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Marriage Advertisements in
India
? ?Every Sunday morning millions of Indians
settle down with a cup of tea and special weekend issues of their newspapers,
just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of
them quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian — the columns of
marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives. This
is relatively(相关地)modern change in the age-old custom of the arranged marriage.
The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social
changes that coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are
still described in terms of appearance, or skill in "the wifely arts,"
information about her earning power is entering more and more of the
advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife.
? ?Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is
sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose
advertisement in New Delhi newspaper explained that had been "the innocent
party" when her marriage broke up.
? ?Because the custom of the
dowry(嫁妆)(marriage payment) is now illegal(违法的), some advertisements
say "no dowry", or "simple marriage", which means the same thing. However, the
fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
? ?In a land where
light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a
woman have a "wheat-color" complexion(面色) or that a man be "tall, fair and
handsome".
? ?Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide
range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive
dozens of answers. "There’s nothing embarrassing about it, " explained a
Calcutta businessman advertising a son-in-law. "It’s just another way of
broadening the contacts and increases the possibility of doing the contacts and
increasing the possibilities of doing the best one for one’s daughter."
? ?Because of high unemployment and a generally poor standard of
living here, one of the best attractions a marriage advertisement can offer is a
permit to live abroad, especially in Canada or the United States. A person who
has one can get what he wants.
? ?One recent Sunday in Madras, for
example, a Punjabi engineer living in San Francisco advertised for a "beautiful
slim bride with lovely features knowing music and dance. " And a man whose
advertisement said that he held an American immigration permit was able to say,
only girls from rich, well-connected families need apply.
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