The Romanian Wedding from Hell

By: Ashik Ittehad
College Now Course - ENG BW

"We must keep our traditions alive in order to keep our identity and to survive. It's immoral and dangerous to forbid a custom and no one has the right to do that," quoted by Vasile Ionescu, of the Ron Centre for public policies. This comment is true. It's a fact that every country has traditions and customs. But, what is tradition? How do you define tradition? If tradition is just something you must follow and must devote to yourself in order to "identify," then tradition is just a ball and chain attached to your foot with large amounts of restrictions. It has nothing to do with survival or to identity. Tradition is just a cheap philosophical idea that intends to keep people in line.

According to the article, "Child Bolts Wedding in Vain," a twelve year old Romanian Gypsy Princess, Ana Maria, and the groom fifteen year old Birata Mihai were forced to marry against their wills. "She will leave school and concentrate on her job as a wife," quoted by Dana Chendea, spokeswoman for the Roma King Florin Cloaba. "She will help her mother-in-law cook and clean and raise her children. It doesn't matter what she wants." This shows two things. One, she will be isolated from her friends and school. She will be deprived of her childhood (emphasis on childhood). Secondly, due to this unspeakable act, she will be forced to be serious every minute, every second of life and deprived of her human rights, her happiness, and a normal childhood.

The ex-communist country is preparing to join the European nation. The Roma King broke two Romanian laws. Sex under the age of sixteen is considered rape in the Romanian nation. Marriage under the age of fifteen is illegal. Both bride and groom were both fifteen and under. Legal action should have been taken. What did the Romanian government do? Nothing.

I would also like to use two ideas from the quote, by Vasile Ionescu, "It's immoral and dangerous" to force a twelve year old girl into an early grave by having premarital sex and marriage at an early age, "and no one has the right" to ruin a twelve year old girl's life and emotions because of some irrelevant custom. What the father is doing to young twelve year old girls, for the sake of an outdated tradition is horrible.

This article proves my theory that tradition is a ball and chain attached to your foot. The young twelve year old girl's marriage is the ball and chain. She will be deprived of a good childhood. If you want to identify yourself, judge yourself by what's in your heart.