Table of ContentsSummaryIntroductionMethodologySummary/AnalysisReferencesSummaryWhat are the cultural differences and similarities in dating and marriage culture between Brazil and the United States -United and how does this affect relations? This article explores the cultural factors that affect love and marriage in these two countries. An external search for information provided the background and context for the primary research I conducted. The primary research consisted of a content analysis of writings between my Brazilian grandparents and my American grandparents. Analysis of these writings and research from external research explained how the American ideology of individualism and the Brazilian ideology of familism affected marriage. The Brazilian emphasis on love as a prerequisite for marriage explains why the writings between my Brazilian grandparents were more affectionate and affectionate than those of the American couple. Marriages are a product of the culture people grew up in and are affected by how marriage is viewed early in a relationship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIntroductionBrazil and the United States, two countries in the Americas, have many differences, but also some similarities. Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America with a population of 211.05 million (Brazilian Population 2019). In terms of size and population, it is also the fifth largest country in the world (Brazilian population 2019). Most of Brazil is sparsely populated, with a population density of 24.66 people per square kilometer, ranking it sixth in the world (Brazilian Population 2019). According to the United States Census Bureau, the estimated population of the United States is 329.45 million, making it the third largest country in the world by population (United States Population 2019). Regarding demographics, Brazil's census records ethnicity and race by categorizing people primarily by skin color. It asks people to put themselves into various categories, some of which may be unfamiliar to Americans and Europeans. For example, citizens are asked to indicate whether they are white, black, brown or yellow, as well as the smaller category "native". The 2019 census results showed that 42% of Brazilian citizens were white, 44% brown, 7% black, 0.5% yellow, and 0.25% indigenous (Brazilian Population 2019). This classification method is controversial in Brazil, but the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE) continues to use it. In 2019, the United States Census reported that the population is 60.4% white. However, by 2055, white people will no longer constitute the majority (United States Population 2019). The Census classifies citizens of the United States as white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Finally, the main religion in Brazil is Christianity with around 90% of the population practicing Catholicism. or Protestantism. Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world, with 123 million people (Brazilian Population 2019). However, in the United States, a wide range of religions are practiced across the country. The Protestant/Christian religion holds a clear majority of 48.9%, Catholics 23%, and other minority faiths in the United States include theJudaism, Islam and Mormonism. In final contrast to Brazil, the United States has a significant minority of people who identify as having no religion or as atheists/agnostics, representing 22.8% of the population. As the daughter of a Brazilian immigrant, I have seen many cultural differences. between Brazilians and Americans in my everyday life. My mother was born in São Paulo, Brazil and moved to the United States when she was around five years old. My grandparents, Ivan and Leonice, then in their thirties, packed what they could and flew with their three children to a foreign country. My grandparents settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where they knew only a few people and started a whole new life. Even though they have lived in America for almost forty years, I still understand how differently they think and act from my other grandparents who lived in the United States their entire lives. My grandmother on my father's side, Theresa, was born and raised in the United States and my grandfather, Jorge, was born in Puerto Rico but raised here in America. Growing up, I saw how different the relationships were between my two sets of grandparents, especially since my father's parents divorced when he was a child. Given that both sets of grandparents are 67-70 years old, I know there can't be a generational reason for these differences. So I often wonder if the reason their marriages were so different is because of where they came from. This is the question I will explore in my cross-cultural study: what are the cultural differences and similarities in the dating and marriage culture between Brazil and the United States and how does this affect relationships? Methodology To begin to answer this question, I began an external investigation. look for studies and research on the cultural differences and similarities between Brazil and the United States. I focused on finding articles relating to dating culture, marriage culture, and family structure in both countries. This secondary research would provide background and context for my primary research. It was important for me to create a perspective to examine the information I had gathered from my grandparents. Secondary research helped clarify my research question and narrow down exactly what I wanted to focus on in this cross-cultural study. The articles I used for my research were found in EBSCOhost and Google Scholar. My primary research for this study involved content analysis. I chose this methodological approach because I wanted to analyze the relationships that my grandparents had with each other based on their writings. Content analysis is a research tool used to analyze the meaning and relationships of certain words, themes, and concepts within qualitative data. Content analysis organizes, summarizes and describes the content of interviews, television shows, letters, newspaper articles, etc. When conducting a content analysis, it is important to describe both manifest and latent content. Manifest content being the literal content of the data and latent content being the underlying meaning and interpretation of the data. In this investigation, I analyzed two poems that my Brazilian grandparents wrote for each other in 1969 and two letters written to my American grandmother by my grandfather in 1967 and 1968. I took these writings and studied them to discover differences or similarities that could be explained culturally. I compared their writings with the secondary research thatI conducted research on Brazilian and American cultures to answer my research question.Summary/AnalysisStarting with the marriage culture in the United States, it is first important to note the many changes that the American family system has brought about . saw. Andrew J. Cherlin's journal article, "American Marriage in the Early Twenty-First Century," reviews historical changes in marriage and the economic and cultural forces that have changed family life in America. Cherlin begins by assessing demographic changes over the past century, such as the age of marriage. The median age of marriage in the 1950s reached a historic low, at 23 for men and 20 for women, but in the 1960s the median age began to rise again. Today, women marry much later and the vast majority of young adults have had sex before marriage (Cherlin, 2005). In addition, cohabitation, or living with a partner before marriage, is much more common today than it was in the early to mid-20th century (Cherlin, 2005). While marriage rates have declined, divorce rates have increased. By 1950, about a third of marriages ended in divorce, and during the 1960s and 1970s, the likelihood that a married couple would divorce increased significantly. Since then, the divorce rate has remained about the same. According to recent estimates, 48 ​​percent of American marriages are expected to divorce within the first twenty years. Finally, this combination of divorce and more births to unmarried women has increased the number of children living with only one parent. To explain these changes in American family life, Cherlin looks at both economic and cultural factors. Economically, the increased demand for workers in the service sector encouraged women to continue their education and attracted married women into the labor market. The 1970s saw a decline in employment opportunities for men without a college education. This led to a decline in manufacturing jobs as factory jobs moved overseas and wages for those jobs declined. These changes in the labor market showed that men without college degrees were less “marriageable” and began the rise of dual-income families. Culturally, American marriage underwent two major transitions in the 20th century. The first was the transition from institutional marriages to marriage between companions (Cherlin, 2005). In institutional marriage, families were united by law, tradition and religion. However, by the mid-20th century, the emotional bonds between a wife and her husband became the foundation of marriage. At that time, marriages were focused on companionship, friendship and romantic love and spouses were content to fulfill their social roles. Then, around 1960, marriage moved from companionship to individualized marriage. People started to think more about themselves and stopped thinking about fulfillment by starting a family. While analyzing letters written to my grandmother, Theresa, by my grandfather, Jorge, and evaluating their marriage, I noticed these trends in American culture. My grandparents met as teenagers in the mid-1960s and married when my grandmother was just eighteen. My grandfather Jorge fought in the Vietnam War between 1967 and 1968, so my grandparents wrote to each other frequently. The first letter he wrote to my grandmother began: “Hi baby. How is life? So far I'm doing well. What have you done since Ispoke to you for the last time? (it was yesterday)”, and ended with: “How are you? Still hanging around, doing nothing, like always? Well baby, I really don't have much left to write, but it's a start, right? See you later, be careful. Otherwise, take it as you can get it. This letter was written on August 14, 1967, and like most letters, its writing was informal and conversational. He always addressed my grandmother as “baby” and signed all his letters “Love, JR.” In my grandfather Jorge's last letter to my grandmother, he wrote: “Well baby, the moment we have been waiting for is almost here. I'm really happy...I'll feel better when I get home and can kiss you and hold you. Ha, ha cheesy (isn’t it). I found it interesting that he made fun of his own words of affection and in all the letters I read, this was one of the only ones where he spoke affectionately. As I mentioned previously, his writings were mostly informal and did not express many deep feelings. Since many marriages in the United States have until now been institutionalized marriages, the idea of ​​being loving and affectionate toward one's partner may seem foreign. Examining their marriage in the context of my secondary research, their relationship began as companionship. However, their marriage became individualized. My grandparents divorced less than fifteen years after marriage and had two children before their divorce. The shift in American culture toward individualized marriage and emphasis on self has an undeniable connection to America as an individualistic society. Individualism prioritizes personal goals over group goals. My grandparents' marriage ended in divorce because of this individualistic philosophy. When spouses have different personal goals, divorce is often the result. In analyzing the letters, my grandfather was often self-centered and wrote primarily about his daily experiences. He rarely commented on my grandmother's life and only asked general questions: "How's life?" questions. This focus on self was clear from the beginning of the relationship and would ultimately be the reason for their divorce. In contrast, my Brazilian grandparents had a very loving marriage and prioritized their family above all else. In a journal article written by Cláudio V. Torres and Maria Auxiliadora Dessen, family structure and marriage in Brazil are analyzed through a cultural lens. Much like in the United States, the transition to a democratic country and the rise of industrialization in the 1960s led to a shift in values ​​and a redefinition of women's roles in society. However, in the 1980s, the economic crisis in Brazil led to high unemployment and a change in the traditional family structure. At that time, divorce rates in Brazil were increasing significantly due to most men being unemployed and unable to provide for their families. Women were now expected to financially support their families, which led to a change in “who is boss” (Torres and Dessen, 2008). However, even in the face of these changes, Brazil's collectivist ideals and familism have kept many families united through strong family-work ties. In addition to the emphasis on the importance of family, studies have shown that love is of great importance in Brazil as a prerequisite for establishing a marriage. Close Relations: Key Readings, written by HT Reis and CE/.