Monthly Archives: August 2010

Dispatches – When Cousins Marry

Programme information on the Channel 4 website

In my parents’ community, people seem have to have married within the same small group of Indian villages for generations. There are definitely benefits of marrying within the community. But personally I find the idea suffocating. I find the idea of cousins marrying both suffocating and incestuous. Yet I can understand how, if it’s something you’ve grown up with, you might accept it as a legitimate part of your culture. I can also understand ethnic communities’ needs to hold on to their traditions. But when following tradition is far more likely to make your children suffer, surely you should reconsider?