Arranged marriages

Written Sunday, 28 September 2008

 

 

I read an article recently in Atlantic Monthly magazine (from March 2008) that says that a study has found that in India, where arranged marriage is still common, the groom's parents tend to prefer an uneducated daughter-in-law over an educated one.  The study's author believes that this preference is because the parents-in-law will have an easier time controlling an uneducated woman and will thus be able to get a larger share of the household's resources. 

 

Arranged marriage is very common here in Senegal as well, and men here often say that they do not want to educate their daughters because it will reduce their prospects for marriage – they say men won't want to marry an educated woman because she will be less likely to accept his authority as head of the household.  This study makes me wonder, though, is it really the men who object to having an educated wife, or is it his parents, and particularly his mother, who under traditional family rules will have her share of the household chores taken over by her daughter-in-law?

 

The study has an interesting idea, I think, but really I think it is probably all wrong.  The difference in education level of the wife that the author finds between arranged marriages and "love matches" can probably be almost entirely explained by educated people being less likely to accept an arranged marriage at all.