How the marriage changed in my culture due to the discovery of oil - Essay Example

How Oil Discovery Has Changed Marriage in Our Culture Marriage is the foundation of the establishment of families that eventually creates communities. Marriage is a significant life event in the Arabic and Islamic cultures regarding it as half of one’s faith. Marriage has evolved in the Arabic culture in the past 50 years. The changes have been brought about by independence of many countries within the Arabic region and the economic boom that was triggered by oil discovery. Residence pattern of marriages in the Arabian culture has greatly changed because of the discovery of oil.

When my uncle got married two years ago, I experienced an interesting marriage event that never existed sometimes back. However, before marrying, he had to find a new residence where he could move with his wife. Looking for a new residence was never an issue 20 years ago when my father got married. My father lived with his parents even after marriage until his family got bigger. The family only moved to a new place more than five years later because my father’s large family could not be accommodated further.

Illustration given shows how our culture transformed from a patrilocality residence to neo-locality residence in the Emirates culture. Economic reasons caused the change in the residence in the UAE.Economic soundness in the Emirates culture enabled newly married couples to live independently. Unlike olden days when the UAE culture encouraged traditional businesses such as fishing and livestock farming that were held as family businesses, most of the modern families are currently employed in the oil industry.

Traditionally, an extended family could own a particular business collectively but discovery of oil in the region led to foreign labor that saw everyone going for independent job. Family members no longer remained with their families because they would move freely to seek greener pastures without worrying about family business.In a nutshell, oil discovery led to economic growth that eventually provided labor to many young people who no longer cared about their family businesses. Married couples can now move to their chosen areas of residence because funds are available to sustain them.

UAE’s oil discovery has seen family status changing from an extended to a nuclear family.