Over a month ago, I wrote a column that was inspired by Gabriele Pauli’s proposal to limit marriage to seven years — with an option to renew, of course. I won’t repeat the issues I raised save to say that the permanence of marriage is more of a religious/cultural characteristic rather than a legal one.
In June, there was another column about women in Kyrgyzstan being abducted and forced into marriage.
Today, I read some media reports about a move by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to criminalize forced marriages among Muslim immigrants in Germany.
For decades, Germany looked the other way when it came to what was considered the private business of immigrant families. But fears about a “parallel society,” extremism and lack of integration have led to a tougher stance, especially when it comes to basics such as respecting women’s rights and learning German…
…The impetus behind pressure to marry is found in conservative families’ opposition to Western, secular ways such as dating and premarital sex — considered affronts to family honor.
Such pressures are also behind so-called honor killings by family members such as brothers or husbands. The Federal Crime Office counted 55 such cases from 1996 to 2005. [International Herald Tribune]
While I am all for respecting cultural differences to the point that I believe that there have been too many instances when the West has insisted on arbitrarily imposing its norms on other cultures, it is an altogether different story when it comes to immigrants who are bound by the laws and are obliged to respect the culture of the country that they have chosen to call home. I can only hope that Muslims are not being singled out because of the prevailing anti-Muslin sentiment in the West.
Meanwhile, in the UK, arranged marriages are being given a high profile and I’m not so sure whether the intention is to inform and educate, make fun of, or simply to exploit.
A new TV series called Arrange Me A Marriage will premiere in the UK on November 22.
Arrange Me A Marriage which airs next month on BBC2 is hosted by Aneela Rahman, a thirty-something British Pakistani who is being heralded as the “Asian Cilla Black”.
With such high divorce rates in the UK, Ms Rahman believes the key to successfully finding a life partner is through the principles of a modern arranged marriage in which compatibility is crucial. Only by matching up class, education, family background, life goals and earnings will it ultimately succeed. [The Independent]
What a crazy world.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
raqgold 10.31.07 at 10:10 pm
have you heard about this woman judge in germany with a controversial decision to let a man go free despite having almost killed his wife because of physical abuse? she said the man is free to do that because he is muslim and in koran states that a man is allowed to do such things…hmmm, i dont really know.
Connie Veneracion 10.31.07 at 11:15 pm
Wow, a decision like that despite women’s rights advocates howling over those very issues.
Josie 11.01.07 at 9:47 am
In an arranged marriage, the couple can blame the parents in case it doesn’t work. lol
Dr Emer 11.02.07 at 3:44 am
Anything that sells is good tv…at least, from the producers POV.
sha 11.02.07 at 4:32 am
sassy… i dated a guy who is going for an arranged marriage… am not kidding I actually dated this guy… and this has been a running joke when shall we marry but he is so adamant to follow culture and tradition of arranged marriage….
he is from nepal.. cute sana… wag na lang andito pala ako sa florida
Connie Veneracion 11.02.07 at 1:59 pm
We just saw something on TV, a film called In God’s Country. Having recently written a column about Warren Jeffs, I wondered if the movie was new because it was uncannily similar to Jeff’s polygamous community where ALL marriages are arranged.