Question

1. Given the variation in kinds of marriages that are practiced around the world, in what ways can we say that marriage itself is a cultural universal?

Answer 1

Kinds of marriage:

There are several kinds of marriage across the world. Below are them.

Traditional marriage is the one which parents take responsibilities in tying the life of two.

There are many people out there that are still in traditional marriages today. In this case, the wife will stay at home with the kids and she is the one who will take care of the house.

A traditional wife cooks and cleans. The husband works and provides for the family. He is the provider while the wife is the caretaker. In many part of world, in countries like India traditional marriage is still in practice, preferable even among youngsters.

Love marriage This is one of the best marriage in which people tend to marry out of love. All the barriers like religion, caste, creed are broken in this kind of marriage. This is practiced by almost all the people in the world.

Civil marriage is a marriage that is licensed and recognized by the Government or authority. It just requires consent of the two through their signatures in a registered document. Nothing other than consent of the 2 is required.

Religious marriage is a marriage that is recognized within a certain religion. The bride & bride groom should be of same religion. That’s the first criteria. Even their wish or consent is secondary. The main agenda behind these marriages are to preserve & protect the religion.

Monogamous marriage That is when two people marry with a consent of life-long relationship. In monogamous marriage, both have decided to dedicate themself to living out the rest of their life with the one they marry unless they end up divorcing or one of them ends up dying first. This is more common in Asian countries particularly in India.

Secret marriage is a marriage that is hidden from the family members and friends. Usually, this is done as a civil marriage, but there are also religious figures who will perform this type of marriage as well.

MARRIAGE ITSELF IS AN UNIVERSAL CULTURE:

Though there are several types of marriage across the world, we can say that it’s a universal culture because every person must come across marriage in his life at some point of time. Even if it’s a living relationship & if they want to continue marriage is the way.

The main reason behind the marriage being followed as a universal culture is It adds meaning and value to everyone’s life. Getting married & having kids is a kind of happiness that can never be attained by any other means. It provides security particularly to the women. It creates self respect in the society. It develops love among people in the society. It is the root of love.