ing it since it is a cross-cultural tradition. What marriage is defined as in Mexico may be the complete opposite of the definition offered by Middle Eastern countries. Marriages and Families, (Peoples, Humanity-An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology-Chapter 8), discusses how, generally speaking, a person might define marriage as "a relationship between a woman and a man involving romantic love, sexual activity, cohabitation, child-rearing, and shared joys and burdens of life. "This principle is applicable to many modern nations but "it obscures the diversity in marriages that anthropologists have uncovered." (Peoples, Humanity-An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology-Chapter 8) elaborates: "People trained in law might also note that marriage has legal aspects, such as joint property rights and obligations to share the support of children. Religious people may want to include their beliefs that marriage is a relationship sanctioned by God, a relationship that should last until the parties are separated by death. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people will want to add their own provisions." As one can probably dissect, defining marriage is a complicated issue, one that can only be dealt with by immersing oneself into a wide array of cultural norms regarding marriage, like in Hector's case.
             In modern-day Mexican culture, marriage holds no surprises or shocks that would deem the practice as out of the ordinary. Hector explains that when he is finally married, he would have chosen his wife of his own free will through the process of falling in love. "I will have chosen my wife because I will have fallen in love with her, and she with me. It must be reciprocated, the love. Thankfully, Mexico doesn't deviate from the traditional norms of marriage. I would not have been satisfied at all if some type of arranged marriage was the norm." Both the man and the woman are free to choose whom they want to marry, so Mexico does not seem extreme in that...