Arranged Marriages

Arranged Marriage vs. Love Marriage

Imagine this: you’re standing at the altar next to a man that you’ve talked to for less than fifteen minutes, contemplating of the new life you will be spending with this stranger. This is not the rare occasion of someone getting “hitched” at Vegas; it is an arranged marriage. It is the norm in many foreign countries. Billions of people around the world get married to someone they barely know. Although arranged marriages are more prevalent in the world, love marriages create more authentic relationships, allow for personal choice, and lead to more equality for women.

Marriage should be a bond between two people that results from love, but arranged marriage occurs for reasons other than this. The most disputed of all issues involving arranged marriages are those regarding immigration. In an article centered around arranged marriage, the author states that, "for the sake of tradition and family, even some highly Americanized Indian immigrants agree to wed strangers" (Washington). The major problem arises from this type of arranged marriage; no one, not even the one being wed, knows the true intentions of the soon-to-be spouse, and the government has no way of regulating this way of entry into the country. The spouse may simply be seeking an opportunity for a new life and may not be interested in the marriage whatsoever. "More than 25 percent of all green cards issued in 2007 were to the spouses of American citizens" (CIS). This statistic arouses suspicion as to why international marriages occur with such great volume when there are multiple boundaries and obstacles separating countries. Arranged marriage is nearly a foolproof way of masking illegal immigration because governments are not able to question the marriages without being insensitive to the culture. Aside from the issue of immigration, financial advantage also comes into play when arranged marriages are instituted. When an arranged marriage is considered, the parents,...