Marriage and Security

1858 Words4 Pages

Marriage and Security

Nowadays, when people think about marriage, they usually think of two people, deeply in love, who decide to bind their lives to live together. Unfortunately, that is not always the truth. There are many reasons other than love that cause marriage. Marriage has different meanings for everyone, depending on the era, the economic situation, and the culture in which they lived. But no matter what these different reasons are, the main idea has always been the same. People get married for the sake of security. This can be seen by looking at different types of marriages and finding the similarities underlying each.

Although not many people are aware of it, one of the most common types of marriage was and in some parts of the world still is “Arranged Marriage”. “Arranged marriage is a marriage where the marital partners are chosen by others, based on considerations other than the pre-existing mutual attraction of the partners.” This method was practiced especially in noble families, where two different families came together and decided that the son in one family should marry the daughter of the other. (Arranged Marriage) Arranged marriages were done in order to combine the strengths of both families. It was like a pact between the families who, by this way shared their nobility, wealth and property. Centuries later, arranged marriages are still common all over the world. The reason behind these marriages is the parents’ intention to make their children marry someone of their own class, someone ‘suitable’ for them. It is also, as in old times, a pact between the two families to share their wealth and help each other when needed. Therefore, arranged marriages do not mean ‘love-marriages’ mentioned in the com...

... middle of paper ...

... Free Software Foundation, Inc. 2002. 24 October 2004

http://www.fact-index.com/c/ca/catholic_marriage.html

- “Helping Married Families By Expanding Parents' Insurance Coverage: A Fact Sheet” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 25 July 2001, 27 October 2004

http://www.cbpp.org/7-25-01health-fact2.htm

- Interviews conducted with Middlebury College students (November 1st and 2nd)

- Noller, Patricia; Feeney, Judith; Understanding Marriage, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2002, Chapter 6

- Popenoe, David. “The Social Health of Marriage in America” The National Marriage Project. 2004. 29 October 2004

http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/SOOU/SOOU.htm

- Whitehead, Barbara. “The Marrying Kind: Which Men Marry and Why” The National Marriage Project. 2004. 29 October 2004 http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/SOOU/TEXTSOOU2004.htm#Figure%203

Open Document