Marriage, also termed as matrimony or wedlock, is a legal partnership between two people in a personal relationship. Marriage is also regarded as an institution since it has formed the foundation of many families all over the world. However, the cultural practices that surround matrimonial ceremonies differ from one community to another. Nevertheless, many communities support the heterosexual and monogamous type of marriage. It involves partners with opposite gender and one man to one woman. Moreover, disparities in social practices have been witnessed between matrimonial unions in different communities. Even though many cultures separate their society regarding wealth, religion, education, power, occupation, and ethnicity, the way different community groups regulate their marriage practices has evidently proved to be different. For instance, the United State of America conducts and safeguards its matrimonial practices in their way compared to other countries. Marriage in the US has considerable cultural, social, and regulation differences with that of Armenia.
Marriage Cultural Practices in Armenia
The families of Armenia people were traditionally regarded as patrilocal whereby the bride had to move to the groom’s parental home during the marriage period. According to Monger (28), marriages in Armenian societies were arranged by the groom’s and the bride’s family or by an intermediary matchmaker proposed by the family of the groom. Averagely, the bride’s age ranged from 14 to 16 years, and that of the groom was about 15 to 20 years. Nevertheless, the bride and the groom were not conversant before the engagement. The two families (in-laws referred to as Khnami) would then have a series of negotiations without the engagement of the bride and the groom. Monger (28) points out that, the head of the two families agree, the “word was tied” (Khos-gab), and visitations between the female relatives of both families was initiated. The in-law relationship was developed during the groom’s when the entire family first visits the boy’s home. The engagement between the two families lasted for almost two years or several months during which the girl and the boy were banned from talking to one another during the visits. Furthermore, the girl’s older sisters were supposed to get married first before the engagement between the groom and the bride. The girl’s parents hosted a party in celebration of the formal betrothal whereby the groom’s mother placed ornaments on the bride thus inaugurating the initiation period for her as the bride in the household of the boy.
The wedding ceremony was then held in about one year period after the engagement. The celebration lasts from one to seven days and the consummation happening on a Sunday. On the day of the wedding, the groom together with his associates would go to the girl’s home, where her godmother would dress her or if her relative dresses her, the godmother would veil her. The outer veil is removed after the wedding ceremony while the inner one is removed after the marriage consummation. In completion of the dressing procedures, the groom together with his relatives escorted the bride to the church. The marriage ceremony was presided by the godparents of the groom (k'avor and k'avorkin) as well as the other festivals that followed (Monger, 29). They were after wedding celebration events were conducted at the groom’s home. Furthermore, the husband and the wife would break items such as jars, dishes, or eggs as a symbol of good luck in their new home.
Nevertheless, upon entering the house, the newly wedded couples wore a traditional Armenian bread (lavash) wrapped around their shoulder to rebel against the evil spirits. During the wedding festival, the bride and groom would jump three times over fire as a symbol of fertility. However, the bride was prohibited from actively participating in the wedding ceremony. She was to remain silent in honor of the in-laws and the groom. Besides, it also symbolized her sorrow in leaving her family. Monger (30) points out that, the parents of the groom would send a red apple to the groom’s parent in recognition of the girl’s virginity. After seven days, the bride’s parents would visit her at the in-laws’ home along with symbolic gifts. This practice was referred to as “hand washing” (gloukha laval). The bride could start visiting her parents only after her first birth, or with her mother-in-law permission which could happen after 40-days of marriage.
Marriage Cultural Practices in the United States
In the United States, no evident culture surrounds marriage since most of the practices are borrowed from other cultures (Jones, n.p). However, marriage customs and practices rotate around the wedding attire, pre-wedding, reception, the wedding itself, and after wedding. Unlike the Armenians, in the US the groom would propose to the bride, if they come into an agreement, the bride’s and groom’s parents would have an engagement whereby they permit their son and daughter to get married. The event was presided by a wedding ceremony which would take place either in the church or the place of their choice. It is in contrast to the culture of Armenia where the wedding ceremony took place only in the church.
Mostly the bridal dress was white and a veil in weddings. However, couples were allowed to choose any of the bridal dress colors if it is not their first wedding. Jones (n.p) point out that, the pre-wedding ceremony was overwhelmed with different gifts from the guests. The event was described as “bridal shower.” During the wedding, the groomsmen and bridesmaid presided over the wedding unlike in Armenia where the groom's godfather took control of the wedding. The father of the bride walks her down the aisle as a sign of approval to the groom. Couple kisses and wedding cakes are used as a form of attachment between the bride and the groom. The wedding ceremony was followed by an after-party ceremony although it was different from that of Armenia, the bride and the groom together with the guests would dance and cheer up the newly wedded husband and wife. Gifts were also bought during the after wedding party. Unlike in Armenia where the bride and the groom would go around the fire while other guests sing and dance, in the United States the ceremony was overwhelmed with drinks and food along with various forms of entertainment such as live music band (Jones, n.p). The bride and the groom would then go to their newly wedded house where they will spend around one to two weeks after which they will go to a “honeymoon.” Usually, the honeymoon took place in one of the tourists’ attraction centers.
The Social Practices of Marriage in Armenia
The division of labor was based on the on the gender and generation principality. According to West (59), The patriarch governed communal work and also took control of the up stay of the entire family member. The wife supervised the household and other domestic work. Nevertheless, the bride was supposed to serve all the members in the in-law's house upon her existence. The mother-in-law played an essential role in cooking for the entire family. Besides, the bride also took control of menial responsibilities which included cleaning all the shoes of the whole family members. The bride was also commissioned the responsibility of kissing all the elders on their hands, and she could not sleep before her father-in-law got to sleep. Furthermore, the bride was expected to help the father-in-law to dress and undress (West, 59). The wife’s duties included; food preparation, clothing, weaving rugs, pottery, and caring of dairy animals and poultry. Men took the responsibility of massive agricultural work, house building and furniture creation, and leather workings. Additionally, the bride’s face was availed publically at most once a year, and during the silence ritual periods, she was prohibited from talking to anyone else except to her husband and children.
The Social Practices of Marriage in the United States
In the 20th Centuries, a division of labor was divided in a way that the husband took the responsibility as the provider of the family while the wife supervised the house chaos. However, with the inclusion of women in the job market, the burden of provision for the family has been divided between the husband and the wife. Additionally, conducting of household labor has now become common, and both the bride and the groom participate. According to various past studies, wives took control of all the repetitive house chores such as food preparation and cleaning while the husband did house repairs such as electrical repair, throwing trash, and also paying all the bills before the 1970s (Bianchi & Suzanne et al., 55). In the current world, both husbands and wives are performing general household duties like cooking. Averagely, an American woman would conduct cleaning, cooking, and other household’s duties three times as compared to an average man. Hence division of labor is not always based on gender.
Regulation of Marriage in Armenia
The Government of the Republic of Armenia is the principal registrar of all marriages in Armenia. The bride and the groom have to be present at the time of registration. It is prohibited to get married to an individual in whom one of them is recognized by the law to be in another marriage. Besides, marriage between relatives and the same sex group is not allowed in Armenia. Nevertheless, it is forbidden to get married between an adoptive parent and the adopted child and also with an individual who is recognized by the court of law to be debilitated (The Law of the Republic of Armenia n.p). In the time of divorce, both the husband and wife must present their statement to the Registrar of Divorce. Besides, the spouse has no legal right to submit a statement of divorce under a circumstance where the wife is pregnant. Marriage is considered terminated following the judicial court order.
Regulation of Marriage in the United States
Rules governing marriage in the United States are established by the states of law and not the federal government. An individual needs to be 18 years to get married in most states, however, parental consent can be given if an individual is 16 years old. In the registration process, in most states, the husband and wife need to obtain their marriage license from the local authority. Both the bride and the groom must be present at the time of registration (USLEGAL n.p). Nevertheless, some of the states in the United States have legalized marriage between the same sex-group as of 2014, January. The wedding ceremony is only conducted when the couples have been issued with a marriage license.
Conclusively, marriage between the United States and Armenia has a lot of disparities regarding the social practices where the Armenians have much of traditions. In Armenia, the bride and the groom did not talk to each other before they got married. All the arrangements were made between the relatives of both the groom and the bride. Nevertheless, the bride had to veil her face throughout the marriage period from the public. These practices are very different from what is done in the United States. Furthermore, the social practices are somehow different from the two countries. However, the two nations share some similarities in the regulation of marriage. In spite of the similarities, there is also some difference on the registration of marriage and matrimony between same-sex groups.
Work Cited
Jones, Tayari. An American marriage. Newyork, Times Bestseller, 2018. Print.
Monger, George. Marriage customs of the world: An Encyclopedia of dating customs and wedding traditions. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2013. Print.
West, Barbara A. Encyclopedia of the peoples of Asia and Oceania. New York: Facts on File, 2009. Print.
The Law of the Republic of Armenia. Family Code. ARMENIA, 2004. http://www.parliament.am/law_docs/081204HO123eng.pdf
Accessed on 15th April 2018
USLEGAL. Marriage Laws by State. 2018 https://marriage.uslegal.com/state-marriage-laws/
Accessed on 15th April 2018
Bianchi, Suzanne M., et al. "Housework: Who did, does or will do it, and how much does it matter?." Social Forces 91.1 (2012): 55-63.
