The Romani Gypsy Culture
Romani gypsies marrying as minors
4/15/2013
IP PH 1
Laura Halfmann
In the Romani Gypsy culture getting married is a big event to celebrate the extension of the family. This is normally a three day event. One is the church ceremony where they hold hands in front of elders who bless them with bread and salt, the consummation where they might ask for proof with the blood stained sheet to prove her purity, then the party in their honor where dancing and music takes place all night long. Most of Roma marriages are arranged by the parents and some even before the children have been born. Some tribes will ask for a dowry, which is an agreed price, for the bride who is now going to be living with the husband’s family. The reason she moves in with the husband is because in their culture the wife stays …show more content…
Then years go by they are on TV with their own show called “My big fat Gypsy Wedding” and I will admit I watched a few never really trying to understand their culture more intrigued by all the money they blow on dresses and cakes. Now actually having a reason to look further into their culture I am a bit shocked. I knew they married as minors and to me that isn’t a big deal because that’s just how they are raised. Would I let my children marry as a minor, no but that is how I choose to raise my children. What really took me by surprise were the parents picking who they marry and then they don’t have any other choice. When I watched the TV series it was not like that, so as I dug further I found different tribes all have different traditions and that is why the parents choose the marriage to keep the society pure. Makes a little more sense but still seems obscure to me. The real hook in the lip was the dowry for the bride. I heard wise tails about trading in a cow for the daughter and such things but I never once thought it to be real. I am blown away and just lost for
4/15/2013
IP PH 1
Laura Halfmann
In the Romani Gypsy culture getting married is a big event to celebrate the extension of the family. This is normally a three day event. One is the church ceremony where they hold hands in front of elders who bless them with bread and salt, the consummation where they might ask for proof with the blood stained sheet to prove her purity, then the party in their honor where dancing and music takes place all night long. Most of Roma marriages are arranged by the parents and some even before the children have been born. Some tribes will ask for a dowry, which is an agreed price, for the bride who is now going to be living with the husband’s family. The reason she moves in with the husband is because in their culture the wife stays …show more content…
Then years go by they are on TV with their own show called “My big fat Gypsy Wedding” and I will admit I watched a few never really trying to understand their culture more intrigued by all the money they blow on dresses and cakes. Now actually having a reason to look further into their culture I am a bit shocked. I knew they married as minors and to me that isn’t a big deal because that’s just how they are raised. Would I let my children marry as a minor, no but that is how I choose to raise my children. What really took me by surprise were the parents picking who they marry and then they don’t have any other choice. When I watched the TV series it was not like that, so as I dug further I found different tribes all have different traditions and that is why the parents choose the marriage to keep the society pure. Makes a little more sense but still seems obscure to me. The real hook in the lip was the dowry for the bride. I heard wise tails about trading in a cow for the daughter and such things but I never once thought it to be real. I am blown away and just lost for