Marriage, one if the major jobs that every man and woman in the past must fulfill, as it lays the foundation for the family. The Romans in the past considered marriage and the family to be of great social importance. In Mesopotamia, marriages took place only when the bride's family had agreed to the marriage. In ancient Greece, the bride's hair was cut short and dressed like a boy. After the wedding ceremony, the new wife would be raped by her husband, after which husband and wife would live their separate ways - the men continuing to live in a male dormitory with his friends.

Matchmaking played an important role in the marriages in ancient India and ancient China. Throughout most of India, a girl from a village was betrothed to her future husband at a very young age and when she reached her teens, of about a tender age of 14, she was married off. Similarly in ancient China, baby girls were match-maked and married off in their teens to husbands whom they had never met before. Once their daughters had been married off, the parents had no say in the future of their daughters anymore, and their daughters had to obey the parents of their husbands.

Most people today would agree that marriage is solely between a man and a woman who are not related biologically or who are not closely related family members. Imagine a marriage between a brother and a sister or between a father and a daughter, just how many of us would be able to accept it? In my opinion, to even think of doing so is absurd! However strangely enough, such a marriage was perfectly acceptable in ancient Egypt. Many royal marriages were of brother and sister and in certain cases, the Pharaohs married their own daughters, just so that no one else could!

Today, the number of people all over the world getting married is decreasing, due to the shift in emphasis from family to career. People are now more concerned about earning as much money as possible, rather than settling down to start a family. In addition, due to the rising standards of living, especially in developed countries such as France and the United States, the cost of raising a child is very high. Thus, people would rather spend money on material needs than on children. In place of marriage, which involves a lot of commitment and time to keep the marriage going, more and more people are co-habitating instead, which means that a man and a woman live together though not legally married. However, there are still people, like the older generation of Chinese for instance (and even some of the modern-day Chinese too!), who feel that co-habitation is wrong as according to traditional customs, a man and a woman must first be married in order to live together.

Thus, is co-habitating with the one one loves wrong? If it is so, why do many people still accept this act? Does co-habitation give one the same satisfaction and sense of fulfillment in life as marriage? Personally, I would choose marriage, as I feel that only in marriage would one feel a sense of belonging and be assured that one's partner's love for one is true. How far do you agree with my opinion then?

Modern Western Wedding

In a customarily elaborate wedding ceremony, offerings are spread before the groom. Although caste and religion determine the prearranged marriages of Indian villagers, marriage brokers are common in the cities.

Traditional Chinese Wedding Ceremony