Article summary
The article explores the issue of marriage in the United Arab Emirates. In addition, it discusses the critical issues of money and weddings in the region. In the UAE, marriage has become an expensive aspect of societal life that pushes many men to marry from other parts of the world. Men cannot afford to sustain wives from wealthy families. Therefore, they opt for women who are not accustomed to their culture and traditions.
The article discusses these issues from different perspectives. It evaluates the evolution of wedding practices due to the discovery of oil. On the other hand, it explores public discourse with regard to marriage and wedding. Finally, it evaluates how these public discussions transformed the Emirati society. The author aims to show how the Emirati society has changed over the years by discussing changes in their wedding practices, and presenting the findings of interviews that involved different people. In addition, the author aims to demonstrate how unvoiced concerns contributed towards the rapid changes that have been observed within the Emirati society.
Reaction to the article
The author starts the article by describing the reason that motivates Emirati men to marry foreign women. She presents the issue of foreign marriages in a comprehensive manner by explaining why wealth is an important factor in Emirati marriages. The shift towards mixed marriages occurred after the discovery of oil in the UAE. Rich families started asking for high bride prices that many men could not afford (Bristol-Rhys, 2007). The author supports this claim with statistics from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The introduction of the article helps the reader to understand the topic in readiness for further discussion of other related issues.
The author discusses the evolution of marriage by discussing the situation in days before the discovery of oil. In olden days, the mahr comprised cheap and affordable materials such as jewellery, food, household goods, and a small amount of money. It had a religious and an economic foundation. However, after the discovery of oil, families began to ask for large amounts of mahr that many men could not afford (Bristol-Rhys, 2007). To show how the changes transformed the society, the author discusses the era before the discovery of oil and how marriages were conducted. She explores the effect that the discovery of oil had on the society with regard to marriages and mahr. The author supports her claims using findings from interviews conducted on different people.
According to the article, weddings have changed tremendously. The author describes a contemporary wedding to demonstrate the changes that have taken place. The author discusses this issue based on 26 weddings that she attended. Today, weddings have become vital social events in Emirati society. They take place in expensive establishments and involve both invited and uninvited guests. The author presents figures that show how expensive these weddings are with regard to the amount of money paid to host them in restaurants and hotels. The author also presents several aspects of these weddings that make them expensive. For example, she talks of the white wedding dress, a concept that was borrowed from the western culture.
The price of the dress varies and depends on its designer. The food and drinks consumed in these weddings cost a lot of money because of the large number of people. From the findings of the author presented in the article, it is clear that weddings are expensive events in the UAE. This explains why many prefer to marry women from outside Emirati society.
Despite intense public discourse on the matter, mixed marriages are still common in Emirati society. The author is right in claiming that public discourse has not changed the situation significantly because despite the existence of a 50,000-dirham cap on mahr, many men still marry foreign women (Bristol-Rhys, 2007). This cap has not helped to mitigate the problem because of additional charges that include indirect mahr to the bride’s family and the cost of food and drinks. Public discourse mainly focuses on the Marriage Fund. The fund encourages people to conduct mass weddings in order to reduce marriage costs.
The discourse has also focused on the fund’s budget cuts. Despite the establishment of the fund, many people still prefer private weddings. There is great pressure on men to conduct expensive weddings in order to match the economic statuses of the families of their brides. Many families put pressure on their men to conduct expensive weddings so that they can invite rich people to socialize with and create networks. The author clearly captures the effect of public discourse on marriage and weddings in the UAE. Women harbor competitive attitudes that make them demand lavish weddings in order to outdo each other. This pressures men a lot thus pushing them to marry foreign women.
In addition, the changing roles of women in the society are scary to men. Women are embracing more challenges thus becoming powerful, wealthy, and influential. It is evident from the findings of the author that the aspect of mixed marriages will remain part of Emirati society for a long time. Women are gradually becoming more independent than they were in olden days.
Reference
Bristol-Rhys, J. (2007). Weddings, Marriage, and Money in the United Arab Emirates. Anthropology of the Middle East, 2(1), 20-36. Web.