If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

[Italia brrro]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

First I have one question these "Armenian girls mixed with Persian" you keep mentioning, are you referring to Armenians girls from Iran or actual 1/2 Armenian 1/2 Persian individuals?

Because if you are speaking of women that are the children of an Armenian/Persian mix of course they are going to be more accepting of interracial relationships, as their parents have entered into such a relationship. Their parents are not going to raise them with the ideal that same nationality/race marriage is the best situation for all involved, how could they? It would be hypocritical. And frankly I have lived in California my entire life, come from a family that lived in Iran, have many Persian friends and could count on two fingers the amount of Armenian/Persian mixed individuals that I know, so I am not sure where all these women you know are coming from?

The ideal of marriage within ones nationality/race is not solely Armenian, as I have said over and over in the threads related to this topic. I am sure that your Italian grandparents and maybe even your parents would or do support this belief.

Love is a choice as Anon posted earlier. Some mixed marriages may work out, but in general if there are too many differences in culture, traditions, ideals and language no matter what two individuals come together there are going to be issues. Why chose to put yourself in a relationship that you can be sure at some point in time that these issues will arise?

I also would like to address the statements that are continually made regarding Armenians marrying Armenians in the Diaspora. Marriage is the coming together of not just two individuals but of entire families. Family connection is very important to the Armenian in the Diaspora. What keeps our identities? What continues our history and heritage outside of Armenia? What continues the bloodlines of our fathers and grandfathers? Marriage and procreation. Why shouldn’t Armenians in the Diaspora continue to strive to keep our communities alive outside of Armenia? I mean I understand the point that if it is possible to take our families and return that this is the perfect completion of who and what we are, but to state that unless you are planning to return to Armenia it is not that important to marry within our own people is somewhat confusing to me.

Our communities have thrived in various countries for centuries before the genocide, not a perfect scenario, but if they had not stayed together as a community in these other locations, how many of us would actually be here today? How many more generations of Armenians will there be outside of Armenia? I mean lets face it, not all families outside of Armenia have the way or means to return so many are just struggling to survive where they are now, should our families die out due to this fact? Should our language and traditions die outside of Armenia? Maybe I am naive, maybe I am old fashioned, maybe I am foolish, but I agree 100% with Anon and Anoush. Personally I could not and would not marry an odar.

whoa that was long....I believe I know both of which you speak about. Some are from Iranian descent and some are the offspring of a Persian and an Armenian. Some of them are from Glendale and some of them are from La Crescenta and surrounding areas. I know of a lot of them because I used to go to a high school with a huge Armenian population and I grew up with them.

I understand everything that you are saying, and if preserving you culture is what is important to YOU, then like I have said this whole time I see nothing wrong with YOU wanting to marry within your own kind. However, when pressure is put on people to marry within a certain racial field, I think that is too far. I think a person should be allowed to marry whom ever they see fit. Now it would be ok for parents to educate their children on the history of Armenia and how important it is to preserve the culture, but if the child grows up and sees fit to marry an Italian , they should not disown or look down upon them like I seen happen before.

When my family moved to the U.S., they saw it fit for our family to assimilate and always taught me to not limit my heart to any race. Now I would like to have an Italian woman because they are beautiful and have similar personalities, and speak my language. BUT, I would be offended if I brought a lets say Armenian girl home, and my parents didn't approve solely on race. There would be some major arguments happening.

So in short, if you feel it is your duty to marry within your race, then I think thats great and will probably make like easier for you, but keep it at that and don't allow peer pressure to make your decisions or don't be guilty of pressuring others into doing as you want. (Can you say run-on sentence??)

[Italia brrro]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

No, I'm not. Maybe fortunately?

And you've left the magnificent Italia for California!?

lol yes, well I was too young to know the difference. From what I understand there were too many associations with bad people there, but thats the extent that I know. The parents never talk about it...must be some mafiosa stuff

And I don't know what you're talking about Cali is aweseme! It's the land of happening things.

[yerazhishda]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

The fact is, though, Italy can afford to lose another Italian; they have a population of 60 million. They are not under threat of war. Italian culture is pretty much the centerpiece of Western civilization and is so abundant that Italy would have to be nuked 10 times over to destroy all its art, architecture, etc. In otherwords, they're not going anywhere soon.

Armenia, on the otherhand has a whopping population of 2.5 million and a total of 8 million worldwide, and is on the decline due to emigration from the country. In a generation, much of the "Armenians" that live worldwide will be lost to integration and assimilation meaning, they will not speak, read or write Armenian, they will probably not go to church and be a part of the Armenian community, they will of course not repatriate etc.; that generation of would-be Armenians is lost forever. Our literature, architecture, sculpture, and art are barely known outside of Armenia. Armenia is also under threat of war from the two turkic countries that flank it, and believe me, this 'war' will be more about the ethnic cleansing of Armenians than the land its supposedly being fought over.

There is also an inherent "survival mode" that all Armenians have had passed down from generation from generation. Any Armenian will know what I'm talking about. It's hard to explain to someone who has come from such a large nation as Italy.

This is the first time Armenians have had an independent nation in over 600 years, the worth of which only the Assyrians might understand. To sum up; Armenians feel a duty to serve their nation at least by not assimilating into the 'plain-toast' Western/American culture.

[Anush]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

So in short, if you feel it is your duty to marry within your race, then I think thats great and will probably make like easier for you, but keep it at that and don't allow peer pressure to make your decisions or don't be guilty of pressuring others into doing as you want. (Can you say run-on sentence??)

Well I don't feel it is a duty, I feel it is what I want and desire for my life. It runs with what I was raised and experienced and with what I want to experience within a family of my own, and what I would like to experience in the community in which I would live.

No one could pressure me into doing either, as well as, I dont feel I pressure others to believe as I do.

I am just stating what I believe and what my opinion is, just as you were expressing yours.

[Anush]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

In a generation, much of the "Armenians" that live worldwide will be lost to integration and assimilation meaning, they will not speak, read or write Armenian, they will probably not go to church and be a part of the Armenian community, they will of course not repatriate etc.; that generation of would-be Armenians is lost forever.

Yeraz I think that you experience this more in a smaller community of Armenians. I am not saying it does not or is not happening but in large communities of Armenians in the states, you will find that almost all Armenian children speak the language, go to Armenian school, go to church and are part of the larger Armenian community in one way or another.

I am not disagreeing with you at all on the general content of your post, I do agree with you in whole.

Maybe I am just totally in the dark on everything I dont know.

[Pazooki]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

LOL and that is ok with you? I admire Armenian woman because they are respectable to their husbands, however, it is never ok to hit a woman (except maybe in self defense). Do you actually condone this behaviour?
I must know some rare Armenian couples then because I know 5 different couples who were married and got divorced. I would venture to say that they stay with their husbands because they are scared for their life or because they fear being put down socially. It is not true happiness, and only continue because fear.

But then again I guess I shouldn't really complain about them wanting to reproduce from their own kind because they do make beautiful children. And the ones that are mixed with Persian are hot and willing to procreate with "odars"

In my opinion it's not ok with me to hit a women, especially if I get a wife. You say that is wrong but to us it's different. It's nothing special in Armenia it happens to alot of couples. If the wife is going to stick with you through the good, then she should stay with you through the bad aswell. Armenians aren't the only race. I've met Indian people who say thats in their culture as well.

[Armenian]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

Yeraz I think that you experience this more in a smaller community of Armenians. I am not saying it does not or is not happening but in large communities of Armenians in the states, you will find that almost all Armenian children speak the language, go to Armenian school, go to church and are part of the larger Armenian community in one way or another.

I'd listen to yerazhishda on this matter, if I were you. Your characterization of the Armenian community of America is a gross misperception, to say the least. The majority of the million or so Armenians in America are assimilated beyond repair. The only place in America a that the Armenian language (and identity) is still somewhat maintained is Los Angeles. And the reason for this is the large numbers of Armenian immigrants coming into the region from the Middle East and Armenia during the past twenty 30 somewhat years. So, the kids you hear speaking Armenian in LA are most probably first generation. Gradually these kids will assimilate and marry into other cultures and end up like the vast majority of Armenians that came to this country before, during and after the Genocide years. Armenians that arrived to the US around the first and second world wars have all but disappeared. We see remnants of them in people like Cher, Eric Boghosian, Mark Giragos, Jack Kevorkian, Kim Kardashian... One notable miracle is the billionaire philanthropist, Krkorian.

[Anoush]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

One notable miracle is the billionaire philanthropist, Krkorian.

Kirk Kirkorian was an orphan from the Genocide, that's why he has remained a good Armenian. For the record, I have personally asked my own mother what she thinks the future of Armenians would be in the US and she said basically the same thing Armenian just posted above. Not good at all; she said.

[yerazhishda]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

I highly suggest that everyone read the article contained in the following thread:

"Seeking to Uphold a Vision"

[Anoush]

Re: If you couldn't marry an Armenian.....

I highly suggest that everyone read the article contained in the following thread:

"Seeking to Uphold a Vision"

I enjoyed reading that article Yerazhishda and it has also been my beliefs throughout my life. My husband is 2nd generation Armenian American and does not feel or occupy his mind with Armenian issues whatsoever. Just me. He is more American than anything else. On the other hand I have been brought up with strong and deep rooted Armenian family and background and I attend to Armenian Churches and functions by myself most of the time as it does not interest him, yet anything Armenian interests me very much. Because of different backgrounds and how we were brought up we have quite different views and interests, heritage and cultural differences even though we are both Armenian by blood; but very different Armenians.