Why marriage is looked and perceived differently in West as compared to East?
Americans are getting married late and marrying more than once. Most of them have had a previous relationship and 1 in 5 are getting divorced.
On the other hand, we marry young or at least encouraged to. Stay virgins and divorce is big no no.
What is the difference? Is it economy, family, culture or mixture of everything? Suppose Pakistan becomes America with financial stability for everyone, would the statistics change?
Moreover, if you meet a guy or girl who is more in line with American way of thinking with marriage, would you prefer or consider him/her as a marriage material?
I am not being stereotypical rather hoping for a debate by stating facts.
We have a culture of marital discipline, while Americans/Westerners culture of Marital Discipline is lax.
They emphasize other things beside marriage, we dont. Things like independence, free will, etc. We dont have these concepts.
The reasons why we are different is due to our social histories and psychologies. While people do change according to where they live and outside influences that force them to question the way things are done or not done.
China; India; Persia were agricultural societies. Greece and Rome were trading societies.
Agricultural socities have many people living in the same plot of land. To bring about discipline, productivity, and harmony, they evolved a culture that is such. So, when we look at Eastern Philosophy it has to do with "Chains of Commands" and Human-Social Interactions.
Trading Socities, as traders operate independently or in guilds, operate and think differently. They dont care who their client is, what his gender is, who he sleeps with, as long as things work according to plan. Time is money, so more emphasis is placed on civic discipline, honesty in business, etc.
values are different between the east and the west.
IMHO, marriage in the west seems to be seen less and less as a binding contract and some people are forgoing "the piece of paper" entirely.
i don't think i could marry someone who viewed marriage as a temporary situation or as disposable. the whole concept of a "starter marriage" is weird and freakish. talk about messing with your head, your partner's head, and if there are kids, poor them!
marriage is a big, huge, massive deal and anyone agreeing to marry another person should be mature enough and committed enough to follow through on their vows- you know, in sickness and in health, good times and bad, etc.
i just think the viewing of divorce as a reasonable backup option in case it doesn't work out is not right- if you're not sure and you're not willing to make it work, then don't marry the other person. divorce is sometimes necessary in extreme cases, but to marry someone and then "fall out of love" with them is ridiculous. how does that happen? it shouldn't even be an option to begin with... marriage is hard work, it takes commitment and it takes time and giving up just because he doesn't pick up after himself and she's a terrible cook just isn't good enough. God forbid anyone i know should go through something so devastating, i can't begin to imagine it.
having said that, in the east, being forced to stay in a marriage which is physically and/or mentally abusive because society frowns up divorce, and there are no resources to support divorced women, is stupid also. societies need to be open enough to recognise sometimes its a necessity and provide for those women and kids who are stuck in horrible, negative situations and need to get out.