Jennifer TS#15

Date/Time: July 10, 12PM

Location: Lunch at Zoës

Topics: Continued Marriage Discussion

Marriage seems to be the most interesting and controversial topic of discussion that we've discovered so it comes up quite a lot. We've talked about Saudi customs for marriage and traditions regarding it. Abdulrahman asked me what I think what would happen if people didn't get married any more. I pulled this page from the knot wedding site to talk about different wedding traditions around the world to sort of make it an academic and cultural discussion rather than just something based on my opinion. https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-customs-and-traditions-from-around-the-globe

We talked about different customs and then wound up back at the "what if there was no marriage" question. I told Abdulrahman that if people were in relationships and were happy and wanted to have kids that they didn't have to get married. He disagreed because of his cultural background and family traditions. He was a little put off by my opinion and of the belief that the world would pretty much end and there would be no more children without marriage. I informed him that not everyone feels that marriage fits them as a couple or that there is a need to be married. Also, there are a number of people in relationships who have kids together that aren't married. This just spiraled into additional conversations regarding people who are gay. What if everyone were gay? There would be no children and no marriage and the world would end. I told him that the couples could team up to have each others kids, which again, was not what he was expecting. 

I think it's really interesting to get into these kind of discussions and the fact that he is so traditional in his ideals as a result of his culture and upbringing coupled with the fact that I am completely non-traditional and generally open-minded and opposite in every way. I think it makes for wonderful learning experiences for us both.