Many westerners see marriage to a stranger or to a cousin as "nasty" yeah? Like I said, its one of the "great divides" between cultures.
All things cannot be discovered until you know and live with a person. And many westerners beleive in this so strongly that they actually do co-habitate prior to marriage to see whether things will work out. Culturally, easterners disagree with this and thats ok...but to say why get married if you're getting "it" for free - thats an eastern outlook, not a western one.
Good point. I know many "westerners" who would not even think about marrying without living with their would-be spouse first. And they believe as strongly in their justifications as many of us do.
I think its important for us to consciously make the effort to recognize and appreciate POV's and perspectives that are different from ours. We may not have to agree but we should be receptive to them and try to understand why people do the things they do.