Marriage in Different Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marriage in Different Cultures - Essay Example Marriage in Italy is loosing its importance as couples move in together and live together without being married. This allows them more independence. Men and women who do get married, do so at a later age; for women it is twenty-seven while for men it is thirty. Also, second marriages have increased in number as couples tend to get divorced more often. This leads to an increased number of civil marriages as the Catholic Church does not allow a person to be married twice. Before you actually get married in Italy, you need to make sure that all the documentation is ready. A couple must appear before the civil registrar of the town where the marriage is to take place with two witnesses and make a declaration of their intention to marry. (Justlanded.com) The birthrate has also dropped as a result of fewer marriages and marriage at an older age. This leads to the couple having their first child at an older age and since the woman can not conceive after the age of 45, it becomes difficult to have more than one or two children. In 1971 the average age of women having their first child was 25.1; in 1998 it was 28.4. The average number of children per woman dropped from 2.4 in 1981 to 1.2 in 1998. In 1993-94 one-child families represented 43.8 percent of the total of all families with children; in 1997-98 they represented 45.2 percent. (http://family.jrank.org/pages/978/Italy-Marriage-Children.html) One thing that underlies Italian families is their strong bond, even after the children leave home they stay in touch with their parents. Italians have a strong intergenerational camaraderie which helps them in facing problems and solving them. This shows that many children live at home till the age of 33. Around the world people trace their ancestry only through the paternal side but in Italy both paternal and maternal sides are traced. Thus ancestry is bilateral and relates the individual to more people. This way a large kin is developed which can help the person with any problems and provide help. Businesses in Italy also have a family based structure. The bilateral descent extends the family and clears the rights of every individual, places authority with a few people and specifies whom one can marry or can not marry. The place where you live in Italy also determines the relationships you develop. For example; children are closer to their grandparents rather than some uncle or aunt. This gives the grandparents more authority over the children. Authority is mostly based on age. Children live with their parents up until the time they are married, after that the parents prefer the children to set up house for themselves. Kinship among Italians is on the basis of three criteria: descent, marriage and pseudo relationship. The pseudo relationships include relatives acquired through ceremonies such as baptism and weddings. All this has changes because of industrialization. Courtship is more direct and marriage marks the end of the courtship process which has evolved. The weddings are very traditional. Guests are expected to repay former favors of the family to the couple. The groom's tie is cut up and sold to finance the honeymoon. Marriage in Germany reduced right after the post war era. There were fewer marriages, smaller