Arranged Marriages
Monday, 22 August 2011
Arranged Marriages might be perceived as a thing of the past. The cliche of romeo and juliet loving each other, only for their parents to oppose the marriage, and soon enough one of the couple is married off to another person he/she does not really love. However, even in the modern society, such ideologies still very much exists. In India, arranged marriage is still practised because the people believed that marriages are arranged in the interests of the family or community, that choosing a partner is too important a step to be left to chance. Parents believe that they know what is best for their children and have the misconception that their children are impulsive youths who might just marry someone who will mistreat him/her and negatively impact the family. Thus, they arrange marriages to ensure that their children's spouses are perfect.I personally am against arranged marriages. In a modern society where democracy and freedom is very much valued. It would be contradictory, if a personal thing like marriage is up to parents, then when will the child grow up and learn to make decisions and ultimately take responsibility? One of the aims of arranged marriages is ensuring a everlasting marriage for the child, to what is perceived to be a suitable partner. However, if the couple is indeed in love, does it not give the marriage a higher rate of success than one that is not in love? If the marriage ultimately fails, instead of having to blame their parents, the child then has no choice but to take responsibility for the marriage and his actions.
That being said, I think that it is perfectly fine for parents to discuss with their children regarding his/her future partners. In fact, arranged marriages are fine as long as it is not forced onto the child and that the parents assuming have their child's interest in mind. For example, if a parent was to marry off their children for money purposes, it is unjustified. Other than that, unless the child disagrees, there is no reason why arranged marriages cannot succeed as long as both parties give it a chance.
In conclusion, while I feel that a parents opinion is important, a child's one is as important and thus it should be a joint decision made by both the parent and children.