Marriage is a social institution that involves the union of two parties to form one entity called the family. Traditionally, marriage has been a union of two parties from both sexes; a man and a woman. However, lately some jurisdictions in the world have allowed unions of parties from the same sexes. Marriage has evolved over time. It was seen as an institution that gave rise to a family. For that reason, marriage and family have been interrelated and interconnected. Several factors have been taken into consideration by persons in the identification of a partner. Indeed, it is has often been against the law to marry from one’s on family lineage for some cultures, while for others such as the Asians, marriage between cousins is a normal occurrence and accepted within society.
The institution of marriage has taken different forms in the world today. A marriage could be based on customs and traditions or could be based on the written law, that is, statutory marriages. For marriages based on traditions, all the requisite requirements and traditions must be fulfilled before that marriage is declared valid. In African traditional cultures, it is required that the man pays dowry which is otherwise known as bride price before the girl is allowed consent to marry that man. However, in the Asian community, it is the woman who pays the groom-price. In the Western traditional cultures, marriage subsists without any payment of dowry by either side. However, this does not make the marriage any less defective. Statutory marriages are guided by the statute often referred to as the Marriage Act or any equivalent. In the statutory marriage the law allows parties to enter into agreements as to the nature of the marriage.
Further, the law allows for grounds of dissolution of the marriage often referred to divorces in the event either party reneges or fails to act in a particular manner. This has been seen as generally too liberal and an attack to the sanctity of marriage. It should be understood that from a religious perspective marriage is envisaged to last for good. Indeed, during the vows at weeding ceremonies, both the bride and the groom are required to swear before a priest or the marriage ordaining officer that they shall be together till death does them part. This aspect is undermined by the position of the law which allows room for divorce on various grounds. It has been noted that marriages in the Western world have the lowest survival rates. Several divorce cases see the light of day in the courts of law. Interestingly, in the Islam society, marriage is allowed and permitted and even easier to go about. For countries run by Islamic Law, the Sharia Law, all a party has to utter is the word divorce three times upon which the divorce process commences. However, it is noteworthy that divorces cases are rare in the Arab Islam world as compared to the Western World.
Another aspect of marriage causing jittery is the element of polygamy and polyandry. The institution of marriage is seen as an institution or trust, love and affection. It has been argued in the Western cultures that marrying more than one wife is repugnant and that one may not possibly be in love with more than one person. However, cases of adultery and mistresses abound in such cultures. The African and Arabic cultures allow polygamy and see no repugnancy in such practices. Finally, with the increasing actualization of gender equity, it stands to be seen whether polyandry will be entertained in the near future.
Reference
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. (2011). Social Psychology. New York: Cengage Learning.
