Page 80 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 3: Marriage

reference to belief in an arranged marriage, he found that 92.2 per cent girls and 65.9 per cent boys Notes
believed in arranged marriage; 68.4 per cent girls and 62.0 per cent boys said that they would select
their mate through parents and relations; 4.0 per cent girls and 7.3 per cent boys wanted mate selection
through self-choice; and 27.6 per cent girls and 30.7 per cent boys wanted mate selection through
self-choice and consent of parents. This points out (i) young persons’ more adherence to and lesser
deviation from the traditional norms, and (ii) a considerable higher proportion of females than males
giving high priority to family considerations and traditional ideology.
In this age, matrimonial advertisements have also come to be used in mate selection. In this context,
a few studies conducted on mate selection by matrimonial advertisements give some relevant
information. These studies point out that the matrimonial advertisements as a process of mate selection
are generally used by urban, educated and relatively rich people. But what is significant is that it is
the parents who advertise, scrutinize, check background, correspond, and decide who should be
called for the interview. Children are only consulted and informed. The analysis of the ‘most desired
qualities’ (caste, beauty, age, education, influential family, and accomplishments for girls; and caste,
occupation income, age, education for boys) shows conformity as well as deviation from the traditional
basis of selection. People use advertisements only when they fail to select partners for their children
through normal means and/or because it provides a wider area of selection. Yet many people dislike
this method because what is advertised does not always reflect the accurate qualities of the advertiser.
Criteria of Mate Selection

Parents have different considerations in selecting mates for their children, since they consider marriage
a family affair. They lay considerable emphasis on the reputation of the prospective partner’s family,
morality of the family members, wealth of the family, physical fitness of the boy/girl, character and
potency of the girl/boy, girl’s training, and boy’s service and income.
While children are given an opportunity of self-choice, they give importance to factors like character,
education, training, intellect, personal charm, etc. rather than caste, dowry and such factors. B.V.
Shah (1964: 89-94) in his study of 200 college students in Baroda found that the ‘group’ considerations
for the parents were: culture and sanskars of the girl (80%), family status (56%), girl’s equipment
(14%), economic condition of the family (11%), and girl’s education (6.5%). Against this, the ‘individual’
considerations for the children were: education (98.5%), physical qualities like appearance and health
(79.5%), equipments like cooking ability and readiness for service (18.5%), and economic status (11%).
Thus, parents were found ‘partial deviants’ (giving importance to both group and individual
considerations) in 91.5 per cent cases, ‘total deviants’ (giving importance only to individual
considerations) in 7.0 per cent cases, and ‘traditionalists’ (giving importance only to groups
considerations) in 1.5 per cent cases. Margaret Cormack in her study (1965:93) noticed that ‘character’
and ‘education’ got the first and the second preference in mate selection both by boys and girls. After
these two considerations, boys gave importance to love, domestic training and beauty in order of
priority in the selection of girls. They gave the tenth priority to caste and the eleventh to dowry.
Against this, girls gave importance (after character and education) to age and job. Handsomeness
was given the ninth priority, followed by family background, and caste. The first four qualities
described as ‘undesirable’ by boys (in the selection of girls) were: ficklemindedness, drinking and
smoking, stupidity, and low education; while girls described immorality, low education, ugliness
and arrogance as undesirable qualities.
Vimal Shah also studied 281 students of Gujarat University during 1960-61 to analyze the familial
and individual qualities desired by them in mate selection. According to him (1975: 301), the boys
gave priority to nature (71.7%), education (70.7%), appearance (58.1%), personality (44.9%), efficiency
in work (39.5%), social status (12.2%) and economic condition (10.7%) in selecting wives. Against
this, the girls gave importance to nature (88.2%), education (88.2%), personality (56.9%), economic
condition (43.1%), efficiency in work (39.2%), appearance (33.3%) and social status (9.8%). This points
out that while girls were more concerned with the economic well-being, boys were more concerned
with the efficiency in the household work of their mates.

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