Arranged Marriages Essay, Research Paper

Arranged Marriages

My Stand: I believe that arranged marriages are a social injustice. I feel that they deprive individuals of their liberation and goes against the first amendment freedom of speech, press, assembly and most of all choice. Marriage is a commitment of two people who have made a vow to love each other till death. Well in India, marriages are arranged and set up by the parents of the bride, without her consent. The parents search for a man they feel is compatible for their daughter, based on his background, wealth and health. Imagine crying but no one sees your tears. Imagine you can?t play music or watch T.V., just imagine your freedom is taken from you, because of the traditions that occur in your culture. Imagine that you have to spend the rest of your life with a person you don?t love.

I take the stand on this issue, on the basis of this principle, as stated in ?The World Philosophy/A text with reading?, pg. 263. ?Tradition, authority and prejudice, all three of these items are ambiguous and one can view them negatively as a source of error or positively as the necessary accompaniment of all knowledge and experience.? ?Tradition is only a form of authority.? ?No amount of emancipation can free one from one?s culture and heritage. Tradition, authority and prejudice are just words for pre- experience and pre-knowledge which becomes indeed the conditions of all the future experiences and knowledge. These words underline the essential historicity of man, the fact that he is born into and limited within a culture from which limits he can soar, though always in a limited way.? The principle as I interpreted is conveying that, rituals are a form of power that enables people to practice these traditions through the course of their lives. Who makes these traditions and why must we adhere to them? No quantity of liberation can at no cost rescue or deliver an individual from customs. It?s a way of life for them and they have no choice; just because your culture lives by certain tradition, that does not make these acts just. Ritual, power and bigotry highlights the vital accounts of individuals born, contained by a society where the voice is spoken, but never quite heard.

In conclusion, and I Quote, ?True love cannot be found where it does not exist, nor can it be hidden where it truly does.? This quote, which was obtained through research, supports my stand on this issue. Love is not something that you just fall into. You may want to love someone but can?t verbatim you may not want to love someone but do. Marriage is something special, sacred and should be shared with the person you love and hold close to your heart. It is important that we acknowledge that cultural practices, do lead to oppression of women in this country. It is a complicated dilemma, but the plight of women that are forced to marry demands attention.