Americans hold a strong belief that marriage is a culmination of love between two people. Many of them are inclined to choose love as the main ingredient for getting married. But again many other variables influence the choice of marriage partners, and they include age, race, religion and even social status. Norms, traditions, and values are changing, and two people who choose to settle down in marriage always base their marriage choices on these variables, but more importantly love tops the list.
In this era and age, Americans are bridging the gap that separated social groups. There are more intercultural and interracial marriages now more than ever. Religion is taken seriously by most Americans, and many of them choose partners with whom they share ideological beliefs on matters of faith even if they belonged to different religious backgrounds (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). Many Americans are limiting their choices of marriage partners to what was culturally acceptable in the past even if modernity is touted to influence marriage choices when it comes to race, social status, and age.
It is hard for the American society to move away from its cultural values and traditions on matters of marriage because there are those who still hold on to age-old traditions that border on race and age. Whereas the age when Americans get married is shifting to the middle or late twenties, race has not been a big deal in recent times, and perhaps that explains the reason interracial marriages are on the rise (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). America is a country that is thought to be highly conservative, and those who want to get married find themselves weighing out the options so that they do not offend their families and close friends. But in this era of same-sex marriages, many Americans are waking up to the realization that values are shifting, and people are opening up to modern marriage arrangements.
Reference
Andersen, M. L. & Taylor, H. F. (2007). Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society, Updated. Belmont: Cengage Learning
