by Ebey Soman

Created on: October 29, 2009

When people think of arranged marriages, they think of the worst cases and the forced marriages of the Islamic societies. However, arranged marriages are nothing like that. A long time ago, it did used to be a marriage decided by parents with little input from the young people being married but times have changed. There are also certain myths about arranged marriages that need to be dispelled, here are the top 6 myths regarding arranged marriages.

Myth # 1: Arranged marriages are forced

Truth: Arranged marriages are far from forced. The young people decide if they want to get married but the parents play a role in narrowing the field to certain individuals they prefer for their child. However, either the woman or the man may say "No" and do say "No" if they do not like the person(s) their parents are matching them with.

Myth # 2: Arranged marriages are rare, a few nutty people practice it.

Truth: Arranged marriages used to be the prevalent method of marriages even in Europe. However, today only places like Africa, Middle East, East Asia and South East Asia (the Indian subcontinent) practice arranged marriages. It is not a dying practice and it certainly is not a rare practice.

Myth # 3: Parents arrange the marriage

Truth: This is not entirely true. The family plays a huge role in marriages with input from uncles, aunts, friends of the family and other extended family members. But the final decision on all proposals rests with the parents and the person that is going to get married. The family and parents act to "vet" the candidates to ensure they do not have undesirable qualities like bad history, a criminal profile, certain rumors, bad family or other "baggage" they do not want in the family. In the end, they are just trying to do what is in the best interest of the person getting married and the family.

Myth # 4: Profession makes the marriage

Truth: It is true that a person's profession and vocation does play a huge role in a arranged marriage, especially in Asia and India. Doctors are more likely to get married into a good family than lets say a shop keeper from a few blocks down. But that is not the only factor. Family reputation is a huge factor that is simply not ignored. It is closely examined and scrutinized by the parents and relatives of the people getting married. Other factors such as religion, wealth, health, beauty, dietary preferences and social standings are taken into account as well.

Myth # 5: People are abused in such marriages

Truth: It

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