1 note &
International marriages matter partly because they reflect—and result from—globalisation. As people holiday or study abroad, or migrate to live and work, the visitors meet and marry locals. Their unions are symbols of cultural integration, and battlefields for conflicts over integration. Few things help immigrants come to terms with their new country more than becoming part of a local family. Though the offspring of such unions may struggle with the barriers of prejudice, at their best international marriages reduce intolerance directly themselves, and indirectly through their progeny.
Herr and Madame, Señor and Mrs
Because: I suppose I am one of such offspring mentioned, the biological daughter of my mom from the U.S. and father from Mexico. But, I really cannot pretend to have faced any prejudice, and if I have I haven’t recognized it. I can blend in, or at least not stand out, in any part of the US, really, as well as in much of Europe and Latin America, or at least I like to tell myself that. The whole part about reducing intolerance reminds me of how when growing up, at times when I felt like stirring the pot and someone would make a comment about “Mexicans” in town, a term many used to describe anyone who looked Hispanic, I would say, “You know, I’m Mexican.” I always had to bring that up when someone would let a “dirty Mexicans” slip because, uh, how offensive, and if only you knew how obsessed many Latin Americans are with preening. Often times my revelation would get a defensive, quick counter like, “But, you’re not like them.” If I really wanted to take it all the way, I would ask them what they meant by that.
Anyway, this sizable article is mostly about statistics and details related to cross-border marriages, and it’s quite interesting.
