With so many ex-pats marrying locally, do mixed marriages work?

[ASEAN NOW News]

Old days of travel

 

With the age of modern communications and travel, there seem to be more mixed marriages these days.

Of course, mixed marriages are not new, and many multi-cultures were formed back in the days of trading along the silk road.

 

So, who has the highest rate of interracial marriage?

 

According to statistics, among all newlywed’s, intermarried pairings were primarily White-Hispanic (43.3%) as compared to White-Asian (14.4%), White Black (11.9%), and Other Combinations (30.4%).

 

An analysis conducted a decade ago found that 10 years after they married, interracial couples had a 41% chance of separation or divorce, compared with a 31% chance among couples who married within their race, according to a study based on the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).

 

Diversity is the current buzzword

 

 

However, being in an interracial marriage can help in appreciating the diversity which surrounds other cultures.

 

Exposure in other cultures makes it easier to accept a different kind of people without making negative stereotypes based on their ethnicity or group.

 

According to Futurity, among Asian-Americans, interracial marriages have been on the decline since the 1980s while Asian interethnic marriages among members with heritage of a different Asian nation have been on the rise.

 

The four key elements of ethnic culture respondents mentioned were language, food, holiday celebrations, and values.

 

As they investigated how the couples sought to preserve ethnic traditions, food and holiday celebrations were the only cultural elements passed down among generations in a concrete way.

 

Most couples had spent much of their lives eating Asian-ethnic foods, so they had no reason to discontinue eating them.

 

Yet they routinely cooked mainstream American food, such as spaghetti and hamburgers.

 

One couple described their gatherings with other Asian-American couples as tending to be “Americanised” where only the food “is sort-of ethnic.”

 

Many couples also reported they grew up in households where English was primarily spoken, even though all expressed a fervent desire for children to learn the languages of both spouses.

 

However, many lamented it was difficult to pass down because they themselves did not know the language well.

 

Respondents said they did not choose to marry fellow Asian ethnicities necessarily because they were seeking to preserve Asian racial boundaries and culture, resist oppression, or to demonstrate racial pride.

 

Instead, they cited reasons such as mutual cultural ease and comprehending “what it is to be a minority” as a source of attraction.

 

In reality, ex-pats are a bit broad-minded and having moved to a new Asian country also tend to enjoy the company of beautiful local women.

 

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[ezzra]

Marrying a local is like playing the lottery up to the luck, with what you have ended with, but pretty much the same would in any country wouldn't now...

[NanLaew]

47 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Marrying a local is like playing the lottery up to the luck, with what you have ended with, but pretty much the same would in any country wouldn't now...

Marriage with ANYONE can be a lottery.

 

The subject matter is also guaranteed to garner at least half-a-dozen pages of opinions from those with experience and otherwise.

[jerrymahoney]

12 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Marriage with ANYONE can be a lottery.

 

The subject matter is also guaranteed to garner at least half-a-dozen pages of opinions from those with experience and otherwise.

...  with Filipinas.