Re: Sitting too close with cousins
Last week a friend asked me something that had been bugging her. She has a lot of male and female cousins, all of whom are close in age. She is Afghan, married to a Pakistani guy. So even though her family is otherwise more liberal than her husband’s, when it comes to mingling with the opposite gender, her family frowns upon it whereas her husband’s family considers it normal.
Recently at a family event, she saw her husband sitting “too close ” (by her definition*) to a female cousin of his. Her husband thinks of his cousin as his younger sister, and doesn’t see anything wrong with her putting an arm around him and taking a photo.** However, back in the day, said cousin had a thing for him and when he refused her rishta, she took sleeping pills and stayed in the hospital for a month.**
Long story short, my friend was pretty upset but her husband thinks she is overreacting and should have complete trust in him.
I thought it’s an interesting question because every family has a different dynamic and what’s considered normal in one might be a big no-no in another. I would like to get your views on how it is in your family and if you would be upset with your significant other freely mixing with family members of the opposite sex?
*(Too close = where their arms/legs could be touching)
I would say it’s completely normal putting your arm around your cousin etc, however in this case the cousin had a thing for the husband which seemed to be pretty intense judging from the cousin’s reaction. So I agree with the wife. I would also be wary.