In every community, there are laws and cultures that are applied in their every day lives. This means that every cultural group has its beliefs, as well as taboos, by which they abide. Therefore, the issue of interracial marriages is the one that draws the interest of most researchers. This essay is formed by the research carried out on interracial marriages in Southeast Asia. The arguments are mainly based on the book Everyday Life in Southeast Asia, edited by Kathleen Adams and Kathleen Gillogly. This book has been extensively used in the development of the plot in this essay from the ib extended essay writing service

Interracial marriages in Southeast Asia can be traced back to the time, when the Indian culture was spreading. This includes Hinduism and Buddhism. At that time, most merchants, as well as traders chose to intermarry with the local people in places such as Burma, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malay Peninsula. The Chinese and Indian Arabs also intermarried with those local communities from the 14th century up to the 17th century. The Japanese also travelled there in the 17th century and intermarried with them. However, the fact that those intermarriages used to take place does not mean that it was just as simple as that. Instead, there are many issues that are attached to the issue of interracial marriages in Southeast Asia. Some of these issues have been covered by the examples and illustrations that have been made in the book Everyday Life in Southeast Asia.

Chapter 6 of this book is about a marriage in Lisu village in Southeast Asia. An American woman was conducting a research on marriages in this part of the continent. As she sat outside a house, in which she was to carry on with an interview, one of the daughters of this home came to her. That daughter said that she envied the lady's ‘Issara'. In their language, that word is similar to freedom. That was a daughter who seemed to be open. Therefore, she was able to express how she felt about her religion. She told her that there was one guy that she loved. However, that guy did not have lands in the local area. However, she loved that guy and wanted to get married with him. This was something that her parents and community would not allow. She had to marry a guy that had an ancestral land, as well as a recognizable wealth in the community (Adams and Gillogly 79).

This is just a story of one girl in Southeast Asia. However, it is a representation of what normally happens in the local communities. Obviously, there are those communities that give way to interracial marriages without a lot of trouble. However, this is not the same case for the extreme local communities. This is because they have to agree with the cultures, as well as the way of life of people. Considering an outsider, this is a point, in which they would lose marks in qualifying to be the marriage candidates. The reason behind this is that they would have no ancestral lands to show in the local areas. Therefore, they would not have an edge in claiming the daughters on this land (Jones 20-57). However, it may be possible that these two people are in love. Therefore, it is clear that the culture comes between these two people, whose wish would be to get married. This is an issue that oppresses most of the girls and women in Southeast Asia. In the end, they are forced to remain with people that they do not desire for the rest of their lives.

According to Adams and Gillogly, the culture is something that is maintained through generations of any social group (80). It is something that may seem to be hard to transmit from one group of people to the other. However, this is achieved through marriages. It is through these marriages that children are raised and taught about their cultures, as well as the things that they should not be involved in. It is through these marriages that the wealth is also passed from one person to their kinship. However, the writers of this book bring in a vital point. For the survival of any group, there has to be a means that sustains the same. This is because they need to feed their children, as well as provide them with all the needs that they would require. This cannot be done without a source of the income. That is how the economic and financial life of a group gets connected to the social life. It reveals trends that can be used to account for numerous changes that can be witnessed in the society (Jones 20-56).

The Lisu community largely depended on Opium. This was a cash crop that was mainly used to bring the income to the community. It was fetching high market prices due to its availability, good climate as well as other environmental conditions in that area. However, there came a time, when it was no more valuable. The drastic changes of factors, such as climatic conditions, bans and illegalizing of goods, caused the need for adjustments. Those opium farms were used as a main form of the wealth. This means that children used to inherit them from their parents. However, this ceased to be the case. As a result of this, the land that they owned lost its value. People with the land did not receive the respect and preference that they were receiving before. This meant the start of a new era. This was an era when owning land would cease to be a huge issue. As a result of this, there had to be an alternative that would cause a balance in the ecosystem. This is when intermarriages between people of different races began.

This explanation on interracial marriages is as general as it can be. As much as people would want to hold onto their culture, there comes a time when they should make exceptions and let go. This is when there are factors that have to be adjusted to the same effect. The young women of these communities find that the resources are running out. Therefore, if any of them wishes to be married by outsiders, there would be no need to stop them. This is because the aspect of wealth is not in the equation anymore. The exploration and decrease of resources takes place with time. Therefore, the modern times represent fewer resources than before. As a result of this decrease in resources, there have to be some other people that come into these areas with their own interests. These are people like the Chinese or Indian merchants. In the process of their interaction with the local communities, they may be free to marry the daughters of the local communities. This is because the financial aspect of getting married is non-existent. This is how these communities started to inevitably accept interracial marriages. This has led to the loss of cultural beliefs and values over the years. However, it has its advantages that cannot be compared to these limitations (Lacar, Ausejo, and Grant 33-78).

The issue of the land in this area did not only function as an indicator of the wealth that an individual had. Instead, it was also used as a basis, on which cultural practices would be practiced. According to Adams and Gillogly, the household heads were the ones, who were responsible for choosing the land that they would use for cultivation (90). This was under the consideration of numerous factors. These included the site, area, sunlight exposure, as well as many others that would suggest the presence of a good farming environment. After this was done, they used to cut trees and bushes in a preparation for the farming season. Those household heads were male members of the society. They used to perform their duties together. Thus, they were able to achieve better results during the harvest time. Women also had their roles. This is because they were left in homes to undertake other practices that men would not be interested in. This shows that there was a separation of duties and division of labor. This is the characteristic of a community that has tried its best to uphold the social values that have been existent for a long time (Nurmila 12-56).

With the introduction of interracial marriages, the case would be extremely different. This is because it would mean the introduction of people, who did not know anything about the cultures of people. These are people, who may have come as a result of their need to trade. Therefore, they could have no knowledge about farming, or the cultural practices of the tribe. The leaders of those communities made sure that the values in the tribe were upheld to the latter. As a result of this, they ensured that their daughters were not married by outsiders. Instead, they had to be married to men who had wealth. Those were men who were viewed as hardworking people. After this was achieved, it made sure that every child was born to a family that had wealth. Mostly, these families that had wealth were believed to be blessed by the gods. This is because they were able to acquire wealth, as a result of their ability to work hard and uphold the culture of the community. This ensured the continuity of the tribe and its culture (Wang 15-89).

According to Adams and Gillogly, it is clear that the courage in the young people with regards to the issue of intermarriages was growing by the day (83). According to the research that was carried out, most people had never found the courage to challenge the laws that were existent. This is because they had strong religious beliefs. The breaking of those beliefs and laws would come with consequences. For this reason, they chose to follow the ways of the community blindly. However, the modernization and mixing with other people proved otherwise. People came to realize that there is an outside world that waited for them to explore it. Therefore, they did not have to be tied to the strong views and ideas that were held dear to the tribe. There was a growing need to go beyond the horizons that had been created by the culture. This could only happen if they were mixed with people that could take them to the outside world. These are people, such as the traders, that always visited them in their localities (Steinberg 45-76). This is a fact that caused a trend that is witnessed in most areas. People started to get mixed with the outside races increasingly more. This saw the rise of cross breed generations that did not carry on with the original culture of the natives of Southeast Asia. This is the fear that the leaders of these people had, when they told the people of the disadvantages of mixing and intermarrying with outsiders.

In every activity that takes place, there is evolution. That is the reason as to why most of the issues in the modern world are extremely different from how they were before. The views of the people in Southeast Asia have changed greatly. The fact that they wished to cling to their cultures caused most of them to forget about the changes that happen about them. That is why they took so long to adjust to the changing world. With time, men and women of this part of the world have received the education. This has ensured that the stereotypic views that any of them had get eliminated. It also means that they are taught to be diverse. In the course of their education, they meet with people from all races. This causes them to learn how to appreciate others, as well as the role that they can play in the development of any level. Due to this, they were able to intermarry with people from all over the world. The Asian-Americans are one of the most recognized products of intermarriages in the world. This is because the Americans showed a lot of interest in Asia. While they were in this place, a lot of intermarriages took place. This caused the absorption of people by the visitors that came to their villages. The cultural values are still upheld in Southeast Asia (Wang 15-89). However, this does not mean that the effect that was initially witnessed is the same. Most of the young people in this culture have learnt how to merge their cultures with the changes that come to them within the scope of the modern world.

Southeast Asia is one of the parts of the world that are well known for upholding their culture. That is the reason as to why interracial marriages have been studied in the area. However, it is clear that no culture is a proof to the absorption. There have to be other tribes that absorb their cultures and intermarry with them. The same case applies to races. People can intermarry, as long as there is consensus between the parties that are involved in the actual marriage. There are advantages that have been reviewed with regards to these interracial marriages in Southeast Asia. The disadvantages are also existent. The best thing is that people should try to cope and live with inevitable changes, rather than try to prevent them.

Works Cited

Adams, Kathleen M., and Kathleen A. Gillogly, eds. Everyday life in Southeast Asia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011. Print.

Jones, Gavin W. Changing Marriage Patterns in Southeast Asia: Economic and Socio-Cultural Dimensions. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2011. Print.

Lacar, Luis Q., Luz Ausejo, and Fern Babcock Grant. Muslim-Christian Marriages in the Philippines: Studies Made in North Cotabato. Quezon City: New Day, 1980. Print.

Nurmila, Nina. Women, Islam and Everyday Life: Renegotiating Polygamy in Indonesia. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Steinberg, David I. Korea's Changing Roles in Southeast Asia: Expanding Influence and Relations. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), 2010. Print.

Wang, Hong. Cross-Border Marriages with Asian Characteristics. Taipei, Taiwan: Center for Asia Pacific Area Studies, Research Center for Humanities & Social Sciences Academia Sinica, 2009. Print.