5 Anonymous People Open Up About What It’s Really Like to Be in an Arranged Marriage

You can read more stories from the issue here. The question landed with a clang on the snow-white tablecloth. I imagined everyone in the room heard it—the married couple with a kid at the next table, the group of businessmen having a work lunch, the server who looked years old and was hovering around us with a knowing grin. He was probably used to waiting on tables like ours: a man and a woman on a first date with only one intended outcome—marriage. Being a woman in her early 20s who had only just begun to secretly explore the world of casual dating on Tinder, the modern arranged marriage process felt bizarrely streamlined.

Arranged marriages continue to flourish in India; but here’s a funny take on the face) when you’ve logged into a dating website, then why not in this case?

Arranged marriage has been the tradition in Cambodia for centuries and remains the norm practiced for Cambodians both at home and overseas. Marriage is a very important institution for Cambodians. The courtship practices and the marriage ceremony are very different from those practiced in the Western culture. Traditionally, marriage was always arranged without the knowledge or consent of the individuals to be married. Forced marriage was common. Many families arranged marriages while the betrothed individuals were still very young; friends made promises to each other that their children would marry.

The girl would have nothing to say about it.