Chinese Culture Vs American Culture Essay

Today marriage is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the relationship between a husband and a wife or a similar relationship between people of the same sex. For the purposes of this paper, it will focus on marriage between a man and a woman and how marriage is differently defined between the American and Chinese cultures. This paper will discuss the cultural differences found between the American and Chinese culture with emphasis on age and mate-selection. The cultural differences between American and Chinese culture related to marriage practices shows that Americans value individualism and Chinese historically value collectivism.

The age of consent varies among cultures. In the American culture we find that most states legally define the age of consent at 18 regardless of sex according to the 2011 Global Justice Initiative. For the purposes of this paper, sex is defined as being biologically female or male. In the Chinese culture, the National

People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China define the age of consent differently. In China, the age of consent is 20 for females and 22 for males which depicts the government view to marriage at a later age. This difference for the age of consent clearly leads us to believe that there is a double-standard and inequality in China. Another difference between these two cultures is mate-selection.
In American culture we find a repetition of beliefs and values that support individualism.

In the Chinese culture we find the opposite because their beliefs and values stem from collectivism. As a result, we find that mate-selection differs among these cultures. Mate-selection in American culture can be online dating (most recently), cohabitating and casual. These all represent individualism where all thinking is about the individual and what they want and need. American culture allows the individual to select their mate without any formal outside influence such as their parents. The decision lies solely on the individual. Individualism is to basically seek your own happiness. Marriage for the American culture has become a less important stage of life. Marriage is no longer necessary to have children or live together because these things can be achieved regardless of marital status. American culture values marriage but the moment they are unhappy they value their individualism more and

divorce.
The Chinese culture differs in mate-selection as depicted in the article Attitudes to marriage and sexual behaviors: A survey of gender and culture differences in China and United Kingdom. This article shows that traditional Chinese values in mate-selection still persist despite the changes in law and western influence through music and film. The article further explains that mate-selection by parents is still very much a practice in Chinese culture despite the changes in Chinese laws. Historically there were no laws prohibiting Chinese parents from arranging marriages for money or gifts but in 1980 the law was changed to forbid marriage decisions from third parties. Even though this was a huge step toward equality and freedom to choose one’s partner it still did not deter these practices. Chinese parents still have a strong hold and influence over their children. Since China is a collective society which emphasizes the importance of the needs of others rather than the self as opposed to independence being valued more in American culture than the concern for others.
The reality today is that all cultures continue to evolve, change and influence. Culture and society play a role in shaping our values and behaviors. If the people of China do not have the same resources as the people in the United States then there will be differences. Does China have the same freedom to surf the internet? Does the Chinese government have any restrictions on internet use? Is the American culture better than the Chinese culture? Culture wields a significant effect on all behaviors and marriage is just one aspect. American culture compared to Chinese culture on the concept of marriage differ in age restrictions and mate-selection. It is these differences that show American culture as individualistic and Chinese culture as collectivistic.