According to the rock band, the Beatles, "All You Need Is Love". Is this true? Is a love-based foundation the most important factor in creating a lasting, healthy relationship? In Western culture, the most common prerequisite for marriage is love. However, relationship experts around the world believe that the secret of long-lasting marital success isn't so much love as it's communication, the sharing of core values, education levels and the support of close family and friends. .
With that in mind, it stands to reason that arranged marriages not only makes sense, but are a prudent way to approach the union of a man and a woman. Arranged marriages can foster an environment where there is positive family involvement and stability.
"For most of history, it was inconceivable that people would choose their mate on the basis of something as fragile and irrational as love,"" according to historian Stephanie Coontz.
Arranged marriage can be a term so taboo that it's become synonymous with forced marriage. In fact, arranged marriages and those that are without consent are very different. A forced marriage takes place against the will of one or both parties involved. An arranged marriage is "a contract between two individuals, brought about by the parents or family of the (individual) getting married, not the involved parties, yet based on mutual consent,"" according to the Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World. .
In essence, the family intervenes of behalf of the prospective bride and groom, screening potential mates for practical characteristics and suitability along with identifying possible "deal breakers" " before an emotional bond is formed. According to Michael J. Rosenfeld, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, "Love, marriage and arranged marriages are not as different as we make them out to be. In arrange marriages, who we marry frequently have characteristics similar to us in race, religion, class, background and age, meaning they might not be all that different from the person that your mother would have picked for you.
