Arranged marriage (often
called arrange marriage) is a marriage
arranged by someone other than the couple
getting wedded, curtailing or avoiding
the process of courtship. Such marriages
had deep roots in royal and aristocratic
families around the world, including Europe.
Today, arranged marriage is still practiced
in South Asia, and the Middle East to
some extent. Other groups that practice
this custom include the Unification Church.
It should not be confused with the phenomenon
of forced marriage. Arranged marriages
are usually seen in Indian and African
cultures, and are usually decided by the
parents or an older family member.
The match could be selected by parents,
a matchmaking agent, matrimonial site,
or a trusted third party. In many communities,
priests or religious leaders as well as
relatives or family friends play a major
role in matchmaking.
In cultures
where dating is not prevalent,
arranged marriages perform a similar
function—bringing together people
who might otherwise not have met. In
such cultures, arranged marriage is
viewed as the norm and accepted by young
adults. Even where courtship practices
are becoming fashionable, young adults
tend to view arranged marriage as an
option they can fall back on if they
are unable or unwilling to spend the
time and effort necessary to find spouses
on their own.[citation needed] In such
cases, the parents become welcome partners
in a hunt for marital bliss. Further,
in several cultures, the last duty of
a parent to his or her son or daughter
is to see that he or she passes through
the marital rites.
In
some cultures, arranged
marriage is a tradition handed down
through many generations. Parents who
take their son or daughter's marriage
into their own hands have themselves
been married by the same process. Many
parents, and children likewise, feel
pressure from the community to conform,
and in certain cultures a love marriage
or even courtship is considered a failure
on the part of the parents to maintain
control over their child.[citation needed]
In such cultures, children are brought
up with these cultural assumptions and
so do not feel stifled.
Parents in some
communities fear social
and/or religious stigma if their child
is not married by a certain age. Several
cultures deem the son or daughter less
likely to find a suitable partner if
he or she is past a certain age, and
consider it folly to try to marry them
off at that stage. |
