Arranged marriages are highly traditional practices where a family chooses a spouse for their child, sometimes before they are even born. The child typically have little to no say in the matter, and are forced into the marriage in order to gain financial or social advantages for their family. However, that is not to say that all arranged marriages are bad at all. The tradition is much closer to home than many people would like to believe, and is still practiced today in places like the United States and Europe. In order to gain a better perspective on what arranged marriages have to offer the people and families involved let’s break down the good and bad.
The Pros of Arranged Marriages
1. Ensures A Future
The stress and pressure of finding someone to settle down and live your life with is overwhelming for many people, and this pressure grows with each passing day. With arranged marriages, that stress is never there, because they know that they are ensured someone to live their life with.
2. It’s A Family Affair
The families of the spouses are deeply involved in the process of choosing a partner for their family member. This means that the two families will get along, relieving the worry that your parents may not like the spouse that you have chosen. This process also strengthens the bond between the two families as well as relationships within each.
3. Love Grows
Many of the people who are married through arranged marriages do not begin their married life loving their partner, but this changes. Living life and going through experiences is what grows your love for a person. This is especially true in an arranged marriage situation.
4. Understand Expectations
What is expected of each person is made clear from the get go. This takes alot of the guess work out of the relationship, because each knows the expectations for the other. A woman knows if her husband expects her to know how to cook, or if he expects her to be a working woman.
The Cons of Arranged Marriages
1. The Absence of Choice
If you truly dislike the person your family has chosen for you, there is very little that you can do to change it. The majority of arranged marriages are forced, which means that you can not object. This could sentence a person to a life of misery with someone that they do not like or agree with.
2. A Loss of Experience
When you are involved in an arranged marriage, it is typically arranged when you are very young. You are not allowed to date or attempt to meet anyone else because you husband or wife has already been chosen for you. There are many experiences that come from the dating world that are lost with arranged marriages.
3. Can Be Exploitation
Families that are poor or have very bad social standing in their community may knowingly marry their child to a bad or corrupt family in order to gain wealth and social standing. This is basically a form of slavery and an exploitation that greatly damages lives.
4. A Higher Chance of Divorce
Divorce is a word that is very frowned upon in most cultures, especially in a situation with an arranged marriage. However, it is also very common. This is because there is no way to know if you are right for someone until you get to know them, which you do not get to do in an arranged marriage. The only way away from this person is through divorce, which usually ends in burnt bridges with family members and an isolation from the community.