lullabelle

Yep, stunning research from Gulf News.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/so...tudy-1.1041887

MissDemeanor

Does this include marrying someone from Yorkshire?
My poor son.What have I done!

douglasgrant

i dont see the stun in it. fairly obvious you marrying into another culture would bring its own set up unique problems. what the article evades is, are the couples who marry happy or not. the goal of the marriage is to bring happiness to the coupes not to bring happiness to the rest of the family and or extended family(*)

* - this is a hard one to actually pin down because it does seem that different cultures definition of family varries.

seven seas

Exactly

jackthehat

Emiratis! - Know your Limits!

What's your thought Mr Cholmondly-Warner?

shiva

consanguinity

Thalassemia

maldives, 2nd highest known rate with 18% of population as carriers
UAE at least 49% of population are carriers

!

jackthehat

. . . and a Gene Pool reminiscent of a Bidet!

Karlos The Jackal

Now you know our son is far from thick and is advanced for his mere two years and he certainly hasnt got it from his mother!

Unfortunately you can't do a degree an MBA or a PHD in 'handbag and shoe' procurement or 'sun-bathing techniques' so he is definately from my gene pool!

Meow

Quite.

Does the article mention that the children have a disadvantage if they have thick/inbred parents?

Alexa

I think what it really comes down to is this:
If in this case, an Emirati marries a foreign woman, she HAS to 100 % adapt to his culture, religion etc. Then maybe, she will be accepted, after a while , by the Family.
The problem is, that many women meet these guys outside their native countries, where they, to an extent, have adapted to the culture and customs there. These women do not realize that things will change considerably once they are back home. and this where the problems start. Also, when a woman dates an Arab , things are quite different from when they are actually married.

I have seen this over, and over...many girls are intrigued by those guys for many reasons and have no idea what they are actually getting themselves into.

That is not to say that none of those marriages work, some do, very well indeed.
I am not getting into the inbreeding thing though...I'll leave that to you guys ..one thing though...being cross eyed is NOT a good sign...

Norm_uk

I've been around for a while here and unfortunately seen the same thing.

They rarely accept other cultures in the family - even cultures which are advanced and civillised...often more so than theirs in most regards.

In any case how can they be taken seriously when they have a legal prohibition on their women marrying non-Muslims? What would be the response if the British government said British women were not allowed to marry non-Christians I wonder?

N.

Alexa

From what I understand it's a tribal thing. They want the money/land etc. to stay within the tribe.
And of course, we must not forget, that some people think they are better than others, in oh so many ways, so therefore they don't want "not so good" specimens to dilute the " goodness.".. Bloodlines seem to be quite impotant, not only in horses , camels and sheep....

OriginalSunshine

Interestingly, Oman does not prohibit Muslim men from marrying non Muslim and or foreign women, and as per the Quran, the woman does not have to convert to Islam (although children have to be raised as Muslims - quite frankly no different from Catholics who can marry non Catholics but have to raise their children as Catholics). However, women for the most part are not allowed to marry a foreigner, and those that are have to fight hard to have their child made a citizen.

lullabelle

I've met a few westerners married to Gulf Arabs - v interesting conversations.

One of the most fascinating was a woman who married a Kuwaiti in the UK in the late sixties. Had two kids, both hubby and her quite "alternative." they then moved to Kuwait.

They actually tried to retain some kind of western lifetsyle but found it impossible. The family just took over. The eldest son of all the brothers is "given" to the family - they decide how and where he is educated, how he will be brought up. He is the one groomed for greatness, runs the main business, or inherits the land, depending on the status. One of the girl children is also "given" to the family, but for different reasons. This poor girl is not schooled at all but trained to looking after the house - she is the poor soul who will be looking after the older generation. With my friend having only two kids that wasnt an option, thank god. The parents usually have very little say in these matters - the family sits down and discusses what is best for EVERYONE. My friend's son was taken out of his school and sent to a very religious school and there was nothing she could do about it. The family had decided and that was that.

Also she found it impossible not to get embroiled in the way the family socialised. Men with men, women with women. No mixing. They would initially try to have dinner parties or just nights at home alone, but as time went on, her husband was called again and again to be with the men - it was expected of him and it became clear that life would be very difficult if he didn't comply. They would all take it in turn to visit each other's houses to eat, sit and gossip. after a few years of this, bored rigid and worried about their children, they moved back to London. They eventually divorced - she says it wasnt pressure from the family but he did return to kuwait and marry a relative. Yet he made sure the kids stayed in the UK... She is very thankful for that. Her own son returned to Kuwait to have a relationship with his dad and has lived here for several years, but is now trying to get back to the UK again. I met him and he said that once inside the family, it becomes all consuming. You don't socialise
outside the family, you don't work outside the family, you certainly don't go off and marry a foreigner. Now I have no idea if her experience is unusual or the norm - she was the only woman I knew married to a Kuwaiti, but it was fascinating to discuss her experiences. She was just relieved she had been allowed to keep her children

Any westerners married to emiratis that I met didn't seem to have such an all consuming experience - but they certainly had to follow family customs, traditions and "fit in." I think Alexa's right in that they have little idea what awaits them though... The romantic sheik is such an iconic fantasy figure. The reality must be quite shocking.

There's a an Emirati surgeon married to an American guy in Dubai. Lives in Jumeirah just back from the beach. Two kids. No problemo. But her dad is pretty connected

Norm_uk

I'm not sure of the exact origins. A Muslim man can have 3-4 wives (depending on who you ask) and can marry Christians, Jews or Muslims. A Muslim woman can have one husband and is only allowed to marry another Muslim. Seems more about out-breeding the enemy than any legitimate reason to keep wealth in the tribe. High birth rates are only useful in times of war or if you have terrible infant mortality.

If it's about bloodlines it's not working. There is more genetic defection in much of the population than in most other comparable populations...I used to know a Syrian chap who worked for the government testing blood samples for people getting married. He mentioned it's pretty bad so they have had to step in and try to encourage people to not marry so close so often.

N.