Why International Marriage Attracted Much Attention?

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International Marriage
Introduction
Over the last couple of years, international marriage has attracted much attention both in relation to practical concerns and from a theoretical viewpoint. Central to the debate of international marriage is the question about its benefits and challenges at the micro (individual), cultural (meso) and macro (state policies) levels (Chakrabarti, Gupta-Mukherjee & Jayaraman 216). Despite the fact that economic and political elements of immigrant integration have been deeply examined, there is little information the social interactions between natives and immigrants. International marriages can be exciting despite the issues involved. On the other hand, the refreshing traits of demanding relationships can become a basis of conflict, frustration, misunderstanding and pain. There are various benefits of an international marriage and so are the challenges. For example, cross-cultural patterns may have a positive impact on the children in that it may broaden their minds. Raising the children as bilinguals in this case helps in making them to respect other cultures and people. In addition, the couples get a chance to learn a second language and experience different cultures. This helps in broadening their understanding of other cultures besides providing them with an opportunity to choose between living in two countries. The minds of the couple are continually opened in terms of learning a new culture, and this helps them to stop viewing their own culture as superior. A couple’s family and friends are also introduced to new cultures which help in breaking existing stereotypes.
Despite the above benefits, there are also some challenges that people face when they get into international marriages. The most common of these is state integration policies. In a move to protect the interests of their people, most governments have strict immigration policies which may hinder couples in international marriages from migrating or acquiring citizenship. In addition to this and despite the fact that couples eventually learn the culture and the language of their spouse, this may take a relatively long time. This in turn inhibits communication in the short run, which strain relationships and may often lead to a divorce (Osland & Bird 67). Further, couples in an international marriage are more vulnerable to prejudice as compared to couples who hail from the same country or culture. Nevertheless, the benefits of international marriages outweigh the challenges or disadvantages of such marriages and this has led to increased cases of international marriages.
Cultural Benefits
People from different cultures may benefit each other. In line with this, international marriages help to eliminate the problem of ethnocentrism. The concept of ethnocentrism is understood as judging other cultures on the basis of the beliefs, values and standards of one’s culture. Through international marriages, people learn and adapt other values of other cultures (Chakrabarti, Gupta-Mukherjee & Jayaraman 217). For example, an American woman married to Indian men will have to learn the Indian culture. In this case, gender roles differ between the two countries with Indian women being expected to be homekeepers as compared to American women who are more independent and working women. Learning other cultures can also be interesting to couples, which turn helps to promote the welfare of the marriage. International marriages also help in breaking some of the common stereotypes (Dion & Dion 511). For example, most people in the Indian culture believe that American women do not know how to cook. Equally, most people believe that Indian people are convectional. Such stereotypes are squashed following an international marriage. Equally, international marriages help in changing one’s perception of other cultures and in taking a keen interest in what other people do differently.
International marriages benefit couples as well as their children through learning not only different cultural values but also different languages. The benefits of learning a second language are immense with research indicating that a second language is a useful tool of the cognitive process. Bilingual students are smarter in that a second language helps to enhance brain function by challenging the brain to negotiate meaning, recognize and communicate in various languages (Dion & Dion 517). This in turn helps to improve problem-solving skills. These children are also good at multitasking more so given the fact that they can easily switch from one language to another and from one structure to the other.
In addition, multilingual people are more perceptive and have a better understanding of their immediate environment. As such, they are skilled in focusing on relevant information and filtering the irrelevant one (Dion & Dion 518). On the part of the parents, learning a second language helps improve their chances of getting a better job and eliminating the economic hardships that can come with moving to a new country. Perhaps a lesser benefit of international marriages is that they allow people to travel frequently thereby breaking their daily routine. This is essential in that it offers people an opportunity to experience other cultures while relaxing. Taking a holiday in this case helps improve one’s productivity besides improving their health.
International marriages help to modify ethnic homogeneity. A good example can be drawn from Korean and Japanese societies where there are a large number of international marriages. Ethnic homogeneity is considered important for building cohesion within the society and reducing conflicts. Moreover, homogeneity and cultural diversity help to bring changes to the society in regard to traditions which may be considered as being outdated (Dion & Dion 518). More importantly, cultural homogeneity helps to enhance flexibility and adaptability to other cultures besides creating an opportunity to learn about other cultures. This way, one gets to evaluate other cultures based on their values as opposed to benchmarking them to one’s own culture.
International marriages create universality, especially in regard to the children. In essence, bilingual children can fit in almost any society and are commonly referred to as global citizens. Besides having the characteristics of two heritages, they can easily make friends with people from various cultures. International marriages also help in building close relationships with the locals. This is beneficial in that it allows one to easily integrate into other cultures and to learn about them (Diener, Gohm, Suh & Oishi 419). For example, the Japanese people have a strong attachment to their culture as compared with the American people. Notably, people from some cultures like to be attentive to every detail in their lives while others will only care about the major details. In such a case, the couple can easily help each other to tackle daily activities.
Clearly, the benefits of an international marriage outweigh the challenges. In line with this, it can be argued that international marriages are better in that they help children to become smarter, increases the chance of learning new cultural values as well as languages (Kofman 244). In this context, international marriages eliminate ethnocentrism where one tends to consider his or her culture to be superior and others inferior. Through international marriages, people learn and assimilate new cultural values. In addition to this, international marriages help in breaking some stereotypes (Chakrabarti, Gupta-Mukherjee & Jayaraman 217). While couples in international marriages are vulnerable to prejudice, learning about new cultural values can be exciting and beneficial to the well being of the couples. This excitement is also important for the longness of the marriage. Children born in international marriages are smarter as compared to children born to couples who hail from the same cultural background. Such children have better ...