The Kidnapped Bride
My TiVo Season Pass for Frontline keeps on recording a story aboutBride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. It is an old custom where a man and his friends kidnap a woman and get her to marry him. The would-be bride spends hours with the women from the groom's family. They try to tie the bridal scarves on her. It is a struggle, but usually the bride agrees after a few hours.
Watching the footage of this always mesmerizes me. There is something about the struggle of the bride. It reminds me of stories I have read about religious cults. The groom's family is really clear what they have to do to succeed, but the bride has no idea how to resist. After a while most of the brides just give up and go along with the marriage.
The reporters talked to a couple of the women later. They seem happy with their marriages. I am not sure how much of that is just playing nice for the camera and how much is real. Everytime I see this news report I cannot look away. I feel that I will see something else in the actions.
Watching the footage of this always mesmerizes me. There is something about the struggle of the bride. It reminds me of stories I have read about religious cults. The groom's family is really clear what they have to do to succeed, but the bride has no idea how to resist. After a while most of the brides just give up and go along with the marriage.
The reporters talked to a couple of the women later. They seem happy with their marriages. I am not sure how much of that is just playing nice for the camera and how much is real. Everytime I see this news report I cannot look away. I feel that I will see something else in the actions.
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