Showing papers on "Love marriage published in 2016"

The economies of love: love marriage, kin support and aspiration in a south Indian garment city

Abstract: The paper considers narratives and experiences of love marriage in the garment city of Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, south India. As a booming centre of garment production, Tiruppur attracts a diverse migrant workforce of young men and women who have plenty of opportunity to fall in love and enter marriages of their own making. Based on long-term ethnographic research, the paper explores what love marriages mean to those involved, how they are experienced and talked about, and how they shape post-marital lives. Case studies reveal that a discourse of loss of post-marital kin support is central to evaluations of love marriages by members of Tiruppur’s labouring classes. Such marriages not only flout parental authority and often cross caste and religious boundaries, but they also jeopardise the much needed kin support that youngsters need to fulfil aspirations of mobility, entrepreneurship and success in a post-liberalisation environment. It is argued that critical evaluations of love marriages not only disrupt modernist assumptions of linear transformations in marital practices, but they also constitute a broader critique of the neoliberal celebration of the ‘individual’ while reaffirming the continued importance of caste endogamy, parental involvement and kin support to success in India’s post-reform economy.

Love, Marriage, and Intimate Citizenship in Contemporary China and India: An introduction

Abstract: introduction to the special issue of Modern Asian Studies Love, marriage, and intimate citizenship in contemporary China and India edited by Henrike Donner and Goncalo Santos

A Different Kind of Love: Compatibility (Insijam) and Marriage in Jordan

Abstract: Love TalesOne of the earliest tales of "love marriage" in Jordan I ever heard was that of my maternal grandparents In 1932, my grandfather, Adib, espied my grandmother, Wadi'a, when bringing his father (my great-grandfather) to the hospital in her hometown of 'Ajloun According to my grandfather, it was love at first sight and soon after he asked for her hand in marriage While awaiting her family's response, he heard that my grandmother's paternal first cousin intended to marry her himself This news worried my grandfather since, according to tradition, the paternal first cousin had to concede his own right to marry before a woman could be betrothed Determined to marry the girl he loved, Adib rode to the cousin's house on horseback, shot his rifle in the air and exclaimed, "Wadi'a is mine! Stay away from her!" My grandmother's family was reluctant to accept my grandfather's proposal because of his financial situation Not to be deterred, my grandfather worked hard to prove that he could provide a good life for his wife My grandmother's family eventually relentedMy grandfather professed his love for my grandmother before ever speaking with her It would have been improper for my grandmother to reciprocate, if in fact the feeling was mutual The initial experience of love at first sight led to their marriage, but it was through decades of life together that they grew to love each other deeply As a final testament to their love, my grandmother outlived my grandfather by a mere forty days because, as the story goes, neither could bear to live without the otherDespite the fact that these events took place almost a century ago, the tale of my grandparents' marriage parallels accounts of "love marriages" that I have heard repeatedly in the course of conducting research in J ordan1 In the girls' high school where I conducted ethnographic research in 2005,2 students debated whether one should "marry for love," while they shared similar tales of the love marriages of parents and grandparents3 Some argued that they would only marry for love, while others insisted that romance was a faulty basis for marriage Not surprisingly, love talk abounded among these high school girls, as it did with many of my interlocutors when I brought up the subject of marriage But while I heard many love stories, the relationship between love and marriage-the subject of much debate-was not a givenIn 2011, I interviewed forty-six single men and women residing and working in Amman about their views on marriage4 In these interviews, I was particularly interested in hearing perspectives on the supposed "marriage crisis" (the delay or forgoing of marriage) regularly broached in the media and corroborated by some researchers and policymakers5 In addition, we discussed my interlocutors' views on suitable marriage partners and their experiences trying to find one In these interviews, men and women consistently referenced the importance of compatibility (insijam)6 as a basis for marriage Many, however, were ambivalent about love-and particularly what was referred to as "hubb romansi"or romantic love-questioning its reliability as a basis for marriage The practical issues of financial security and the ability of a couple's families to get along, as well as shared expectations of married life, made romantic love a luxury in finding a spouse At the same time, almost all emphasized that they did not want a "traditional marriage" (zawaj taqlidi) In other words, they wanted to know a potential partner before committing, although what "knowing" a potential partner consisted of varied significantly7 For some, love was a prerequisite for mar- riage, but many others spoke of the conditions necessary for love to grow over time-most important among them insijamThe emphasis on insijam among my interviewees, with its echoes of companionate marriage,8 denoted a level or type of compatibility that would ensure marital stability, prevent discord among families and, potentially, foster love between husband and wife …

The Price of Love: Valentine's Day in Egypt and Its Enemies

Abstract: Bi-fatha, ba, bahibbakBi-kasra, bi, bi-shiddaRu-damma, ruhi ruhi gambakI lo-, lo - I love youWi- wi- with strengthMy, my soul my soul is beside you1In the 1963 film The Soft Hands (Al-Aydayy al-Naima), by director Mahmud Dhu al-Fiqar, a ruined aristocrat played by Ahmad Mazhar learns how to live in the new Egypt after the 1952 revolution. He falls in love with a woman, played by the famous actress and singer Sabah, who teaches him to forget his class prejudices and makes him work. He also has to learn written Arabic. Like many members of his class at the time, his mastery of French and English was superior to that of his native tongue. Sabah answers his demand of marriage in a cryptic letter, whose meaning she later explains in a song. She wrote down the first two phonemes in the three phrases "I love you," "with strength," and "my soul" in order to convey that she shares his feelings. The film promotes love ideals that reflect the socialist projects of Gamal Abdel Nasser's presidency. According to this vision, love and the common struggle to work should build the core of marriage. In this film, companionate marriage appears as a key feature of Nasserite modernity.2Today, what I call "love modernism," the linking of love marriage with imaginations of progress,3 is still a living ideal in Egypt. Egalitarian ideals, however, are no longer part of state ideology. Two wars and four decades of economic reform dislocated the remains of Nasserite socialism. Consequently, economic constraints often jeopardize marriage plans. Most people have to live in extremely precarious conditions. Since marriage is a costly endeavor, long delays in courtship and engagement are common. While income disparities widened, the broad availability of imported goods as well as raised expectations of consumer goods, such as furniture, added to the financial pressure on couples hoping to get married.4 The political turmoil following the 2011 uprising further deepened the economic hardships facing the majority of Egyptians.In this article, I discuss the place in Egypt of Valentine's Day, a holiday whose broad success in the country dates back to the end of 1990s, as a way of exploring love and marriage in times of dire social inequality. Valentine's Day was one of the first event-marketing holidays to arise in the United States and Britain during the nineteenth century.5 The celebration of romantic love on 14 February has since become a worldwide phenomenon. Millie Creighton describes its successful promotion in Japan in the 1950s through a brand of chocolates.6 The spread of Valentine's Day seems to have taken a steadier path during the last twenty years. In accordance with a general scholarly focus on transnational circulations since the 1990s, recent works have studied its reception in Ghana and China.7 This scholarship balances the study of transnational imaginations with an engagement of specific meanings that such an event takes on in different contexts.8This research also shows the need to historicize the dichotomies emerging around existing conceptions of love. Lynn Thomas and Jennifer Cole argue that in Africa conflicts between generations often took the form of opposite conceptions of love. In many cases, elders condemned the idea that love is a sound basis for marriage, while the young had love affairs with no aim other than the fulfilling of passion. With the onset of colonial rule, however, according to Thomas and Cole, these intergenerational tensions became part of broader dynamics. Some people, for instance, started to associate romantic love and companionate marriage with Western modernity.9In Egypt, historians observed parallel moves. There is a rich corpus of love poetry in Arabic.10 Starting in the nineteenth century, however, debates about reform of the family came to be at the core of the nationalist project.11 Since then, for many Egyptian intellectuals, the establishment of companionate marriage and the nuclear family in a wide social strata became important markers of progress. …

Honor Killing of Women: A comparative study of the Pakistani Print Media

Abstract: This research examines news coverage on honor killing. This study is the comparative study of the two mainstream print media outlets Jang and Khabrain. The time period has been chosen from January 2013 to March 2013.Content analysis was used to examine how honor killing news is presented in these two newspapers. this exploration about the honor killing news especially violence news about the women further advance the dynamics of the crime news reporting by gathering the useful information that how the reporters and the media agenda setters are treating this issue. Six main categories and five hypotheses were developed and tested. This research focused on how much print media of Pakistan gave importance to the news of honor killing. The social evils are highlighted in the press, dealing various issues about women, including honor killing, like arranged marriage, Love marriage, victim statement, Mal-practice, victims of the Sexual assault, Karo-Kari. Murder is another evil against women. The stone hearted people kill the innocent women when they feel they are shame for them.

Indicators of Social Change in the UAE: College Students’ Attitudes Toward Love, Marriage and Family

Abstract: Rapid economic development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has triggered innumerable changes in Emirati society. Changes occurring in the social institutions of marriage and family, which are central to Emirati society, reflect shifting attitudes toward traditional gender roles and gender relations that inform some of the essential norms and values in Emirati society. This paper draws on data from a survey of college students enrolled in the American University of Sharjah (a Western-style university in the UAE), focusing on their attitudes toward love, marriage, and family — including mate selection, polygamy, family size, and women’s participation in the workplace. Arab Emiratis were found to be more likely to conform to “traditional” norms than non-Arab Emiratis or Arab and Asian expatriates, although Arab Emirati women displayed more “modern” values than their male counterparts. This study explains shifting gender relations in Emirati society and will hopefully enable social scientists and po...

Marital Adjustment among Love Marriage and Arranged Marriage Couples

Abstract: The purpose of the present study is to determine the level of marital adjustment among love marriage and arrange marriage couples. This study is based on sample of 200 subjects equally divided into two groups on the basis of gender (male and female) further these two groups were also divided into two more groups on the basis of family type (single family and joint family). Marital Adjustment Questionnaire (MAQ) constructed and standardized by Dr. Pramod Kumar & Dr. Kanchana Rohatgi was used for data collection. Mean, standard deviation and t-test were applied for statistical analysis. Results reveal that there is no significant difference between the mean scores of marital adjustment among love marriage and arranged marriage subjects.

Determinants of First Marital Formation in Japan: Does the Sibling Configuration Matter?

Abstract: This study attempts to clarify the effects of sib size, birth order and the possession of older brothers, older sisters, younger brothers, or younger sisters on first marriage formation in Japan. Twelve sociological, demographic and psychological hypotheses are presented and examined with regard to their effects on three outcomes in each age segment: getting married through arranged marriage, getting married through love marriage and staying never-married. P. Allison's discrete-time event-history analysis (using multinomial logit model) is applied to the merged data of never-married and first-married persons aged 18-34 from the 1982 national fertility survey conducted by the Institute of Population Problems in order to simultaneously examine the effects of sibling configuration on both the timing and the two mate selection methods of first marriage (first marriage probability by mate selection method) as well as the effects of interaction of a set of sibling configuration variables with another set, age, and prenuptial living arrangements. The results seem to support the Parental Control Hypothesis and the Acquaintance Opportunity Hypoth esis for both sexes and the Normative Order Hypothesis for females. Other hypotheses including the Household Crowding Hypotheses and the Demand for Children Hypothe sis also seem to have limited support.