[X] My Assistant

[Backgammon]

Before this thread gets closed, just wanted to say that I think amongst corporate mid-management and up there would probably be a whole lot of marriages of convenience/alliance that from a corporate politics point of vue would suit both parties well.

Also, amonst the numerous Japanacorps, who often operate as 'family' units, you probably can't get a mid+ management job if you are not married.

With the billion-hour work week that the corporate drones, and especially ladder climbers, have to pull in, marriage is probably a loveless thing. Just two people getting together to divide house keeping tasks. Business at work, business at home. Spouses check up on each oher and the tasks they have to do, then go their seperate ways to their individual simsense experiences and go to bed. Sex is overrated anyway - they barely know and like each other in the first place, and simsense is better than sex anyway.

Plop out a kid, again as a convention, appearances sake. Send the kid off to corporate boarding school, get the damn bugger out of trouble and out of your hair.

[Snow_Fox]

Sure, they expect you to ignore your family to stay at your desk for the corp, but they like the nice picture of the corp as home to happy families. The sort of two faced mind set we've learned to expect from the corporate world.

Imagine the deals you get if the corp does your wedding though. I mean they own the site, the caterer, the clothes the DJ. etc. and you can get special themes, like at Disney today.

I've heard in Japan weddings are remarkably expensive affairs with the happy (but suddenly improvrished) couple having to wear at least 3 outfits. 1 for the ceremony, 1 for the reception and 1 for going on honey moon. Often a forth outfit for pictures between the ceremony and the reception.

Also a big style trend in Japan is now western style weddings with caucasian men with good voices being asked to play the role of a minister, after the real official or priest has done his part. that having been said, sure, these could get really wild for costs and I'm suddenly thinking of a whole new set of runs. hee hee hee

[FlakJacket]

[Kagetenshi]

I don't believe so. I mean, I suspect that having taken the element of choice out of it has something to do with it, and societal expectations probably do as well, but I don't believe the outcome in terms of divorce rate is higher for cultures with strictly-arranged marriage (in contrast to something like the Japanese-style arranged marriage, which as far as I can tell is "here, let me introduce you to this person. Now go decide whether you're going to marry them or not.") where repercussions for deviating from expectations are less severe (say, no mobs out for blood because of a divorce).

For what it's worth, there's evidence that humans tend toward serial monogamy rather than strict monogamy—I believe the span is generally considered four years. As such, arranged marriages could be considered unnatural because of how frequently they last longer than four years.

~J

[Stahlseele]

one of our politicians just proposed a law that would limit marriage to a seven years span and would have to be re-established by then

[Kagetenshi]

Probably not a bad idea, though a similar clause for laws would be more beneficial (possibly with a shorter duration).

~J

[martindv]

[hyzmarca]

[Kagetenshi]

Right. People just aren't meant to stay together after the dopamine-intense phase—you should be getting out there and diversifying your gene pool commitment, not sitting around with the same old batch of genetic material. Arranged marriages short-circuit that "move on" cue.

~J

[Kagetenshi]

Fun fact: reducing even further the weight of the "social expectation or threat of violence" theory, this USCIS report indicates that fully 80% of marriages to mail-order brides reported have lasted throughout the period for which reports are available.

~J

[hyzmarca]

[FlakJacket]

[Snow_Fox]

you're not so out of it, that's what I was thinknig about, especially when you hear of araband indian cultural groups in the west were someone, usually a woman, rebells against going into an arranged marriage and is later the victim of an 'honor killing."

[FrankTrollman]

http://www.shaadi.com/

It's real. And it extends into the US. 60 pages of potential brides aged 20 to 25.

-Frank

[kzt]

It's classier than buying a 17 year old Moldavian girl for 1,000 euros in Bosnia. Which is also a real option.

[FrankTrollman]

A Thousand Euros for a Moldovan girl!? You are being overcharged my friend, Moldova is practically on the barter economy these days and you can get a whore or a wife literally for peanuts.

I think you're out about 200 kilograms of peanuts, which will set you back about 300 Euros.

-Frank

[Fresno Bob]

See, I just tell them I run a restaurant where they can sing for money, and all I have to pay is the cost of a plane ticket.

[Wounded Ronin]

[Jeremiah Legacy]

Do I even want to know what the hell Gor is?

[tisoz]

Gor is counter-Earth, a planet directly across the sun from Earth, the setting for John Norman's fantasy book series of manly men weilding swords and slave women who wear clothing at the desire of their manly men masters. Soft porn in nature. Priest kings limit technology and people seem to be in prime health and live long natural lives, probably to make up for all those that die during manly men conflict.

The Gor poses probably references typical fantasy art for book covers with scantily clad women, or nude women with long hair that happens to obscure anything that would call for a PG13+ rating.

[CircuitBoyBlue]

[Kagetenshi]

A mildly non-work-safe picture is worth a thousand words.

~J

[tisoz]

[hyzmarca]

[Fortune]

Where do I sign up? :D