IndexAbstractIntroductionMethodologySummary/AnalysisReferencesAbstractWhat are the cultural differences and similarities in the dating and marriage culture between Brazil and the United States and how does this affect relationships ? This article explores the cultural factors that influence love and marriage in these two countries. An external search for information provided the background and context for the primary research I conducted. The primary research consisted of a content analysis of writings between my Brazilian grandparents and my American grandparents. The analysis of these writings and the research found by external research explained how the American ideology of individualism and the Brazilian ideology of familismo influenced marriage. The Brazilian's emphasis on love as a prerequisite for marriage explains why the writing between my Brazilian grandparents was more affectionate and loving than that of the American couple. Marriages are a product of the culture people are raised in and are influenced by how they are viewed at the beginning of a relationship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay IntroductionBrazil and the United States, both countries in the Americas, have many differences, but also some similarities. Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America with a population of 211.05 million (Population of Brazil 2019). In terms of size and population, it is also the fifth largest country in the world (Population of Brazil 2019). Most of Brazil is sparsely populated with a population density of 24.66 people per square kilometer, ranking sixth in the world (Population of Brazil 2019). According to the United States Census Bureau, the estimated population of the United States is 329.45 million, making it the third largest country in the world by population (Population of the United States 2019). Regarding demographics, Brazil's census records ethnicity and race by classifying people primarily by skin color. It asks people to place themselves into various categories, some of which may be unfamiliar to Americans and Europeans. For example, citizens are asked to indicate whether they are white, black, brown or yellow, along with the smaller category of “indigenous.” The 2019 census results showed that 42% of Brazilian citizens were white, 44% were brown, 7% were black, 0.5% were yellow, and 0.25% were indigenous (Population of Brazil 2019 ). This classification method is controversial in Brazil, however the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE) continues to use it. In 2019, the US Census reported that the population is 60.4% white, however, by 2055 whites will no longer be the majority (US Population 2019). The census classifies U.S. citizens as white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Finally, the main religion in Brazil is Christianity with approximately 90% of the population practicing Catholicism. or Protestantism. Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world with 123 million people (Population of Brazil 2019). However, in the United States, there is a wide range of religions practiced throughout the country. The Protestant/Christian religion holds a clear majority of 48.9%, Catholics make up 23%, and other minority faiths in the United States include Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism. In final contrast with Brazil, theThe United States has a significant minority of people who identify as having no religion or as atheist/agnostic, making up 22.8% of the population. Being the daughter of a Brazilian immigrant, I have seen many cultural differences between Brazilians and Americans in my daily life. My mother was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and moved to the United States when she was about five years old. My grandparents, Ivan and Leonice, then in their thirties, packed their bags and flew with their three children to a foreign place. My grandparents settled in Bridgeport, CT, where they knew only a few people and started a completely new life. Even though they have lived in America for almost forty years, it is still clear to me how differently they think and act than my other grandparents who lived in the United States their entire lives. My paternal grandmother, Theresa, was born and raised in the United States and my grandfather, Jorge, was born in Puerto Rico but grew up here in America. As I grew up, I could see how different the relationships were between my two sets of grandparents, especially since my father's parents divorced when he was a child. Since both sets of grandparents are between the ages of 67 and 70, I know there couldn't be a generational reason for these differences. So, I often wonder if the reason their marriages were so different is where they came from. This is the question I will explore in my cross-cultural study: What are the cultural differences and similarities in the dating and marriage culture between Brazil and the United States, and how does this affect relationships? Methodology To begin to answer this question, I began an external search search to find studies and research on the cultural differences and similarities between Brazil and the United States. I focused on finding articles regarding dating culture, marriage culture, and family structure in both countries. This secondary research would provide the background and context for my primary research. It was important for me to create a lens to look at the information I collected from my grandparents. Secondary research helped me clarify my research question and narrow down exactly what I wanted to focus on in this cross-cultural study. The articles I used for my research were found in EBSCOhost and Google Scholar. My primary research for this study involved a content analysis. I chose this methodological approach because I wanted to analyze the relationships my grandparents have with each other based on their mutual writings. Content analysis is a research tool used to analyze the meanings and relationships of certain words, themes, and concepts within qualitative data. Content analysis organizes, summarizes, and describes the content in interviews, television programs, letters, newspaper articles, etc. When carrying out a content analysis it is important to describe both the manifest and latent content. Manifest content is the literal content of the data, and latent content is the underlying meaning and interpretation of the data. In this investigation, I analyzed two poems that my Brazilian grandparents wrote for each other in 1969 and two letters written to my American grandmother by my grandfather in 1967 and 1968. I took these writings and studied them to discover any differences or similarities that could be explained culturally. I compared their writings to each other with secondary research I conducted on Brazilian and American cultures to answer my research question.Summary/AnalysisStarting with the culture of marriage in the United States, it is first important to note the many changes that the family system American saw. Andrew J. Cherlin's article, “American Marriage in theEarly Twenty-First Century,” examines historical changes in marriage and the economic and cultural forces that changed family life in America. Cherlin begins by assessing demographic changes that have occurred over the past century, such as the age at which people marry. The average age of marriage during the 1950s reached an all-time low: twenty-three for men and twenty for women, but in the 1960s the average age began to increase again. Today, women are marrying much later and the vast majority of young adults have had premarital sex (Cherlin, 2005). In addition to this, cohabitation, or living with a partner before marriage, is much more common today than it was in the early or mid-20th century (Cherlin, 2005). While marriage rates are declining, divorce rates are increasing. Beginning in 1950, approximately one-third of marriages ended in divorce, and during the 1960s and 1970s the likelihood of a married couple divorcing increased significantly. Since then, the divorce rate has remained more or less the same. According to recent estimates, 48% of American marriages are expected to end within their first twenty years. Finally, this combination of divorce and more unmarried women giving birth has increased the number of children living with a single parent. To explain these changes in American family life, Cherlin examines both economic and cultural factors. Economically, the increased demand for workers in the service sector encouraged women to obtain more education and attracted married women into the workforce. In the 1970s, a decline in job opportunities for men without a college education began. This led to declining manufacturing jobs as factory jobs moved overseas and wages in these jobs fell. These changes in the labor market presented non-college-educated men as less “marriageable” and gave rise to the emergence of dual-earner families. Culturally, American marriage went through two major transitions in the twentieth century. The first was the shift from institutional marriages to companionate marriage (Cherlin, 2005). In institutional marriage, families were held together by law, tradition, and religion. However, in the mid-20th century, emotional bonds between husband and wife became the foundation of marriage. During this period, marriages were centered on companionship, friendship, and romantic love, and spouses were satisfied in fulfilling their social roles. Then, around 1960, marriage changed from companionate marriage to individualized marriage. People began to think more about themselves and no longer think in terms of fulfillment through building a family. Analyzing the letters written to my grandmother Theresa by my grandfather Jorge and evaluating their marriage, I noticed these trends in American culture. My grandparents met as teenagers in the mid-1960s and married when my grandmother was only eighteen. My grandfather Jorge participated in the Vietnam War between 1967 and 1968, so my grandparents wrote to each other often. The first letter he wrote to my grandmother began: “Hello darling. How's life going? So far I'm fine. What have you done since the last time I spoke to you? (which was yesterday)” and ended with “How are you doing? Still walking around, doing nothing, as always? Well, honey, I don't have much else to write about, but this is the beginning, right? Until later, be careful. If not, get it any way you can get it. This letter was written on August 14, 1967, and like most letters, its writing was casual and conversational. He always turned to my grandmothercalling her “baby” and signing all his letters “Love, JR.” In my grandfather Jorge's last letter to my grandmother, he wrote: “Well little one, the time we have been waiting for is almost here. I'm really happy...I'll feel better when I get home and I can kiss you and hold you in my arms. Ah, ah trivial (it's not true).” I found it interesting that he laughed at his own words of affection and in all the letters I read, this was one of the only ones where he spoke with affection. As I mentioned earlier, his writing was mostly casual and didn't express many deep feelings. Because many marriages in the United States had been institutionalized up until this point, the idea of ​​being loving and affectionate towards your partner may have seemed foreign. Looking at their marriage through the context of my secondary research, their relationship began as a companionship relationship. , however, their marriage turned into an individualized marriage. My grandparents divorced less than fifteen years after marriage and had two children before the divorce. The shift in American culture toward individualized marriage and focus on the self has an undoubted connection to America as an individualistic society. Individualism prioritizes personal goals over group goals. My grandparents' marriage ended in divorce because of this individualistic philosophy. When spouses have different personal goals, divorce is often the result. When analyzing the letters, my grandfather was often self-focused and wrote mostly about his daily experiences. He rarely commented on my grandmother's life and only asked in general "How's life?" requests. This focus on themselves was clear from the beginning of the relationship and would ultimately be the reason for their divorce. In contrast, my Brazilian grandparents had a very loving marriage and prioritized family above all else. In a newspaper article written by Cláudio V. Torres and Maria Auxiliadora Dessen, family structure and marriage in Brazil are analyzed through a cultural lens. Much like the United States, the transition to a democratic country and the rise of industrialization in the 1960s brought about a change in values ​​and a redefinition of women's roles in society. However, in the 1980s, the economic crisis in Brazil led to a high unemployment rate and a change in the traditional family structure. At this time, divorce rates in Brazil were increasing significantly due to the fact that most men were unemployed and unable to provide for their families. Women now had to provide financially for their families, which led to the change in “who is the boss” (Torres & Dessen, 2008). However, even in the face of these changes, Brazil's collectivist ideals and familism have kept many families together through strong family-work ties. In addition to the emphasis on the importance of family, studies have shown that love is of great importance in Brazil as a prerequisite for the establishment of marriage. Close Relationships: Key Readings, written by HT Reis and CE Rusbult, reports a study of love and marriage in eleven cultures. In this study, a total of 497 male college students and 673 female college students from India, Pakistan, Thailand, Mexico, the United States, England, Japan, Brazil, Australia, the Republic of the Philippines, and Hong Kong completed a questionnaire on love and the wedding. In response to the question: “If a man (a woman) had all the other qualities you wanted, would you marry this person if you weren't in love with him (her)?”, 85.7% of respondents/.