How arranged marriage concept is being perceived by western society.

1. Multicultural Workshop:
Modern Indian Arranged
Marriages
By : Preeti Rana

2. Workshop Agenda
 Audience
 Professionals working in multinational companies
 Graduate students
 Goals
 Understanding differences between American and Indian marriage culture
 Removing stereotypical image of Indian arranged marriages
 Understanding cultural significance of the Indian arranged marriage process

3. What is Marriage?
 Marriage by definition is the legally or formally recognized union of a man and a
woman (or, in some jurisdictions, two people of the same sex) as partners in a
relationship. Ideally a marriage is a lifelong bond that entails sexual, economic, and
social rights and obligations for the partners (Bachrach, Hindin, & Thomson, 2000)
 Love Marriage - love being seen as the primary prerequisite for marriage
(Simpson, Campbell, & Berscheid, 1986).
 Arranged Marriage - more than 90% of all Indian marriages are arranged
(Gautam, 2002).
 Common Elements
 Economic and Sexual rights
 Social obligations of partners

4. Indian Arranged Marriage & Common
Misconceptions
 Forced Marriage!
 First meeting is at the wedding itself.
 Participants have no say in final decision
 Women are weak and submissive
 It’s all about the money
 Indians working in USA “import” wives from India.
 The majority of research articles published on marriage have focused solely on the
Western view or prevailing views in the rural societies in India (Bhopal, 1999),
(Parmar, 1982), and Mohanty, 1991).

5. The Grand Indian Bachelor/Bachelorette
Show
 Activity
 Role playing

6. Modern Indian Arranged Marriage
 Parents find multiple suitable matches for their son/daughter with their children's consent
 Alternative to websites to blind dating, Tinder, Match.com etc.
 The boy and the girl meet each other.
 Blind dating with people from trusted background.
 If they don’t find each other compatible, they convey their decisions to their family. The families
part mutually and continue search.
 Saying ‘No’ is always an option.
 If they do find each other compatible, they date each other for a period of time until they’re
satisfied.
 Again, saying ‘No’ is still an option.
 Finally, with mutual consent both the boy and the girl inform their parents that they like each
other’s company and would like to get married.
 Both the parties always have the right to back out anytime during courtship period.

7. Things to Consider
 Ask them
 What they like about their spouse and not why they chose arranged marriage?
 Don’t ask them “Are they happy with the arrangement?”. They chose this path
 Don’t judge based on how they got married, but why? They might be much
happier than couples who are in a love marriage.
 Try to understand and learn about new cultures.
 Find out about arranged marriage process in other cultures. Better to ask real
people than Google.

8. Images Courtesy:
http://www.maharaniweddings.com/
Even Celebrities do it!
Happy Now and Forever!

9. References
 Bachrach, C., Hindin, M., & Thomson, E. (2000). The ties that bind: Perspectives
on Marriage and Cohabitation. In L. J. Waite, C. Bachrach, M. Hindin, E. Thomson, &
A. Thronton (Eds.), The changing shape of ties that bind: An overiew and synthesis
(pp. 3-16). Hawthorne, NY: Aldine Dr Gruyter.
 Bhopal, K. (1999). South Asian Women and Arranged Marriages in London. (R.
Barot, H. Bradley, & S. Fenton, Eds.) Enthnicity Gender and Social Change, 117-134.
 Mohanty, C. T. (1991). Under Western Eyes Feminist Scholarship and Colonial
Discourse. In C. T. Mohanty, L. Torres, & A. Russo (Eds.), In Third World Women and
the Politics of Feminism (pp. 333-358). Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
 Parmar, P. (1982). Gender, Race and Class: Asian Women in Resistance. In Centre
for Contemporary Cultural Studies. The Empire Strikes Back (pp. 235-274). London:
Routledge.