes with his good intentions of administering the magic potion). Hermia and Lysander do this by sharing with Helena their plan to run away beyond the authority of Hermia's father so that they can be together (Mobley 16). This is Shakespeare's way of addressing the love triangle, which must have often come up in the lives of people whose marriages were arranged. It also looks at the solution for Hermia and Lysander, and Oberon's intervention gives the audience, and Hermia, time…

Radical Idea Marrying Love" Coontz. Use 2 quotes 2 paraphrases, proper citation. Include a orks Cited page (addition 2 1/2 -3 pages text).

"The radical idea of marrying for love"

According to Stephanie Coontz: "For most of history it was inconceivable that people would choose their mates on the basis of something as fragile and irrational as love and then focus all their sexual, intimate, and altruistic desires on the resulting marriage" (Coontz 2005). Two notions have tended to predominate, according to Coontz, both of them erroneous. One is that love is a estern notion and never existed before the birth of modern, bourgeois capitalism. This belies the many romances that were written before the modern era. The second is that love and marriage have always been conjoined. There has been a celebration of romantic love for a long time, historically speaking, but the idea that love and marriage are…

Those individuals who are most likely to idealize their partners are those who are also most likely to be disappointed. It also seems to be the case that those most likely to idealize their partners are those who are most likely to move quickly from engagement (or an equivalent but less formal relationship) to marriage. Such a quick trip from first date to the altar is often a very poor choice in the long run, as summarized below:

Waller... assumed that courting couples are generally blissful, optimistic lovers who, in order to sustain their romance, draw attention to their desirable qualities, suppress thoughts and behaviors that might weaken their romance, and try to see the best in the other person. After they are married, however, spouses may no longer be as motivated to "put their best foot forward" to impress their marriage partners; moreover, the intimacy of marriage makes sustaining…

Marital Intimacy Skills -- Can They be Trained?

Marital intimacy is highly correlated to satisfaction in a marriage, and it is also seen as one of the factors that lead to a long-term marriage. The data and the Bible both suggest that a person can be trained to experience and give marital intimacy, and there are techniques that have been proven by research. Therapists have worked with cognitive therapies that change an individual's perceptions of their marriage, and other treatments that involve both members of the couple have been successful also, and they have also used focused therapy that has had good results. The Biblical view is that these elements can be taught also, and that it is in the best interest of the couple to seek this intimacy. Biblical scholars have detailed how marriage intimacy was ordained by God when He presided over the first marriage. esearch into the…

Asian Women

Compare and Contrast rural and urban women in India Today

According to umiller, "an estimated 95% of marriages are still arranged, including the majority of those among the educated middle class" (25-26) and while it may appear that there are great divides between the rurbal and urban women in India, when it comes to marriage, it is perhaps the one thing that makes them equal. umiller remarks in her book on a man who earned $800 a year, spending over $3,200 for a luncheon and dowry. Afterall, umiller says, "Marriage for love exists only among a very small slice of India's urban elite" (26) and "arranged marriages both reflect and reinforce the caste system which remains especially rigid among the rural poor" (29).

Women in India are probably accepted as being on the same social level regardless of their wealth or caste, although there are exceptions to the…

Many cultural studies state that the Qur'an provides for the mercy killing of women who have been failed to have been adequately protected and have, as a result thereof, been raped. In fact, Muslim countries have a disproportionate amount of honor killings; yet, this should be understood as a cultural phenomenon as the scripture and the practice of the Qur'an do not dictate or specifically set forth the proposition that women should die as a result of being assaulted (Quraishi,, 2000).

Conclusion and Commentary:

Importance of Cultural elativism and Understanding the Sociological Differences Between Women of the United States and Women of Islam

After September 11th and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City by Osaama Bin Laden and his progeny, a cultural relativist approach which bases itself in understanding the Islamic worldview became under attack and, as a society, we have created less understanding,…

Courtly love is usually defined solely in terms of the image of a noble knight pining for a woman he cannot have, because she is married or betrothed to another. Later writers such as Dante, Cervantes, and Milton often viewed this construct of courtly love as absurd or funny. Dante in particular saw courtly love as an inferior reflection of the love a man was supposed to feel for God. In the Italian poet's own affection for Beatrice, a woman he fell in love from afar, he felt that his love for this woman acts was a kind of conduit to higher spiritual truth and feelings for the divine. Likewise, courtly love's use of an earthly woman was the parallel for an mediating holy figure such as Mary who acted as an intermediary between God and humanity -- for Cervantes, it did not matter what the woman was 'really' like…

It provides a general overview of evolutionary psychology and mate choice, as well as an in-depth focus on physical characteristics such as physical symmetry, body weight and ratios, and youthfulness." (Swami & Furnham, 12) Such features suggest that even from an evolutionary perspective, physical attraction takes on crucial proportions.

It also reveals the sheer complexity of the subject, with the array of disciplines addressed here really only scratching the surface of an infinitely multifaceted discussion. The reality of attraction is that beyond these socially constructed ideas of beauty, forces of symbolic shared interest and ethnically-enforced needs for commonality, there are yet innumerable indefinable features that enter into the attraction of one individual to another.

orks Cited:

Anderson, S.L. & Adams, G. (2008). The Cultural Grounding of Personal Relationship: The Importance of Attractiveness in Everyday Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 352-368.

Lott, A.J. & Lott, B.E. (1965). Group…

Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. They find true love, and I'm still looking! There's something about him, with his cell phone and his constant meddling, that bothers me. I know, he's a new breed of professional here in India, but he annoys me somehow, and I can't quite say why. I hope he and Alice are happy, anyway.

I feel like I'm caught between two worlds here. I am agreeing to an arranged marriage, but I'm a modern Indian woman, with a career, a life, friends, a lover, and a family that doesn't seem to understand me at all. I'm not at all sure I understand myself. Why does all of this turmoil have to come now, at this time? It is making me feel as if this whole wedding is a mistake, a farce of old traditions that is no longer valid in my…

The birth of a male child is preferred because it ensures a family that the tradition of oikos is preserved, where it is preferred that a male will take over and control the household's property and wealth.

Women are also separated from the male members of the family and are put in a separate room in the house. This arrangement is tolerated in order to preoccupy the woman on her household chores, while the man (husband, father, and/or brother) goes on to enjoy the comforts that the women in his family provide for him.

It also did not help that women are also considered as 'scheming' and 'vile' individuals who bring about a man's downfall or death in life. Though in reality, women are more oppressed and subjugated than men, women are often portrayed as dangerous, as reflected in Clytemnestra's character in "Agamemnon" (by Aeschylus), where she schemed to have…

Since weddings are meant to bring families together the unity of the community as a whole is catered for and this can be advantageous. This culture will also ensure that the customs and traditions are retained and covered from erosion by other cultures, this is because the arrangements will ensure that only individuals with similar backgrounds are brought together and no new cultures are incorporated. To someone who does not admire the African culture this may not sound positive but I am sure to the owners of the culture this is a very big boost to them.

Now looking at the Australian cultural wedding very little seems strange but is totally different to the African ceremony. I feel that the Australian cultural wedding is more 'liberal' in nature as compared to the African wedding. This is because the weddings are based on love and agreement between two individuals. This gives…

Spring (1949):

The death of freedom with the beginning of marriage

The title Late Spring refers to the fact that the movie chronicles the 'late spring' of the main character's life. The 1949 film is characteristic of the output of Yasujiro Ozu in its fundamentally anthropocentric or human-focused narrative (ood 108). The young woman Noriko is considered an 'old maid' because she is no longer a teenager. However, Noriko seems unconcerned about her status. She enjoys taking care of her elderly father Shukichi and the two of them are satisfied by the arrangement. However, the girl's meddling aunt Masa is not: she tells her brother that Noriko must get married; otherwise the girl will be left with nothing after he dies. The widower Professor Shukichi reluctantly agrees to engage in an elaborate deception to convince his daughter he is getting remarried, despite the fact that he is not. Noriko marries…

As one commentator notes; "What this adds up to is, in my view, a significant shift in the balance of work and family life. oles are changing, the nature of care is changing, and the stress related to juggling the balance is increasing (Edgar, 1997, p. 149)

A number of statistics also help to outline the nature of the family structure in a developed economy like Australia. In terms of workforce participation, the figures are as follows: "….86% for fathers and 56% for mothers in two-parent families, and 65% for male and 43% for female sole parents"(Edgar, 1997, p.151). This is also indicative of a shift in the role of the female as solely a homemaker. "In 1993, 53% of couples with dependent children were both employed & #8230;" (Edgar, 1997, p. 151). Therefore, there are still imbalances and disparities in terms of the family structure and this is a…

Eventually, he switched from pre-med to economics, much to the displeasure of his father. When he could play tennis at a competitive level, his parents allowed him a certain degree of liberty given that he excelled in something they knew they could not understand. When he stopped playing, the pressures to get a good job and to marry a nice Indian girl increased. It was like a double bondage. Why should he have to suffer for the careless actions of those men in the truck?

Worse, he could never move himself to either be wholly bad or wholly good -- he didn't have Western girlfriends in college like his friends, he felt too guilty, as if he was betraying his parents. But he couldn't obey his parents either. When his parents tried to pressure him to marry a young woman, the daughter of a family friend, he would not even…

I, meanwhile, helped with the family business, but I had a "normal" adolescence, and enjoyed it as what normal teenage boys are expected to when they are 17 years old. At 20 years old, my grandfather is already a family man raising a family of his own, my father has just started forming a family of his own as well, while I am in college, pursuing higher studies and experiencing an entirely new world as an immigrant in the U.S. Ten years after, my grandfather at 30 years of age worked harder than ever to grow the restaurant business in the city; my father during this age is transitioning from a businessman to a professional employed by a multinational company; I envision myself as a successful manager in a multinational company and has a small, Internet-based business on the side, which will help me financially enrich myself and not be…

Human Sex Trafficking

Introduction to the Issue

Globalism may be increasing human trafficking

Sex Trafficking is a global issue, developed and developing countries alike

Trade is both overt and covert

Statistics on the trade

easons for the trade (incentive)

Pathways

Use of trickery and subterfuge to entice young people and parents

Use of drugs and addiction to make "slaves" pliable

The underdeveloped world

Economic issues with larger families

Attitude of girls being "disposable" as cultural tenet

Techniques used to ply trafficking trade (intimidation, drugs, brainwashing)

The response

Difficult to coordinate response and law enforcement because of locations

Those involved in many underdeveloped countries are part of the wealthy or elite -- corruption part of culture

c. U.S. And Interpol working together

d. Nature of legal scrutiny and substance via technology

Conclusions

a. Global Problem and the United Nations

b. Education and techniques for mitigation

c. Future goals and prospects

Human…

According to anthropologist Lalervo Oberg, culture shock arises when suddenly one's sense of certainty is destroyed when one enters a foreign environment. A person undergoing culture shock experiences it as a series of "upsets -- breaks in reality because people behave differently" in a new culture and because the shocked individual finds him or herself in unfamiliar circumstances (Oberg, 2007). Yet the extraordinary clash of "The Father" does not result suddenly, even though the news is sudden -- the daughter's schema of values has been changing over time, only the father has ignored it, or not wished to see this change. Oberg says the clash occurs because "families and friends are far away," but in this case, the family member is close by, yet changed by her upbringing in a new culture.

Babli feels far away to her father. Her father experiences all of the "discontent, impatience, anger, sadness, and…

Irony of aiting

The central irony of Ha Jin's novel aiting, is that the protagonist Lin Kong, a doctor in the ostensibly progressive communist Chinese Army, is bound to his peasant wife in the Goose Village because of this supposedly traditional woman's refusal to divorce her husband. Lin Kong promises his dying mother that he will enter an arranged marriage because it is her deathbed request. But the woman Shuyu, looks and behaves far older than her twenty-six years, as if she belongs to a China of the far past. Lin Kong is initially disgusted with the peasant woman's bound feet and country manners. He sees this as unbefitting to someone of his status in the modern, urban army.

However, the doctor's pride in his education and culture is of course, quite aristocratic and at its heart quite anti-egalitarian, despite his professions to be broad-minded at heart, as is befitting…

Stoning of Soraya M

Stoning is not prescribed in the current version of the Koran. Islamic law (Sharia) requires that adulterers be put to death, since it was the example set by Muhammad. In practice, the women are executed far more often, since they are presumed to bear the burden of sexual responsibility. ape victims are sometimes convicted if they speak out. eporting a rape means a confession of adultery under Sharia law if four male witnesses cannot be found to confirm the victim's claim. Numerous examples of stoning adulterers under Islamic law persist, from the Islamist frontier of Somalia to the modern state of Iran. In 2010, the Taliban planted a couple having unauthorized sex in the ground and brutally pelted them with stones only a few days after they flogged a pregnant woman 200 times and then shot her in the head. In "condemning" the killings, the "moderate"…

Ancient Jewish Weddings

Weddings in Ancient Jewish Custom

There is an example of a wedding feast from the gospel of Luke that is not of the famous Cana Wedding Feast that takes place at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, but a gathering in the house of a Pharisee. The Pharisees and scribes invited Jesus there because, as always they were trying to test Him. It was on the Sabbath, and there had already been some discussion of this seminal event in the Jewish week, but the discussion had changed because Christ had been asked to heal a man who walked up to him who had dropsy (an abnormal swelling due to excessive water retention). He asked them if they thought it was lawful to heal a man on the Sabbath, and as they were testing Him, they did not answer. So, he told them that they would definitely take their…

8). Under such circumstances, the theme of tragic love in the seventeenth century is rife with passionate rebellion against such marital arrangements. Moreover, Arnolphe's view of wifedom is base: "And there are four things only she must know: to say her prayers, love me, spin, and sew" (I.1). Women are to remain austere peasants, obedient to their masters, and kept free from emulating flirtations wives upon threat of Hell (III.2). With such a view of women, it is not surprising he is afraid of their challenge and seeks to inoculate himself through rational schemes.

Arnolphe's tyrannical grip is broken through fate. As with all forms of tyrannical insulation, it could not last. The plight of Agnes is softened in two ways: by chance and through her own skillful rebellion against ignorance. y chance, first, and despite Arnolphe's best efforts to keep Agnes ignorant and secluded from worldly corruption, fate brings…

Isaac and ebekah seemed to have a happy and healthy functional marriage. While it is never overtly stated in the text, the implication is that the two love one another. However, despite what one assumes is a fairly active sex life, ebekah is unable to conceive and they do not create a child during ebekah's childbearing years. She passes into old age, which makes one believe that she will never be able to conceive, making her conception of Esau and Jacob even more extraordinary.

Furthermore, though her mother-in-law Sarah also experienced barrenness, she did not have the same tension about conception as ebekah. Sarah always had God's favor; she was a major component of God's plan for Abraham. Therefore, there was some understanding that she would eventually have a child to continue the nation of Israel. In contrast, ebekah was not considered an essential part of Isaac's story. As a…

Sometimes as the authors mention, could be done with looking at movies that are considered romantic or even things that are just on the television. Some even feel that being in a setting that feels romantic or just looking at somebody that might be friend or even a stranger.

The authors do a thorough job in mentioning how sensuous inputting that can come from within. Maybe there is no particular event or situation that may stimulate a person's sexual desire, instead a person's sexual awareness could possibly grow out of relaxing and also body oriented time.

The chapter also makes the point that spending time with your spouse is what will most likely get you to get interested in a sexual way. As the chapter relates, this is mostly true if a person's sexual experience is normally fulfilling and void of and free anxiety. The chapter makes the point that…

In histoy, in most of the Indian families, the inheitance of the estates of the family is left to the lineage of males in the family. Though since the yea 1956, the law in India has always teated females and males as equals in mattes of inheitance whee thee is no legal will witten. Cuently, Indians have become wise and ae using legal wills fo the inheitance and succession of popety. The usage of legal wills at of the yea 2004 stands at about 20%.

The ate of divoce in India is extemely low. It stands at 1% as compaed to 40% which is expeienced in the U.S. These statistics of divoce do not, howeve, give a complete pictue of the divoce situation in India. This is because many maiages that end up being split do so without a fomal divoce. Thee is a eseach gap in the scientific studies…

Anyi Wang is a noted author from China. Her stories are clearly influenced by the progression of time and politics in China and beyond. She has been hailed as a hero and a scholar by some but has been vilified by others. Even so, her story is intriguing and so is the material that she has written. Her stories include an eclectic array and they are worth of review in terms of the historical and literary context that exists around them. First, there will be a story told about Anyi Wang and her history and then there will be an extensive review of Granny in particular. The thesis and focus of the bulk of the report will be the manner and method in which people contort themselves so as to get along and fit in while at the same time changing a little too easily with the times and the…

263-266) .

iddiqui (p.264) defines an 'honor crime' as consisting of:

a range of violent or abusive acts committed in the name of honor, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and other controlling and coercive behaviors such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation which can end, in some extreme cases, in suicide or murder. (13)

These felonies, it is true, can happened, and do happen, in any civilized country but they are legalized, accepted (sometimes even condoned) and happen to an unimaginable extent in societies that are marked by their Islamic way of living.

The outhall Black isters, for instance, have consistently argued that men from minority cultures have often used religion and culture to justify the range of violence and humiliation that they impose upon women. We do find many cultures that have extreme views perpetuating misogyny. This includes cultures such as Mormonism, fundamentalists Judaism, fundamentalist Christianity, and…

George's marriage to Ella is his second one; his first wife was from an arranged marriage in Pakistan that left him unhappy. Yet he was able to incorporate aspects of development theory within his own life to find a new wife who he is (mostly) pleased with in a Western environment, and even owns a successful fish and chips restaurant. In his romantic life and in his economic life, George is able to evince some of the best qualities of development theory and modernization by taking his best assets and (literally) marrying them with those from a Western society to update and contemporize his life and his source of income.

However, what George does not take account of is the fact that he must allow the same degree of leniency from his religion and tradition that he permitted himself in marrying Ella to his children. In this sense, East is…

Throughout the book, she illustrates how the old-school traditional Muslims and the younger, most liberal Muslims are butting heads and driving a rift in the people and the religion. The more "progressive" Muslims believe that women should play a larger role in the church and the faith, and that some of the religion's tenets must change to keep pace with the 21st century. Others are rooted in the past and want no change whatsoever, in fact, they might become even more restrictive.

Nothing represents this more than the beliefs and traditions surrounding arranged marriage. The Yemenis of the Dix mosque, where Sherine lived, are extremely representative of these old-school Muslims. Most do not plan to remain in the country, and most are extremely resistant to changing their ways to adapt to American society (Abdo 47). These are the groups of Muslims that are holding back others from more fully assimilating…

Clare of Assisi

Saint Clare of Assisi was not a feminist in the modern sense, but then again no such ideas existed at all in the 13th Century. By all accounts, though, she was a formidable and powerful woman who was the first in history to found a religious order. In the society in which she was born, women were politically, socially and economically powerless, and quite literally the property of their fathers and husbands. This was a feudal, authoritarian and patriarchal society, and even aristocratic women like Clare and her friend St. Agnes of Prague were forced into arranged marriages by their fathers. Indeed, both Clare and Agnes defied their fathers when they insisted on entering religious life as followers of St. Francis of Assisi, and Clare's family disowned her. She was not a political rebel or revolutionary, but she did have a utopian vision of society that was…

Regardless, in the film the condition of women is used to show that adhering to an ideology beyond the interests of the individual, is more liberating while romance (such as Chunhua's marriage and Yuehong's affair with Tang) is constructed as negative because it is purely personal, and thus selfish in nature.

The film Spring in a Small Town, directed by Mu Fei released in 1948 stands in contrast to the ideology of Stage Sisters. The film shows a family tragically ruined by war, but rather than chafing against oppressive structures, and seeking to flee like Chunhua, the young woman at the center of the film remains mired in stasis. Unlike Chunhua, the unhappy Yuwen is still married, not a widow, and her haunted nature is exemplified by the ruined house in which she lives, and the sickly husband to which she is shackled: her voice over-says that she does not…