THe Marriage Ceremony:
This is the second time we have held an marriage in 7S. Each time, it is based on a different culture. At the same time, we have lots and lots of fun nothing organizing and watching it happen. This time, we are basing it on the Ancient Spartans. In Ancient Sparta, everyone is quite sporty, is very strong, so when people gets married, they play a friendly game of wrestling. Of course, we don't want anyone to be hurt, so we will be simulating it by holding a fun game of arm wrestling instead of really wrestling! We are even rewarding the winner!
How This Ceremony Worked In sparta:
In Ancient Sparta, girls got married at the early age of 12 to 15, and boys got married when they are about 25 to 30. The males would not be able to live with their wives until they were 30 because they had to serve in the army. That means, most men would tend to get married after 30. Meaning, most wives would be about half the age of their husband! In Sparta, boys at a young age of seven would be put to be educated in the agoge or military training, and they would serve in the army at the age of 21. Boys could not live with their family until they were 31. Most people including the girls spend their time in the outdoors: hunting, swimming, playing, and etc. In fact, in Sparta, women are known to be independent-minded, and enjoyed more freedoms and power than other places.
How this ceremony is working in class:
In class what shall happen is each boy in our class will be getting a piece of paper with a girl’s name on it. The reason we are not giving it to the girls is because the ancient greeks were kind of sexist. The men got to choose a woman that they wanted to marry. Rosie will call each boy’s name in our class and they will announce their partner that they have gotten on the piece of paper to arm wrestle. Then, they will wrestle at the desk in the middle. If the boy wins, the couple will get married, and if the girl wins, they will not. This is how the ceremony will work! The winner will get two cupcakes while the other person only gets one.
Why this marriage is wrong:
Even though women in Sparta is indeed pretty wild and free comparing to the other places, men still got the say as for whether who they wanted to marry. Girls, of course, had less rights. They also look about boys as if they are gods. So much more powerful and 'manly' then they were. That is not we, Gr. 7 girls, think of now. We are now born free, and it would hard for us to imagine having to obey everything a boy say! That would be... Oh God... Also, it would be 'unusual' for a girl in our modern society to marry at the young age of 12, so our age, being grade 7 and to a man maybe as old as your father. It is unfair for a girl to marry a person so much older and have to spend their lifetime with them. Especially because since the man is so much older probably meaning that the girls would have to be a widow pretty soon at the age when she is supposed to have all the fun in her life! Not fair at All!
How it has affected MODERN day marriages:
The way people in Sparta married each other has somewhat affected modern day marriage. Although we typical don't wrestle for each others hand in marriage, there is the engagement process. The process of asking one to be your fiancé means you are accepting them. If the male one wrestling, than the female would accept his hand in marriage. Also, It seems as if it is always the man that engages the woman, which has come from ancient Greece. For example, in todays world the man asks the woman to marry him (most of the time), back in Sparta if the man won the wrestling match than the couple would marry!
What MODERN day marriages are like:
Indian Marriages last Days On End: In India, weddings are surrounded by multiple cultural ceremonies! As part of the pre - wedding ceremony, there is an Engagement Ceremony where the bride and groom exchange rings and the families exchange gifts and sweets. The Mehendi Ceremony is usually held at the bride's home before the wedding ceremony and is the celebration when the bride's palms, wrists, arms, legs, and feet are decorated.On the wedding day, the bride and groom put flower garlands around each other's necks in a ceremony entitled the Var Mala Ceremony to show the bride has accepted the groom as her husband.
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Japanese Weddings: Japanese ceremonies were traditionally held in shinto shrines which are places of worship . The bride is painted pure white from head to toe declaring she is a maiden. She also wears a white kimono and an elaborate head piece.
Jamaican Wedding: Jamaican weddings are a community affair, with the entire village often coming together to help plan the big day. he wedding celebration also includes an abundance of dancing, including the Quadrille, typically a ballroom dance that slaves copied from their masters.
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Cuban Wedding: The brides wedding dress is one of the crucial part sin marriage in Cube. The dress is often made of silk or satin and includes full skirts and ruffles. The dress is so key, because since communists ruled the wedding can't be a religious event. There still are large parades and parties hosted thought!
American Ceremonies: American Ceremonies have pretty well combined everything from different cultures to make a brand new type of wedding ritual. Ceremonies in the United States are among the most flexible in the world. Most ceremonies are based from European ceremonies though! Chinese Wedding: In Chinese tradition, a sales man was used to cement the rather engagement. The parents of the couple controlled the negotiations. Once a man found a woman he wanted to marry, a sales man would present gifts to the girl's parents. The negotiator would also be responsible for knowing the girl's date and hour of birth. Both families would then review the auspicious nature of the match, including the bride and groom's birth dates and hours, as well as consult an astrological expert. At the time of the actual ceremony, the bride was carried to the groom's home in a covered sedan (material) chair. Malaysian Wedding: As with other cultures, the couple's future children are prominently displayed. In Malaysia, a groom might send his future bride child-bearing presents, such as trays of food with origami flowers and cranes made from currency bills. |
Who Married Who?!
The BoysKenny
Frank Oliver Sam Thomas W. Thomas C. Dario Connor Aidan Henry |
The 'Girls'*Jessica
Eve Lily Dana Derrick Maisie Cascade Sophie Markus Armaan |
* There are more boys than girls in our class, so lots of the 'girls' are actually boys
live demonstration video:
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Great LInks!http://www.spartanwrestling.com
http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/school/sparta-sparta/wrestling/ Above our links for modern day wrestling in Sparta! Sparta wrestling match! |
The Results - Married Couples
Frank and Eve
Oliver and Lily
Sam and Dana
Thomas C. and Maisie
Connor and Sophie
Aidan and Markus
Henry and Armaan
Oliver and Lily
Sam and Dana
Thomas C. and Maisie
Connor and Sophie
Aidan and Markus
Henry and Armaan
Tied Couples:
Kenny and Jessica
Dario and Cascade
Dario and Cascade
'Lost' Couple:
Thomas W. and 'Derrick'
There was a reason to why Thomas lost. Not because he is the least strongest boy in the whole class. It was more because Derrick didn't want to play! Mr. Stacey went instead of Derrick, so obviously, in that case Thomas would of lost. Thomas was still rewarded with two cupcakes for his courage to wrestle against Mr. Stacey!