Two Worlds, One Marriage: Exploring Cultural Differences - Essay Sample

Introduction

Marriage is a significant phase in the lives of human being where two persons become a husband and a wife. It is the basis of a family where the couple introduces children. Culture plays a significant role in marriage because it establishes different beliefs and rituals about marriage. The world continues to integrate making people shift from one location to another where culture varies. People have met partners from different countries or continent with different cultural values and customs. There are different reasons why people marry across different cultures, for instance, religious beliefs, love, social acceptance and economic status. The marriage between two different cultures is stable at the beginning and afterward the problem cultural difference strikes. Although marriage between people of different cultures benefits from their variation, they also face challenges such as communication barriers and property ownership.

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According to Heine and Johnson (2016), culture makes marriage difficult by creating unavoidable problems. The couple may, therefore, wish to continue living with these problems or separate. Lack of family support is the major problem that the couple in intercultural marriage experience. Parents do not involve in their marriage because they believe that it is unacceptable to marry a person of a different culture. Parents also feel that the partner may have unhidden agendas to ruin their family and therefore they object the marriage at all costs. The parents desert their sons and daughters because they feel that they have abandoned their cultural role to pass their beliefs and norms to the next generation. Haine illustrates that some community guides their traditions and customs jealously and therefore they do not like to expose their culture to the outsider. Communication and language barrier is another problem that faces inter-cultural marriages (Bustamante, Nelson, Henriksen & Monakes, 2011). The authors' stress that interpersonal connections based on culture and the way people communicate vary. Although some groups of people classify themselves as civilized it is important to note that everyone has a culture and therefore a different way of expressing his/her ideas. There are communication and language barriers although the majority of culture is unseen where societies may be successful in hiding it below the surface. For instance, if an Italian man marries a Russian woman, there will not only exist a problem of their language but also several factors associated with the way they manage their conflicts, express their emotions and the role of the couples in raising children (Bustamante et al, 2011). Some cultural values and beliefs are hard to adapt if even one is willing because they would also interfere with what he or she believes it is right or wrong. Bustamante et al demonstrated that the couple is always under pressure due to these cultural factors. Some relationship does not last long and if they do their level of intimacy is reduced. For example, if an American woman is married to a Hindu man, she will have a difficult time staying at room and looking after children because she believes that she has a right to own money just like a man.

In most societies, both men and women have equal rights to own properties in the 2nd century. However, some culture such as Indians and Muslims holds that it is wrong for a woman to control properties such as land among others. In this community, the husband is the legal owner and manager of his wife's personal properties. Property ownership varied across different culture and this creates a negative or positive impact in a marriage. The Hispanic culture allows married women to control their property and also those of their husband (Deere, 2001). Moreover, the women inherit properties in case of death or separation from the husband. The woman is legally allowed to own all the properties they bought together. They all keep half of the marital property. However, in the past decades, men in the United States had full control of their wives properties. This changed in the year 1900s when most started ranted married women the right to own property. Deere (2001) added that some acts in the acts constitution provide that men should have their wives approval before selling any property such as land. However, some cultures in the world do not allow women to own properties. They do not have a right to half of the matrimonial property after divorce. These are cultures are of the idea that only a husband can own and manage the property. However, although some government has passed laws that allow women to own properties, the culture still denies them this right (Valera, 2018). Moreover, unlike the Hispanic who is allowed to inherit properties, Indians are denied this right because they feel that it is the duty of a husband to look after his wife.

The patriarchy culture defines the roles of both men and women in a society based on their importance. The culture set rules of on what is expected on both gender for instance "The rules range from laws that require men to fight in a war not of their own choosing to customer expectations that mothers will provide children care" (Johnson, 1987). Women are expected to marry and bring up children and must put their families' welfare before their own. They are expected to be weak compassionate, loving, caring, sympathetic and nurturing (Johnson 1987). When a woman does not possess such attributes, she is considered no-feminine and society treats her differently. Women are treated as sexual objects of men ".... that when a woman shows sexual interest in a man or merely smiles or acts friendly, she gives up her right to say no and control her own body" (Johnson, 1987). This demonstrates how men use patriarchy culture to oppress women and dominate over them.

According to Bulanda and Brown, (2007), cultural differences leads may lead to divorce in marriage. However, the rates of the divorce depend on how different cultures hold on the importance of marriage. For instance the Hispanic culture value family over individualism and feel that it is a reliable source of help and companionship. They teach their children to value marriage where girls are taught that family and marriage are mandatory throughout their lives. Moreover, the Catholic Church for Hispanic also teaches the importance of stable marriages where a husband and wife should live in love and money. These teachings are important in Hispanic culture because they reduce the rates of divorces (Bulanda & Brown, 2007). On the other hand, American culture does not value feminism and hence the rates of divorce in this high because people are taught to be an individualist. The Mexican Americans have also adopted the white's cultures and they often get divorced easily but their rates are lower than that of the Whites (Bulanda & Brown, 2007).

Conclusion

In conclusion, culture has a great impact on marriage. In the current economy, people have been moving from one country to another hence meeting a new partner from diverse culture. Cultural differences have increased the rates of divorce because couples cannot understand each other. The intercultural marriage faces a different problem such as lack of parental and societal support. Parents feel that their sons or daughters have let them down when they marry partners of other cultures. They also feel that a person who comes from a different culture would not cope with their traditions and values. The parents desert their sons and daughters because they feel that they have abandoned their cultural role to pass their beliefs and norms to the next generation. Another problem is language and communication barriers where the couple does not conform in their expression of emotions and anger management. Lastly, another impact of culture on marriage is that it causes divorce. However, difference culture in marriage can be beneficial because it allows the couple to learn new things from one another such as ideas and enjoy various types of food.

References

Bulanda, J. R., & Brown, S. L. (2007). Race-ethnic differences in marital quality and divorce. Social Science Research, 36(3), 945-967. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X06000196

Bustamante, R. M., Nelson, J. A., Henriksen Jr, R. C., & Monakes, S. (2011). Intercultural couples: Coping with culture-related stressors. The Family Journal, 19(2), 154-164.

Deere, C. D., & Leon, M. (2001). Land and property rights in Latin America, Empowering Women. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37708121_Empowering_Women_Land_And_Property_Rights_In_Latin_America

Heine, S. J. & Johnson, O.P. (2016). Cultural Psychology (3rd ed). New York, New York: W. H. Norton Company

Johnson, Allan G. Patriarchy The system. (1987) 25-32. Retrieved from http://www.iupui.edu/~womrel/Rel%20101_Religion&Culture/Johnson_Patriarchy.pdf

Valera, H. G. A. (2018). Women's Land Title Ownership and Empowerment: Evidence from India. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/453696/ewp-559-women-land-title-ownership-empowerment.pdf