The concept of love in arranged marriages

Running head: THE CONCEPT OF LOVE

The Concept of Love in Arranged Marriages
Jaclyn E. Vazquez
Iona College
Abstract
In Anita Jain’s article, Is Arranged Marriage Really Any Worse ThanCraigslist?, the author gives us a witty and entertaining look into not only the world of attempts at arranged marriages, but of her own Western-style dating adventures as well. The idea of having anarranged marriage is discussed lightheartedly, but informatively. The practice of arranged marriage may seem antiquated to some, but is still widely practiced in a number of cultures in the Easternhemisphere. An arranged marriage is not necessarily a loveless one. Many people in arranged marriages explain that they eventually learn to love one another, and statistics show that divorce rate forthose in arranged marriages is much lower than the divorce rate in the United States, where many marry out of love. Is any one method of finding a companion better than the other? In my opinion, whateverworks best for the people involved is the method that best suits them. If the ultimate goal is to find love and/or companionship, who are we to judge the method used?

An arranged marriage isdefined and marked by being set up by someone other than the couple getting wedded, shortening or even sometimes completely avoiding the process of courtship altogether. It is a concept that has been aroundfor hundreds of years, and is still practiced today, largely in South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and some parts of East Asia. It is a concept that we as Westerners are not accustomed to, as wesubscribe to the idea of romantic love. However, it can be argued that those who practice arranged marriages view our customs of prolonged periods of dating and engagement as foreign and strange. AnitaJain’s article in New York Magazine (2005), Is Arranged Marriage Really Any Worse Than Craigslist?, offers a humorous take on Western dating versus arranged marriage.
In her article, Jain...