I read Zamzam Abdi's article "Marriage over the phone thrives among Somali community." The article presupposes that the main reason why young women in Africa marry their suitors from abroad, say from London, Toronto or Minneapolis is purely economic. I think that is a very simplistic explanation. It does not take into account the separation that happened to people who were in each other’s lives before the man moved overseas nor does it take into consideration that it costs almost the same raising a family in Africa while the man lives abroad since he has to support himself and also his wife and kids. You can call this double-spending. May be it will even cost less if the man had married and lived abroad with his family.
How about when a young woman returns from the West to marry her prince charming in Africa? Is she doing it for economic reasons? I think, not.
Societies often transition in time and space and cultures thus become dynamic. Social norms change to reflect a society’s new realities. The case of over-the-phone-marriage, though a recent phenomenon among Somalis, also occurs in other non-Somali communities but what is your reflection on this topic?
You made an interesting point there, However I disagree with you, It's not double -spending, actually the guy who goes back home to find a pride, had his bank full. Because she will not ask for dirac that coast 300 for just one night, to go to wedding,.. I see your point tho, good one.
ReplyDeleteAnother good way of looking at it! so you agree with Zamzam Abdi (the original writer whose article i discussed) that men who return do so out of pure economics?
ReplyDeleteI think that another reason why marriages over the phone are common is because men want to marry woman they know. In the west a lot of people who did not know each other in Africa have come together. Many marriages that have happened between these people did not work out. But there is this believe especially among men that if he marries a woman whose family he knows then the marriage would last.
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