 Relationships (Outline) |
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Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. The word is also used in the context of sporting events such as boxing, in business, in online video games and in pairing organ donors.
These services often rely on personality tests (but genetics has even been proposed), [1] aiming to maximize the identification of the best match.
In some cultures, the role of the matchmaker was and is quite professionalised. The Ashkenazi Jewish shadchan, or the Hindu astrologer, were often thought to be essential advisors and also helped in finding right spouses as they had links and a relation of good faith with the families. In cultures where arranged marriages were the rule, the astrologer often claimed that the stars sanctified matches that both parents approved of, making it quite difficult for the possibly-hesitant children to easily object – and also making it easy for the astrologer to collect his fee.[ citation needed ] Tarot divination has also been employed by some matchmakers.[ citation needed ]
Social dance, especially in frontier North America, the contra dance and square dance, has also been employed in matchmaking, usually informally. However, when farming families were widely separated and kept all children on the farm working, marriage-age children could often only meet in church or in such mandated social events. Matchmakers, acting as formal chaperones or as self-employed "busybodies" serving less clear social purposes, would attend such events and advise families of any burgeoning romances before they went too far.[ tone? ][ citation needed ]
The influence of such people in a culture that did not arrange marriages, and in which economic relationships (e.g. "being able to support a family", "good prospects") played a larger role in determining if a (male) suitor was acceptable, is difficult to determine. It may be fair to say only that they were able to speed up, or slow down, relationships that were already forming. In this sense they were probably not distinguishable from relatives, rivals, or others with an interest. Clergy probably played a key role in most Western cultures, as they continue to do in modern ones, especially where they are the most trusted mediators in the society. Matchmaking was certainly one of the peripheral functions of the village priest in Medieval Catholic society, as well as a duty of rabbis in traditional Jewish communities. Today, the shidduch is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities.[ citation needed ]
In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional matchmaking. Dissatisfaction with dating apps, television shows like Million Dollar Matchmaker and Indian Matchmaking , and a pandemic that made it harder for singles to meet organically created increased interest the role of the professional matchmaker. Those who find dating systems or services useful but prefer human intelligence and personal touches can choose from a wide range of such services now available.
In Singapore, the Social Development Unit (SDU), run by the city-state's government, offers a combination of professional counsel and dating system technology, like many commercial dating services. Thus the role of the matchmaker has become institutionalized, as a bureaucrat, and every citizen in Singapore has access to some subset of the matchmaking services that were once reserved for royalty or upper classes.[ citation needed ]
As of July 2023, there were 50 Iranian dating agencies according to Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance. [2]
The concept of matchmaking is also used in the business world and is known as B2B Matchmaking, Investor Matchmaking, Business Speed Dating, or Brokerage Events. In contradiction to social networking solutions, real meetings between business people are in focus. Trade fair organisations e.g. find this concept an added value for their exhibitors because it gives them the opportunity of advanced planned meetings. Following the inspiration of dating sites, some online B2B networking platforms developed advanced business matching solutions enabling relevant business partners' identification.
Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service is a company that promotes and provides specific mechanisms for the practice of online dating, generally in the form of dedicated websites or software applications accessible on personal computers or mobile devices connected to the internet. A wide variety of unmoderated matchmaking services, most of which are profile-based with various communication functionalities, is offered by such companies.
Swazi culture is the way of life and customs of the Swazi people through various historical stages. The culture of Swazi people involves music, food, religion, architecture, and kinship, among many other things. The Swazi people are composed of various Nguni clans who speak the Nguni language siSwati. These people mostly reside in Eswatini and South Africa. Presently, Swazi people may also include citizens of Eswatini. In Eswatini, one of the most visible features of cultural identity is the traditional political structure of the nation and the home. In the national level, the Ngwenyama is considered the head of the nation alongside the Ndlovukati who is the spiritual leader of the nation. National cultural events often involve the Ngwenyama or Ndlovukati. At home, the patriarch of the family is the head and often practices polygamy. This headman, usually referred to as umnumzane is central to all activities of the home. A group of homes forming a community and the land they reside on forms a chiefdom or umphakatsi. Several chiefdoms form an inkhundla which then belongs of a regional division of the country. This connects the older traditional leadership structures to more modern forms of government.
Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, de facto relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private matter between two people or may be a public affair, or a formal arrangement with family approval. Traditionally, in the case of a formal engagement, it is the role of a male to actively "court" or "woo" a female, thus encouraging her to understand him and her receptiveness to a marriage proposal.
A matchmaker, or marriage broker, is a person who engages in matchmaking, sometimes as a profession.
A dating agency, also known as a marriage bureau, marriage agency, matrimonial bureau or matrimonial agency, is a business that provides matchmaking services to potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them.
The Shidduch is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage.
Miai, or omiai (お見合い) as it is properly known in Japan with the honorific prefix o-, is a Japanese traditional custom which relates closely to Western matchmaking, in which a woman and a man are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. The term omiai is sometimes mistranslated as an "arranged marriage" but it can be described as a meeting opportunity with more serious considerations for the future as a process of courtship. According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, in 2005 it was estimated that around 6.2% of marriages in Japan are arranged via omiai.
Anonymous matching is a matchmaking method facilitated by computer databases, in which each user confidentially selects people they are interested in dating and the computer identifies and reports matches to pairs of users who share a mutual attraction. Protocols for anonymous matchmaking date back to the 1980s, and one of the earliest papers on the topic is by Baldwin and Gramlich, published in 1985. From a technical perspective, the problem and solution are trivial and likely predate even this paper. The problem becomes interesting and requires more sophisticated cryptography when the matchmaker isn't trusted.
Arranged marriage is a tradition in the societies of the Indian subcontinent, and continues to account for an overwhelming majority of marriages in the Indian subcontinent. Despite the fact that romantic love is "wholly celebrated" in both Indian mass media and folklore, and the arranged marriage tradition lacks any official legal recognition or support, the institution has proved to be "surprisingly robust" in adapting to changed social circumstances and has defied predictions of decline as India modernized.
Dating is a stage of romantic relationships in which two individuals engage in an activity together, most often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the category of courtship, consisting of social events carried out by the couple either alone or with others.
Patricia Stanger is an American businesswoman, reality television personality, and founder and CEO of matchmaking service Millionaire's Club International. She is known for starring in and producing her own matchmaking reality series, The Millionaire Matchmaker, on Bravo.
Janis Spindel is a matchmaker, author, entrepreneur, and creator of Janis Spindel Serious Matchmaking, Inc, established in 1993. According to her website, she created the matchmaking service after matching fourteen couples who married within one year. Her company is headquartered in New York City on the Upper East Side and, in the summer months, in the Hamptons. Although she is located in New York, she travels the US and Canada for her clients. Her website was launched in 2005. She originally worked with both men and women, but now only works with men. She specializes in upscale professionals, ages 27–78.
Vietnamese migrant brides in Taiwan represent marriages between Taiwanese men and Vietnamese brides who are mostly from poor, rural areas of Vietnam, such as those along the Mekong Delta. As of 2006, out of Taiwan’s immigrant population of approximately 428,240 people, 18% were females who had relocated to the country through marriage. Out of this population, about 85% originated from the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines, with the majority hailing from Vietnam. It is estimated that between the years of 1995 and 2003, the number of Vietnamese women married to Taiwanese men increased from 1,476 to more than 60,000 individuals, making the Vietnamese the largest non-Chinese immigrant group living in the island. This event has been seen locally and abroad as something that can potentially evolve into a concerning societal and humanitarian issue. This issue is not just localised in Taiwan but also in Southern China provinces as well as Hong Kong and Macau. In every case, these practices are illegal and are classified under human trafficking.
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaker may be used to find a spouse for a young person.
Samantha Daniels is an American professional matchmaker, television personality, television producer, author, and entrepreneur. Daniels also owns and operates Samantha's Table, a matchmaking service based in New York and Los Angeles.
The Shanghai Marriage Market is a marriage market held at People's Park in Shanghai, China. Parents of unmarried adults gather in the park every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. to trade information on their children.
Bride price, bride-dowry, bride-wealth, bride service or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowry is equivalent to dowry paid to the groom in some cultures, or used by the bride to help establish the new household, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. Some cultures may practice both simultaneously. Many cultures practiced bride dowry prior to existing records.
Shabbat.com is an online social network service aimed at the Jewish community. Shabbat.com connects users with "Hosts" for Shabbat as well as serving as an online dating platform and social network. Currently the site claims 100,000 members.
Indian Matchmaking is a 2020 Indian reality television series produced by Smriti Mundhra that premiered on Netflix on 16 July 2020. In August 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. In March 2022, Netflix renewed the series for a third season, which premiered in April 2023.
Aleeza Ben Shalom is an American–Israeli matchmaker, relationship coach, author, and reality television personality. She is prominently featured in the Netflix series Jewish Matchmaking, which follows her attempts at helping Jewish singles in the United States and Israel find love and get married.
The dictionary definition of matchmaking at Wiktionary
Media related to Matchmaking at Wikimedia Commons
