Marriage Traditions and Customs in Different Cultures - Research Paper Example

?MARRIAGE Made in Heaven, Designed on Earth INTRODUCTION Since premeval times, and among all lands and cultures, whether someone is opinionated with agnostic views or influenced by Christianity and other mainstream religions; whether one treats the female sex as slaves and beasts of burden, or accepts her as entitled to an equal rank with man, companionship between the sexes has ever been found among the most powerful desires of human race and cherished in common by either sex. This companionship or union often in the form of marriage is defined as a relationship between one or more men to one or more women that has certain rights and duties attached to it such as sexual intimacy, child bearing or proprietary rights of the parties. The history of marriage goes back to primitive times when a man and woman lived together out of custom and had offsprings together, the man being the protector of the family and woman being the child bearer and nurse (Westermarck). This paper, Project 1, describes the similarities and differences in the customs related to marriage in Indian, Jewish and Islamic cultures. The selection criteria behind these cultures is the long-established nature of their customs, the marked differences they have with American notion of marriage and the richness of diversity amongst these cultures themselves. The paper is divided into two main sections, the first section describes in brief the various customs practiced in Indian, Jewish and Islamic cultures while the second section dwells upon the key differences and similiarities between marriage traditions between western world and the above chosen cultures. MARRIAGES IN THREE DIFFERENT CULTURES Marriage traditions and customs in Indian culture India is a vast country with many religions, sub-religions and ethnicities. For the sake of this paper, marriages in Indian culture looks at primarily the uniform philosophy behind all Indian traditions. Recorded history of Indian society dates back to third century, which had a number of marriage customs especially, practiced polygamy amongst the ruling kings (Visweswaran). The Indian culture, particularly in Hindus, since ages, has a hierarchic caste system dominating the mate selection process. However, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, the pluralistic society of India has gained multifaceted progress and contemporary society has started welcoming liberal views on marriage. However, still today, diffusion of Indian culture and values in marriage is intricately interlinked with religious affiliations. Being a collective culture, family plays a huge role in finding a mate for the individual, as arranged marriages are the norm of the society. Searches for partners are done on the basis of religion, caste, physical assets, education, location and economic status of the family. Most of the times, families marry within their own financial status using search channels as print media, websites, family references or professional matchmakers. Usually families meet and approve before the girl and boy see each other. Pre-marital sex is a big taboo and looked down upon. Particularly in rural India, the practice of dowry is prevalent where the father of bride gives money or goods based on his economical status (Dalmia and Lawrence). After the marriage is fixed, the wedding customs and traditions are very elaborate and colorful with a number of song and dance ceremonies and family gatherings. Marriage traditions and customs in Jewish culture The ancient religion of Judaism is more than a religion to Jews; it is the way of life for them. The Jewish doctrine is based on the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible had provided the foundations for Christianity (British Library). They have a long history of moving places and were expelled from their land of origins in Israel. However, since 1947, over 5 million Jews live in the State of Israel (The Jewish People Policy Planning InstituteThe Jewish People Policy Planning Institute). Due to their history of suffering and anti-Semitism, Jews are very protective of their culture and tend to marry within Jews only. During Biblical period, Jewish culture was patriarchal with inferior status for women. Marriages were only “arranged” and a substantial dowry was given to the groom and his family (Ritblatt). Old practices are still followed in orthodox families while contemporary Jews select their mates by individual choice. A Jewish marriage ritual starts with the signing of the marriage contract called Ketubah that states bride's legal status and the duties to be implemented by parties after they are married. Ketubah is often read aloud in the wedding ceremony and is exhibited at the homes of the married couples. Israeli Jews generally marry before the age of 30. It is observed that usually boys initiate the dating or courtship process whereas girls are more concerned about parent’s approval. During the wedding ceremony, the groom breaks his wine glass to scare devils away from his newly wedded life. Marriage traditions and customs in Islamic culture Like Jewish and Indian cultures, Islamic culture especially related to marriage vary from region to region, eg. Islamic marriage traditions in Africa are different from that of Middle East. One billion individuals from a diverse range of races, nationalities and cultures across the world - from the southern Philippines to Nigeria follow Islamic faith. Most of the Islamic population lives in the Middle East (Arab world), Indonesia, Asia, and Africa and as minorities in China, North and South America, and Europe (Islamicity). Being a patriarchal soceity, Islamic law allows the practice of both monogamy and polygamy amongst male sex. Marriages are usually performed with the incentive of producing off-springs. Wedding proposal (taqdim) from the groom side is the first step in the marriage usually initiated by an elder family member such as grandmother. After accepting the proposal, the bride is formally permitted to unveil in the front of her future husband (Long). After the viewing (shawfa), the marriage contract (milka) is signed between the families and is supervised by an Islamic official and a judge. The marriage contract indludes details of dowry. This is followed by formal wedding ceremonies that includes parties and other celebrations. Sex is a tabooed subject to speak about and is not discussed between the bride and groom before marriage. CULTURAL COMPARISONS Differences between marriage customs in Indian, Jewish and Indian Cultures and Western cultures As mentioned above, the selection criteria for these specific cultures for this project was the contrast they represent with respect to the western world. Following are the distinctive differences observed between the marriage traditions followed with respect to ours: Dating Dating is a norm in choosing a mate in the western world. Most of the Americans date a number of prospects to check their compatibility and understanding amongst the marrying parties. Love, sexual chemistry and often-economic status form an important factor in the selection of the partner. Except for Jewish culture, dating is an alien concept to Indian and Islamic world. Pre-marital meeting, sex and other engagements in strongly discouraged and tabooed. Family participation in mate selection Unlike the individualistic proactive-ness of western cultures, Jewish, Indian and Islamic cultures act collectively and are very close to each other. Collective decision from families prevails upon the individuals’ decision in marrying their prospective partners. Dowry Dowry is often a huge factor in marriage transactions in Indian, Islamic and traditionally Jewish families whereas the notion of dowry is very alien to the western world. Role of women in marriage Often the role of women (bride) is narrower in the described cultures if compared to marriages in western world. Often their families overlook the say and likes of females in selecting their grooms as they still are seen as child bearers or homemakers. However, things are changing with evolving times and urbanization in these areas. Similarities between marriage customs in Indian, Jewish and Indian Cultures and Western cultures Following are few similarities between marriages in described cultures and those present in the American world: Role expectations between man and woman in the marriage are pretty much uniform all across the world i.e. the man is expected to bring food and take care of family while the woman takes the role of managing home and taking care of children. Bride’s name change after marriage and proprietary rights of the parties. High influence of religion in marriage traditions and customs. CONCULSION This paper discusses the aspects of marriage in three ancient yet widely different cultures in the world – Jewish, Indian and Islamic. Strong family and religious influence is observed in all of these cultures. The fact that there is limited interaction between the bride and groom before the marriage is a key differentiator in these cultures and very evident. The modern western world concepts of courtship, pre-marital sex and birth control are foreign in these cultures. Since the incentive for marriage is generally to produce offspring, low importance is given to conscious birth control after wedding. Works Cited Westermarck, Edward. History of Human Marriage, Part 1. New York: Allerton Book Co., 1922. Visweswaran, Kamala. Perspectives on Modern South Asia. Sussex: Blackwell Publishing, 2011. British Library. The Jewish people: religion and culture. 2000. 7 July 2011 . Dalmia, Sonia and Pareena G. Lawrence. "The Institution of dowry in India: why it continues to prevail." The Journal of Developing Areas 38.2 (2005): 71-93. Islamicity. Understanding Islam and Muslims. 1989. The Islamic Affairs Department, The Embassy of Saudi Arabia. 7 July 2011 . Long, David E. Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia. London: Greenwood Press, 2005. Ritblatt, Shulamit N. "Couple Formation in Israeli Jewish Society." Raeann R. Hamon, Bron B. Ingoldsby. Mate selection across cultures . London: SAGE Publications Inc., 2003. 137-150. The Jewish People Policy Planning InstituteThe Jewish People Policy Planning Institute. Annual Assessment. Jerusalem: The Jewish Agency of For Israel, 2007. Read More