Pakistan is a very distinct country with a heterogeneous culture and a hierarchical society. The Islamic religion is practiced by the majority of Pakistanis and has significantly shaped their values and traditions. Under semi-arranged marriages, the couple makes the final decisions. The Pakistanis who decide to undergo these types of marriages live in the urban areas of the country and are usually well educated and liberal. A complete arranged marriage is made with no compromises by the potential bride or groom. The Pakistanis that undergo these kinds of marriages live in the rural areas, which are the least educated people.
Like other Muslim countries, Pakistan allows polygamy in a marriage. Although, it is permitted, Pakistan has “strict” rules about this type of marriage, unlike other Islamic countries. A man must meet the requirements that the committee asks for in order to be approved for a polygamous marriage. If a male were to want divorce, he could do so by just repeating three times “I divorce you”. He gives a written notice to the union council and a written notification would be given to his wife(s). For Pakistani women on the other hand, she can divorce her husband if she forgoes her financial rights. Maintaining a good reputation in a lifelong demand for Pakistani females. Behaviors like divorcing or being raped washes their respect away and cannot be retained. In the society, women that are over 25 years old, that are not married or are divorced are seen with disapproval.
The basic unit of the Islamic society is the family. The father is responsible for the care of his family, specifically, in financial matters. The extended family is the central social structure, they usually stay together for life and are...
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Several changes have occurred since the 1920s in traditional family values and the family life. Research revealed several different findings among family values, the way things were done and are now done, and the different kinds of old and new world struggles.
In the journal,"The Impact of Chinese Cultures on a Marital Relationship", shows an example of a Chinese arranged marriage with negative impacts. The wife is treated as if she is a servant. "Treat me like a nanny."(Scharff 2). Her husband doesn't see her as a wife, he sees her as a worker. The wife needed to produce babies for the husband. "I needed to have a child for him."(Scharff 8). This marriage clearly represents how women were negatively
The role of women in China has changed dramatically, from one servitude and repression in ancient China, to one of equality in modern China. China women were sometimes subject to their father but when they got married they were subjected to obey their husband without and questioning. ?This study considers family development and attitudes toward motherhood in light of changing roles of women in China. The effects of revolutionary events and government policies on marriage and the traditional family are presented based on interviews conducted in China and a review of the literature? (Hare-Mustin and Hare 67-82). I think that women in any culture should have the same role because it seem like China women have no freedom. Some women went to night school, or worked at the factory until laws were passed to equalize women under the law.
Arranged marriages are typically not practiced in the United States, however, they are still a part of other cultures. While arranged marriages are often seen as a barbaric or outdated practice, they can still be successful. It may not seem important to study arranged marriages since they are not widely practiced in modern America or other western cultures but some benefits of arranged marriages found could be used to lessen the negative image western civilizations have about cultures that continue the practice of arranged marriages. There are definitely drawbacks in the practice of arranged marriage but there are also benefits that are often overlooked.
Imagine seeing a girl no older than eight years old, being forced into marriage to a man twice her age. For many girls around the world being forced into marriage to much older men is an everyday occurrence in their lives. The word “arranged” is not usually associated with the word “forced” but in cases like these the girls have no choice but to agree to marry. Arranged marriages are deeply imbedded into the cultures of some countries with girls being promised into marriage when they are as young as a month old and marrying before they reach maturity. About a third of the women married in developing countries are married before they were eighteen years of age. In Afghanistan, 43 percent of brides from 2000 to 2008 were married before the age of eighteen and the number has risen due to poverty and problems the country is facing (Norland and Rubin 1). In developing countries such as Yemen, India, and Afghanistan, the practice of early arranged marriages is outlawed in their countries’ constitutions. Any such marriages take place illegally or under the radar of the law (Gorney 1). Afghan women and girls are being forced into arranged marriages to settle things such as debt and to secure stable futures for themselves or their families. Often these girls are targets for physical and mental abuse with little or no way out. Therefore, there should be more Muslim organizations that dedicate themselves to the education of the Afghan people about the physical and emotional effects of forcing young girls into marriage and ways to improve the lives of Afghan girls.
Walstedt, Joyce Jennings. “Reform of Women's Roles and Family Structures in the Recent History of China.” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 40, no. 2, 1978, pp. 379–392.,
In her book, The House of Lim, author Margery Wolf observes the Lims, a large Chinese family living in a small village in Taiwan in the early 1960s (Wolf iv). She utilizes her book to portray the Lim family through multiple generations. She provides audiences with a firsthand account of the family life and structure within this specific region and offers information on various customs that the Lims and other families participate in. She particularly mentions and explains the marriage customs that are the norm within the society. Through Wolf’s ethnography it can be argued that parents should not dec5pide whom their children marry. This argument is obvious through the decline in marriage to simpua, or little girls taken in and raised as future daughter-in-laws, and the influence parents have over their children (Freedman xi).
There appears to be widespread agreement that family and home life have been changing dramatically over the last 40 years or so. According to Talcott Parsons, the change in family structure is due to industrialization. The concept that had emerged is a new version of the domestic ideal that encapsulates changed expectations of family relations and housing conditions. The family life in the postwar period was highly affected. The concept of companionate marriage emerged in the post war era just to build a better life and build a future in which marriage would be the foundation of better life. Equality of sexes came into being after...
China has been undergoing number of social and economic changes throughout its communist history. There is no doubt that these socio-economic changes have influenced the society both positively and negatively. The most two significant changes of all would be the Cultural Revolution which took place during 1960s and the economic transition to the market economy, which has been in effect since 1980s. In this research paper I will focus on the impacts of the ongoing socio-economic changes on what is called a “traditional” family in China. To be more specific, I will try to analyze how the divorce has become one of the “new values” of a “modern” Chinese family.
Diamant, Neil Jeffrey. Revolutionizing the Family: Politics, Love, and Divorce in Urban and Rural China, 1946-1968. London, England: University of California Press, Ltd., 2000.
"Families are essentially care institutions that vary across cultures and change over time. Their essential function, historically, has been to contribute to the basic economic survival of family members; thus, the structure of families often adapts to the economy, and cultural ideologies and laws are created to reinforce that adaptation."(The evolution of families and marriages, 2015)
In the article Arranging a Marriage in India, Serena Nanda, a professor of Anthropology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, writes about what she learned about arranged marriages in India from interviewing informants and participating in arranging a marriage herself. Nanda brought in some American biases about how marriage and love are “supposed” to work. She initially had trouble accepting why someone would want or let another arrange their marriage instead of seeking a partner themselves. Nanda’s difficulty understanding arranged marriages, is a result of having grown up in a culture that leaves such decisions to the individual. Furthermore, if the quotes given in the article are an indication, Nanda let her biases influence her conduct
I come from a Muslim household influenced by my mother 's traditional, rural Pakistani roots. Each of my sisters entered arranged marriages at the age of 18. While my mother values education for women, she also raised me to appreciate the traditions from which I come; she held to strict standards reinforced by deep-rooted propriety. I struggled to fight for my own education in a community that constantly encouraged me to
Throughout intensive review of literature, It has been realized that the family is considered as the essential social foundation due to its important functions of creation and socialization and because it is found, in some forms, in all societies. Family, as a term, is utilized in everyday language whose meaning is analogous with the culturally and historically specific social practices to which it denotes. The family is also considered a universal social life of particular culture and eras. Its activities have an impact upon the maintenance of the social structure of the society, of which it is a part, focus on biological and demographic structures (Vasundhra, 2008).
According to Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan religion shall not be separated form state. He stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be.” Minorities face religious discrimination although the constitution of Pakistan has respected their rights. Other than this, domestic violence is a substantial problem in Pakistan. According to a study by Human Right Watch 70-90 percent of women in Pakistan have experienced abuse. Approximately, 5000 women have been killed in Pakistan because of domestic violence and thousands have been