mixed marriage

Maha Serrakh

Susan Chenard

ESL 178

5 May 2014

Mixed Marriages

Marriage is the most important institution of human society. It has been the backbone of human civilization. However, when you introduce major differences such as race, religion or nationality into marriage, there are serious problems you may face. Many couples think only about the love they feel between each other until they get confronted with some of the problems of mixed marriages. People who choose to enter into an ethnically mixed marriage are not immune from problems. Whereas the most important issue is conflict of cultures including language, food, raising children and the method of coexistence. This paper is based on this fallowing question: looking at all these difficulties of mixed marriage could couples defied and success in this type of marriage?

Mixed marriages have taken place since the beginning of time. As people explored and traveled, men would fall in love with local women and either stay or take the women back home with them.

The marriage (deatil of the groom and attendants)

The marriage (detail of bride and ladies)

English: puerto rico islanders fans at game

My major source for this research is a questionnaire given to five women who are part of an ethnically mixed marriage and live in The United States. The women who completed the questionnaire belong to a couple from : Colombia - The United States, Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico, Brazil - The United States, Puerto Rico - Morocco, Ecuador - The United States. Their ages ranges from twenty five to forty five years old and their length of marriage ranges from four to nineteen years. Eighty percent of the couples have children.

Among the differences occurred in an ethnically mixed marriage that women notice are language, food habits and culture. Three of the women said that the dominant language in home is their partner native language which is English...