Should Arranged Marriages Be Encouraged?

1022 Words5 Pages
Most young girls dream of the perfect wedding, the perfect husband and the perfect happily ever after. They have conjured up a beautiful day to share with a special person that they want to spend the rest of their lives with, yet millions of these girls won’t ever see their dreams come true. Since they were born, many children have been ingrained with the idea of an arranged marriage and so they grow up thinking it's the right thing, or in some cases, the only way. This is considered to be awful from the perspective of many Westerners but in many parts of the World, this is considered normal and even acceptable, as well as encouraged. First of all, what is an arranged marriage? An arranged or pragmatic marriage is a “marriage planned and agreed by the families or guardians of the couple concerned” (Oxford Dictionaries). For many centuries, arranged marriages were the most common marital union in most cultures, including the United Kingdom. It was believed to bring stronger, happier marriages with a low chance of divorce. Although most Western countries now frown upon arranged marriages, as they believe these marriages restrict freedom. Regardless, it still occurs in many parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. In India, the percentage of arranged marriages is 90% while the divorce rate is only 1.1% (Statistics Brain). Surprisingly, these statistics are not because women have different divorce rights than men. In countries like the USA though, according to the New York Times, the amount of arranged marriages is 4% while the divorce rate is as high as 50% (NY Times). Thus, further proving that there's no guarantee on its unspoken outcome, for it is to be dependent on the state, culture, religion or gender. Arranged Marriages have been modernized in most parts of the World, meaning that parents will make sure that the couple will have a common language,
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