Marriage in South Asia ​
Tags
Cegep1
Humanities
Word count
217 words
Reading time
2 minutes
Arranged marriage ​
In India, almost all marriages are arranged.
Reasons:
- Importance of marriage
- <= job, house and social circle gained through family connections
- <= inability to divorce
E.g.military career dangerous thus undesirable
- <= affects family reputation
- Experience of the parents
- (Ridiculous since the marriage of the parents was most likely also arranged: the parents don't have more experience of choosing a partner.)
- Inexperience of the child being married
- <= no date
- <= no social life with the opposite sex
- Enjoyment of life without worrying about marriage
- => no competition to be popular with the opposite sex
- A.k.a. throwing all the burden on the parents?
- Mystery and romance of marriage
- (???)
Factors:
- Family
- Background
Internal conflict- Number of children
- The lesser the more ressource for each
- Caste
- Occupation
- Personality
Independence
- Appearance
- Skin colour
- Height
- Weight
Endogamy ​
Marriage within a specific social group (caste) => prevents caste intermixing
Dowry ​
Payment by a bride's family to her in-laws => degradation of women
Banned by law in India, but replaced by extensive gift exchanges => peak consumerism
Divorce ​
Considered scandalous
Divorce ratio extremely low => enables abuse without consequence
Ajitani Hifumi