For Arab-Americans, dating is not an option. In the Arab culture, dating is considered shameful and an unacceptable way to meet your future spouse. Most Arab-Americans tend to stick with arranged marriages. Some Arab-Americans, to this day, follow tradition while others began to become more open minded.
Some Arab-American men, upon feeling they are ready for marriage, or pressured to get married by society, they may ask their mother to look for a compatible spouse. The man would tell his mother everything he is looking for in a wife, and his mother would ask around for single daughters within their neighborhood that fit the description. A plethora of Arab men, however, see possible compatible girls at a friend or family members wedding, at school, or even within the work place. At times a mutual friend may introduce the two to one another. If a man sees a girl he wants to marry, he asks around to find out who she is. He would ask around and research, so to speak, about her family. The man would then take members of his family to the girls house and ask her father for her hand in marriage. Depending on the family, the girl could refuse or accept the proposal. In strict familys the girl may not have a choice. At times society tends to pressure the girl to marry as soon as possible. In the Arab-American community if a girl stays single past a certain age, she is no longer 'marriage material.' The Arab-American girl may agree to marry a man because she feels she is getting closer to that age where she feels her biological clock is ticking away.
The Arab-American society pressures both the man and girl when it comes to marriage. Today it seems as if most men make the decision to get married based on how a girl physically looks. The only problem beings is that some girls may have not been taught certain things that a man is looking for, such as cooking and ironing clothes, which at times an cause fights. However, most times, the girls are married at a young age within the Arab-American community and are not taught certain things. Girls can get married as young as 16 years old. Another huge issue is marrying a girl born and raised in the United States to a man who was born and raised in the Middle East. To the man being a house wife may be one definition and to the girl it could be a complete other. All of these scenarios are a huge problem within the Arab-American culture that can lead to terrible endings.
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