Cultures of Valentine

Posted by Shiny

A couple of weeks ago, there was a questionnaire from Psychology coursework spreading around Bellerbys collecting information about love.  Love may have become an inevitable topic in our daily life.  Today I would like to talk about a hit topic which is about different cultures of Valentine’s Day and what love means in different ways.  Although I am not an expert on love, I have attempted to exchange ideas about love with some students in our college.

Above all, let’s talk about marriage.  Students from different places have different opinions about this.  For instance, in China, one man mustn’t have more than one wife, although in the ancient China, some wealthy men could.  As for the culture of some countries, a man can have more than one wife.

A few days ago, I saw a piece of news telling that Muslim people in the UK can have up to four wives although this is illegal according to the law.  It is said that the British government would subsidize those who are legally having over one partner within Britain.  Obviously, the British culture is so tolerant and humanistic, even the law would allow moral cultural issues to happen. 

I once had a chat with one of my Nigerian female friends in Bellerbys whose father has got “dozens of” wives.  I was shocked and I asked her whether she though this is kind of discrimination.  What she said did make me give in.  She told me that, “Of course I don’t think it is.  Who makes money and earns the living for your whole family?  It’s your dad, right?  That’s it.”  It is indeed a fair comment if we think in terms of contribution to a family.  Yet some casual empiricists may argue that women also devote themselves to their family to a large extent.  Whilst what men and women do were different, it is not sensible to compare with each other.  No matter what people think, as long as there is an agreement between women and men, everything is fine.