Z is for Zangie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:54 am
Matchmakers...do they still exist?
Not so much in our western society, although there is a matchmaker festival in Ireland. In other cultures, particularly south Asian and middle eastern cultures, matchmakers are pretty common. However these are also cultures where there is significant gender disparity and marriages are often a monetary contract. Girls are expected to come with a dowry, and payments are often demanded by the groom's family long after the marriage. The wishes of the couple are rarely taken into account. More affluent families often use matchmakers to find good matches for their children for beneficial political marriages. Such marriages are not for love, but to combine the resources of two powerful families, or for some less powerful family to achieve a portion of influence over a more powerful family.
If I'm not mistaken there is still a strong tradition of matchmakers in some Jewish communities, but I don't have evidence for this. I've also heard rumors of matchmakers in Roma communities, but again I have no direct evidence. There may be other communities where matchmakers are common, but I have even less knowledge about them.
