Different cultures view marriage from various angles depending on the values and virtues held important. Some cultures are very liberal in the way they view marriage, as a relationship based on mutually agreed-upon decisions by two loving partners. This is the case with marriage in many societies including the United States of America and Europe and other continents of the world. In the aforementioned societies, marriage is often a result of long-term or short-term courtship between two random people who met in various weird ways (Sethi and Reiter, 2020). In this regard, the study seeks to establish whether arranged marriages in India function better than love marriages in the institution of marriage. Further, the study seeks to confirm whether decisions made by the married couple trickle to the rest of the family.
However, this is far from the case in the Indian society, where marriage is a deep-seated family interest and this aspect troubles parents of men and women who are of age and ready for marriage. According to Bertolani (2017), marriage in Indian society is strictly arranged by the parents of potential marriage partners and does not necessarily have to involve love. The practice of arranged marriages in India fosters socio-economic, geographical, and historical aspects for Indians. Consequently, the benefits of arranged marriages among the Indian communities have been reported to include the ability of society to maintain its fabric, in addition to allowing parents the chance to control their children’s lives (Nagar, 2018). Further, Nagar (2018) notes that arranged marriages are linked to reinforcing kinship, preserving ancestral lineage, protecting family property, and also the preservation inside marriages.
Thus, arranged marriage in the context of Indian society is a practice that other cultures ought to emulate. According to Sethi and Reiter, (2020), the divorce rates among the Indian married populations are the lowest of all globally, as compared to love marriages, as in the case in the United States high divorce rates. Moreover, the Indian society has embraced a communist approach to the marital process and individuals make decisions with the knowledge that its outcomes could create a ripple effect for everyone from the nuclear married couple to the larger family, including both married parents. In conclusion arranged marriages, despite denying people their freedom to choose mates, have been proven to last more than love marriages, and seem to function better in a predefined direction.
References
Bertolani, B. (2017). Structural Restrictions and Personal Desires: Arranged Marriages between Punjab and Italy. In Boundaries within: nation, kinship and identity among migrants and minorities (pp. 161-180). Springer, Cham. Web.
Nagar, I. (2018). The unfair selection: A study on skin-color bias in arranged Indian marriages. SAGE Open , 8(2), 2158244018773149. Web.
Sethi, K., & Reiter, M. D. (2020). Arranged marriages: an inappropriate fabrication. Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal, 2020(1), 1-10. Web.