Perceptions of attractive female faces across ethnic groups

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS AND ANSWER EITHER a OR B. AND ANSWER C...YOU WILL ANSWER a TOTAL OF TWO QUESTIONS: 1. Answer AB.A. Asian, Hispanic, White American, Black American students tend agree makes attractive female face.

Social psychology

Arranged marriage seems fundamentally anathema to the American culture of individualism and choice. Historically, in Western culture, the ideal of romantic love has emphasized passion and personal autonomy. In Romeo and Juliet, the 'bad' parents try to push Juliet into an arranged marriage vs. her desired match with her true love Romeo. However, the Indian writer Shoba Narayan states that our belief in star-crossed love may be a cultural illusion. She points to her own, modern arranged marriage with a man with whom she has an equal partnership and her failed attempts at traditional American courtship. Narayan points out cultures with high rates of arranged marriages have low divorce rates -- although it is worth noting that these more traditional cultures likely frown upon divorce and make it more difficult for women to extricate themselves out of 'bad' marriages.

Narayan states that her marriage is happy, like her parent's, which was also an arranged marriage. But Narayan, despite her American education, grew up in a culture where this arrangement was common. She states that sustaining relationships in non-arranged situations was difficult, but she also admits that none of these relationships were with Indian men. The success of her relationship with her husband might have more to do with the fact that she shared a common cultural background with him, versus her previous boyfriends, rather than the fact that the marriage was arranged.

Narayan's experience is a very benign version of arranged marriage. She was educated, she entered into the agreement willingly, and her partner-to-be was free-minded and grew up in a household of strong women. What of an underage, uneducated girl from a poor, rural family bullied into an arranged marriage by parents who simply wanted to get rid of their daughter because she was seen as an economic burden upon them in a male-dominated society? This is the vision of arranged marriage Narayan's essay does not acknowledge. In fact, Narayan's marriage hardly seems 'arranged' at all. The parents of the couple staged a meeting; she met Ram's mother and father. Then, Narayan and Ram communicated independently afterward. They were not under the careful watch of their parents, and Ram's proposal came because he was attracted to Shoba, not because his parents were forcing him to marry. In a truly 'arranged' marriage, couples had no say in the matter, and would meet only under supervised circumstances, perhaps first on their wedding night.

Narayan's arranged marriage is no different than being 'fixed up' on a date by a matchmaker -- or your mother. While the objections of her friends seem silly, so does her calling her match a traditional 'arranged marriage.' Parents have influence on Western couplings as well, it should be noted. The dislike of a future mother-in-law for a prospective son-in-law has broken up many couples! Narayan says that she did not love her husband before marrying him, but even within my own family I know of people who married because they felt 'time was running out' rather than the fact they felt passionate adoration for their partner. Yes, Narayan struggled during the first few years of her relationship -- but once again, may couples do, regardless of whether their marriage was 'arranged' or not.

Narayan's marriage may not have come about in a conventional, Western way, but it is not really an arranged marriage in the conventional sense. It is still characterized by a great deal of Western autonomy, freedom, and choice. But truly arranged marriages as are practiced in traditional societies without choice for the woman involved hold the potential for abuse which Narayan is not willing to acknowledge in her personal reflections about her middle class experiences.

2C. One of my best friendships in high school came about as a result of an accident. Sarah and I were lab partners so we were effectively 'forced' to spend at least a period a day or so together. At first, we just talked about the assignments we had been given, but gradually we began to talk about other things. We had similar interests and a similar sense of humor. At first, Chemistry was our main point of contact, but we also shared other classes together. We would study during free periods and eventually our study time spilled over into hanging out after school, talking about our lives, and spending time at the mall and other places.

Over the course of senior year, we became even closer. In general, I became closer with all members of my senior class. As a class we had become more mature, moved beyond the petty fights of freshman year, and knew that it was our last year together. Sarah and I participated in several senior extracurricular activities, including organizing Homecoming events and school dances. We became closer as we shared our fears and anxieties about applying to college and what the future would be like after high school.

Over the summer, we spent even more time hanging out together. It was like we were keeping high school alive, in the face of inevitable changes in August, when we would both be going away to different schools. Also, both of us had recently broken up with our significant others and had a great deal of time on our hands. I look back very fondly on all of the time we spent 'doing nothing' and 'wasting time' -- eating French fries at an all-night diner, watching DVDs, or driving around with no place special to go.

In many ways, my friendship with Sarah happened by chance. We were lucky enough to be in the same school, in the same classes together. We probably would have gotten to know one another better during senior year, even if we had not been lab partners together. But because of the fact that we were paired together in a subject that required us to talk and interact with one another, we discovered many sources of commonality as sophomores. Then, after school was over, we kept all of those good high school times alive, before we left for college.