R: Arrange Your Child's Marriage

Wednesday, February 7th, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Mendenhall Room

Jacob Ochtervelt, The Love Letter, ca. early 1670s, oil on canvas, 91.4 × 63.5 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

According to a 2012 study, arranged marriages hold a divorce rate of around 6%, well below the total American divorce rate which sits at a disappointing 53%.  Proponents of arranged marriage throw out these statistics in addition to pointing out that parents are generally more knowledgeable about what's best for their children than their children themselves.  On the other side, people will suggest that arranged marriage robs a person of their agency to make their own important life decisions.