Fixed marriage

Ah, the dreaded and infamous problem that is in our culture, Fixed Marriages. We all know that the cinemas and the tele-novelas here in the Philippines have made the problem regarding fixed marriages so infused in us. They use it some story lines and make it look as if the parents are really bad people who just want their children to blindly follow their every whim. Well, this is a total misconception regarding this type of marriage. Fixed marriage is nothing new in our World, it was adopted by the Filipino culture from the Chinese. Though some other cultures and countries also practice it, here in the Philippines it is mostly associated with them. And since the media has made it look so bad in the eyes of the youth of today, we are scared of it. So, what exactly is Fixed Marriage? According to weddings.lovetoknow.com:

“An arranged marriage, also known as pragmatic marriage, refers to a marriage facilitated and approved by a party other than the bride and groom. Most often parents are the initiators of these types of marriages, although other family members and friends may also be involved. Traditionally these types of marriages are determined almost exclusively by the parents, and the recipient having little or no say in choosing their mate. “

Now that we have defined and learned what it is exactly, let us now see its pros and cons and why it should not be feared. Let us start with the pros of having a fixed marriage, it is stress free because we are not the ones scouring the world for our soon to be husband or wife, the individuals concerned can focus more on their education and career paths, there is less likely to have any family conflicts, and it leads to a much stable family and marital relationship. As for the cons of it we can start with the following, if the marriage was forced and has no consent from both sides who are to be wed it is considered as coercion on the part of the parents, the environment may be violent and oppressive to those involved, and with a forced marriage the parents may be violating the human right on child marriage. So with all this said, you be the judge. You decide whether or not fixed marriages should be accepted generally in society and in culture because as the youth, your opinions do count.

Sources:

• http://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Arranged_Marriage

• http://goodnewspilipinas.com/?p=1654

• http://www.tokafi.com/static/2008/05/anna-netrebko-rolando-villazon-la-boheme-young-lovers-Anna_Netrebko_Rolando_Villazon_La_Boheme_Deutsche_Grammophon.jpg