My Position as to Mixed Marriages - Essay Example

Task Mixed Marriages Social links across borders have been made possible by international migration and tourism, and this is oneof the effects of globalization. Easy access to different countries and increased communication has increased chances of marriages of people from different nationalities. The increase in the number of bi-national marriages has experienced exceptional growth over the past few years and questions of how they work have been raised by many people since they want to know how they are able to communicate and live together. Partners who live in mixed marriages have to change their strategies and learn how to cope with each other so as to deal with the spread family network hence interact favorably. Different people will have varying views on the validity of mixed marriages and marriages of people with the same nationality as discussed in this paper. Mixed marriages will imply that people will have different heritages, and they will have to learn how to deal with each other so that their families can work. For example, if a man from the United States gets a spouse form a country like Bahrain first, communication will be an obstacle if the Bahrain woman does not understand English. This will be the first obstacle to their relationship since they will find it difficult to communicate freely. Furthermore, the values that the Bahrain woman takes into consideration are different from those of the American man. Research shows that women from the Middle East are seen as the inferior group, and they adore their men and expect them to provide for their families under all circumstances. The American man will have to try change the beliefs of his spouse since this is a primeval practice in the United States. For this family to live together happily many obstacles will have to be overcome and this may be detrimental to the marriage. Family ties will have to be made, and in most cases, communication among people from different nationalities will vary. Lack of understanding between families of the two spouses could be a great obstacle to the marriage since the entire family needs to support the marriage in order for it to work. Secondly, the heritage of the children will have to be clearly thought about since they may find it difficult to identify themselves with one culture. Since they have parents from different nationalities and cultures, they may have problems while identifying themselves with one. The father may want the children to completely take up the American culture and the mother her own culture. This implies that there will be a division in beliefs and attitudes in the children if the necessary measures are not taken (John). Religion will also be an obstacle since chances that the two do not share the same religion are high. This will mean that the relationship will be under trouble concerning the religion to take up, and this might affect the marriage in the later stages when there is a conflict and may lead to divorce. Research shows that most people in mixed marriages have higher chances of divorce than marriages from people from the same country. Some of the reasons to this are that there is a possibility of cohabiting before marriage and chances are that they are not religious are high. People in a mixed marriage will live together for a while before they get married so that they can try to know each other, but it is extremely hard to know someone completely in a matter of limited time. Cohabitation increases the risk of divorce since the couple will know the weaknesses of the spouse, and if they do not learn how to eliminate them divorce is eminent. Most mixed marriages are not religious, and research shows that religion is vital in dictating the beliefs that the family upholds. Religion will make the couple respect the marriage and will control them from doing things, which may destroy their marriage. If the couples are not religious, they will end up ruining the marriage by either cheating on each other, and this will result to divorce. Researches by the National Survey Family Growth show that most mixed marriages are childless, and this could be the source of divorce since children have a role to play in strengthening marriages. However, some people argue that mixed marriages have higher chances of survival and are better than marriages of people from the same nationality or race. Biologists claim that the children born from mixed marriages will take up the advantageous traits from both parents, and they will grow strong and clever due to the mixture of genes. This means that the couple’s children will be bright, and it is the desire of every parent to have successful children. This implies that the couple will try to build a strong relationship so that they can bring their children up in the right environment and be successful. This means that the chances of divorce will be low since both the parents want the best from their children and they will endeavor to see that the family stays together. Data from the NSFG indicates that women in mixed marriages will marry at later ages of their lives hence chances of divorce are low. This is because they will be mature and will know how to keep the marriages strong. The data also suggests that women in mixed marriages are more likely to be foreign born and are less likely to seek divorce than the native women (Kreider). Furthermore, husbands in mixed marriages will be educated, and this implies that the risk of divorce will be low since education instills life lessons. Some scholars argue that since people in mixed marriages strive to make their marriages work by trying to know each other, the likelihood of divorce is minimized. I do not support mixed marriages since there are many obstacles to be overcome in order to make the marriage work. The difference in culture and beliefs is the foremost reason why I do not support mixed marriages since the couple will have to choose one culture to follow or learn to live with the different cultures. This will affect their children since they will have problems while trying to identify themselves with one culture hence it is an obstacle to the family living together. Divorce in a mixed marriage is likely to occur since coming to an understanding of the different values that each couple has is difficult. People of the same nationality will most likely share their beliefs and attitudes, and this means that their marriage will take of on a high note hence they will live together happily provided they work on making their marriage work. Works Cited Kreider, Rose. Interracial Marriage and Marital Stability, 2000. Population Association of America. John, Nacy. Interracial Marriages and the Effects on Children, 2011. The University of Dayton School of Law. Web, November 8, 2011. Read More