Immigrant Wives

[Paheli00]

Re: Immigrant Wives

@Mezhgan

It’s far easier for a divorced man to remarry than it is for a woman, so a man can marry for immigration purposes and get a divorce later, confident that his divorce won’t count against him and that he won’t have trouble remarrying. If a woman marries someone solely for immigration purposes and gets a divorce later, she would have a bit more trouble remarrying (as society views divorced women more negatively than men), leading people to assume that the woman will prefer stay married even after getting residency and eliminating the need to be cautious.

^ This is the main reason. Its not difficult for a divorced man to re-marry in the desi community. Even if a child comes out of the marriage, many men will leave the child with wife and move on with their lives. Things aren’t so easy for a divorced desi woman in the community…especially if she also has a child.

Also, money is a factor too. Often women immigrating from Pakistan don’t have the education/work experience to be able to walk away from a marriage and fully support herself. Not an issue for a man since the wife and her family expects him to start earning enough to support a family as soon as possible so they’re supportive of his efforts to further his education/career from day 1.