Growing up in Laredo where diversity is low, we tend to get comfortable in what we consider “normal”. Laredo is a small, border town in south Texas with approximately two hundred fifty thousand citizens (United States Census Bureau). About ninety-five percent of that population is Hispanic (United States Census Bureau). My friend, Ali, is from India and still practices most of the customs from her culture. So I would’ve imagined she experienced some serious culture shock moving here. However, I later came to find she’s lived in the United States most of her life. I hadn’t understood how immense the difference from her culture was from mine until the end of my junior year in high school.
I met Ali during my freshman year of high school.
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Ali explained to me that in her Hindu culture and religion, it was custom to have a marriage between two people arranged by the parents. My shock turned to confusion; I had only heard of arranged marriages in movies and books. Not something seen in real life. I was used to a culture where the majority of the population is Catholic and Hispanic and couples choose each other. Since she’s my friend, my first thought was concern for her happiness in an arranged marriage after living in the United States for so long. How much of our culture and customs has she absorbed and what impact will it have on her “arrangement”? But, she then mentioned she was happy and excited because she knew and liked the person whom she is set to marry. My concern for her arranged marriage dissipated; I knew that what may not seem normal for me was normal for her. So, I also came to realize the important part here was that she was happy. I didn’t know it then, but those thirty minutes around lunch table altered my views and they were forever changed for the better. It also exposed me to a small part of the world outside of my non-diverse border
Marriage practices vary across cultures. Every culture has its own way of conducting marriage according to their traditions and customs. Most cultures share common customs and practices, while some cultures have unique practices. Marriage refers to a social union agreed upon by the couples to unit as spouses. The union of couples implies sexual relations, permanence in union, and procreation. This research paper focuses on comparing marriage practices in American and Indian culture. There is significant difference between the two cultures in marriage practices.
The marriage is one of the best things to make a happy life. Many years ago, parents had arranged marriages for their children. In Asia, as the customs of Vietnam, parents who decide and arrange the marriages of their children. Normally, parents flanked by close friends so they wanted their children to marry parent friend’s children, and gratitude between them will be even stronger together. Additionally, parents arranged for their children to marry the wealthy children to give their children full life. Also, parents choose their child partners and it is their customs. These children have no right to disobey and reject marriage. Their children married without ever knowing each other or see each other 's face. According to the book “The Immigrant Advantage,” it has a story of the Indian girl married under the marriage arranged by her parents. Until now, the Indian customs that still exist. Not only in India, in other countries, there is still customary marriages arranged by parents. Vietnam is no longer
Growing up, I perceived myself as a minority in a predominantly Hispanic and to a lesser extent Asian area based solely on the restaurants in the area and how often I would see Spanish and an East or Southeast Asian script on the sign for a store. The latter is seen in the fact 55.9% of the population spoke Spanish or Spanish Creole and 87% of this group spoke English “less than well,” indicating it may be at least a second language for them. Asian and Pacific Island language speakers makeup 5.2% of the population, however, a greater degree of assimilation was seen in this group with only 64.4% of this group indicating they spoke English “less than well.” Another factor in this is that over 60 percent of the population (61.3%) is foreign born with the vast majority (90.8%) speaking Spanish or Spanish Creole at home. A quarter mile from my house there was an entire plaza of Southeast Asian stores and restaurants and a half mile away was another, larger plaza with mostly Mexican and other Central American businesses and spaces. In spite of this economic activity, the two thirds of residents rented rather than owned their homes and nearly 80% of the total population lived in these units. Additionally, 82.1% of the Spanish speaking population over the age of 25 have earned less than a highschool diploma. Such data are emblematic of the relationship between being a person of color in this country and the barriers to
There are countless numbers of vastly different cultures across this globe, but one characteristic that they all share in common is their ability to effectively communicate within their culture. Many of those cultures can be found right here in the United States. As the former director of the U.S. Census Bureau Kenneth Prewitt said, “We’re on our way to becoming the first country in history that is literally made up of every part of the world.” (Vaughan-Lee, 2017, para. 2) One predominant culture that is on the rise in the United States in the Mexican or Latino culture.
Not even a little bit. I mean, growing up in Texas, you just don’t ever expect to.
As a Hispanic American, I have been exposed to the beauty of my ancestors culture, while living in a country with one of its own. Being the first generation to be born in the United States of America, coming from a family whose roots deeply stem from the Dominican Republic, is an interesting dynamic. While my family is well adjusted to living in the States, they still celebrate as if they were back in their birthplace. They eat, drink, and dance as if they were back home. They speak Spanish to each other despite knowing perfect English. They remind us first generation kids, how privileged we are to be born in the States. As an American, my lifestyle and culture is evidently different than that of my family. I, among my Hispanic American millennial
Furthermore, moving to India, marriage takes on a whole new meaning with different outlooks on what makes a marriage last. In the states, a marriage forms a bond between two people who exhibit the characteristics ready for the next chapter in their lives but most will end in divorce. For some couples in India, however, the parents pick who they will marry. Serena Nanda, a student at John Jay College, realized how ignorant she was about arranged marriages in Arranging a Marriage in India by finding arranged marriages offensive at first but then realizing how freeing, mysterious, and rewarding they are. Marriage in India is a
Hispanic American community are rooted from their origins in Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other Spanish speaking countries that have come together and form a culture in the United State of America. The culture is built in different categories; for instance, religion, social custom, health practices their privacy, and birth. They come from a comprehensive familiar culture that has been called the second in America. Because of their pride and affection they feel unsafe to give up their past. Their notoriety in the United State has been their resistance to assimilate; their guarded image of Hispanic-American culture has been the tongue of flame. However, their remarkable legacy, Hispanics carry from Latin America is not their language, an
In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.
Moving to another country is a tremendous cultural change and as a middle school student, it was quite overwhelming. One of the major differences in background between the population in the UK and the population in the US is the Hispanic community. A reason for this being that North America shares a border with Central and South America, whilst Britain is proximate to Spain, however, I learnt that the two societies have comparatively different traditions despite having the same overall heritage. One person I met during my second year in the states, who ultimately became my best friend, was born into a Mexican-African-American household. So even with having the African likeness on our fathers’ sides, there was a world of dissimilarities but
My second cultural experience I contemplated numerous topics; nevertheless, it seems as though opportunities for cultural experiences keep presenting themselves to me. My brother, Raymond bought four tickets for the Bone, Thugs and Harmony rap concert. Now, I have had the pleasure of watching their rap concert in San Francisco, yet I was extremely hesitant to attend a rap concert in Laredo, Texas.
marriages that occur in India and the United States have several dramatic differences. Marriages in India are based solely on parental decisions, whereas in the United States a marriage is based on individualism. Who, why and how the spouse is chosen, is very different in both countries. Most Americans date to discover who their future spouse is going to be, and they know the person very well before marriage. In India, dating is not something that occurs. Most individuals in India do not have any interaction with the bride or groom prior to their wedding day, therefore, they do not personally know who they are marrying (Nanda 624). Though these differences exist, pros and cons reflect on each of them.
In American culture the view on arranged marriages are not looked at very favorably. This is because we have grown up with the knowledge that when it comes time to marry we will have chosen our spouse of our own free will. The match will be a love match and one that is chosen through our own needs. Young men and women in India grow up with an opposite view on marriage. They know that when it comes time to marry their parents will find them a suitable mate and it will be considered scared and a lifelong commitment (Agence France-Presse.) A total of 74 percent of respondents from across India voted in favour of traditional "arranged" marriages, according to the poll by private television channel NDTV. In the Hindu faith, marriage is
Marriage is a union that has been around for as long as humans have walked the earth. The human race depends upon the union of its members, and as such, the subject of marriage has been an issue that receives more intense scrutiny and attention than many would likely believe. In today's day and age, with humanity continuing to move in a modern direction, many argue that marriage is a union that should be entered into freely and should be based exclusively on the love between two people. However, I argue that arranged marriage, which has taken place throughout the ages and throughout the world, is a union that offers its observers a marriage based in support, longevity and love, and is an institution that should not be frowned upon.
I live in a country of Pakistan. And we have an Islamic religion. We usually do arrange marriages. The marriage happened in the presence of the elders. They fix the date and meet with each other family. Then they exchange gifts and sweets with each other. They make arrangements of marriage by fixing the date. The groom and bride are not allowed to meet or talk with each other. Sometimes the bride and groom has not seen each other. Then the date is fixed and necessary arrangements are made for the bride and groom. All of the arrangements are made by mostly the elders like the bride and groom close relatives. The purpose of the arrange marriages with the elders permission is to make a long lasting relationship between the bride and the groom. When the wedding is about to take place, several witnesses are there to evidence the marriage. Then the bride and groom usually lives in the shelter of their parents or old relatives. This was done to make sure that everything goes by smoothly and none of the traditions and culture is ignored. Now there is an era of new generation. And also many people have been to abroad and seen many cultures and