I’m reffering of course to the latest reality TV show (on FOX I believe) where two people voted together by the country agree to marry each other sight unseen.
Perhaps its the semi-bitter single guy in me, but I think I would do this. I mean whats the worst that can happen? Things don’t work out and you get a divorce/annulment. Shoot that happens all the time with couples who get to pick their spouses. Look at the divorce rate. Who’s to say that an arranged marriage would have any less chance of being successful?
I once heard (meaning I have no cite) that the Chinese say western marriages are like fireworks - lots of fire and sparks at first, then they flame out and lose passion. I have seen this first-hand. Wheras in the east, the arranged coupling is more like a fire - it starts small and grows slowly over the years into a roaring relationship.
Course, that could all be hooey.
I would be willing to give it a shot. How about yourself?
I might, but I’m pathologically shy around women and it would probably be my only chance to actually get married.
I tend to believe that pretty much everybody can get along, so I don’t think that it’s as big of a stretch as it seems to us. Lots of cultures even today, IIRC, have arranged marriages. Are they better? Can’t say. But it’s not like they’re a fundamental affront to the human condition. (I wonder what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has to say about it…) And like the OP says, romantic love doesn’t seem to be a good predictor of marital success.
To be honest, I think the biggest problem would be whether the relationship was connsumated on the wedding night. If one member of a couple decides that “now that we’re married I’m going to insist on the normal courting rituals before engaging in marital relations”, then I think the whole thing would be thrown off. If I were going to jump into marriage like that, I’d have to jump in with both feet; otherwise, I’d be thinking that the other person didn’t want the marriage at all.
Arranged marriages have about the same chance to succeed as love matches, IMHO, so if I was interested in getting I probably would. Right now, I want to stay single, but in the future I’ll want to get married and I would definately consider it.
Yes, but I have a hard time meeting women, and this would make things so much easier. Also as long as I can get a good pre-nup there is only a small penality in today’s society if we decide to divorce later on.
Probably not, considering that I’m pretty picky about the people I spend time with and I sure as hell don’t trust the kind of people who watch “Reality” shows to try to pick my spouse.
This is slightly off-topic, but some years back (10?), a man in Minnesota married a woman that was selected by his family and friends. Evidently, he believed that the people who knew him best would be able to find someone that would complement him better than he could. The family/friends accepted resumes, interviewed, and ultimately picked the candidate, whom he then married. Anyone know any updates on this couple?
Wow, I didn’t even realize there was such a show! FTR, I’m already happily married, to a guy I hand selected. However, several of my friends are from Iran, where arranged marriages are still quite common. They all defend the practice, and say that it works pretty well. As one friend put it, it’s not a “blind” match, but rather two families deciding, hey, my son and your daughter would get along well. IOW, kind of like a blind date, but for life. However, as pointed out by HPL, it would be one thing for people who love me to pick out a spouse, but quite another thing for Reality TV viewers to do it!
I might get married by America, in fifty years, if I was really lonely, but it will be a cold, cold day in Hell before I get married by the sort of people who would watch “Married by America.”
Yeah, that’d be a big concern. Especially with FOX choosing potential partners. I just perused a People magazine and they reported that the contastants’ families will be the first to narrow the field. Then the potential happy couple live together for a while before the big day.