Interracial marriages are getting more common across the country, statistics says about 15% of the newlywed couples are interracial couples. Despite gaining numbers, interracial couples are found to experience far more obstacles because of cultural differences.
Let’s have a look at obstacles that almost every interracial couple go through.
Different expectations.
Out culture shapes us, our brain has been trained to follow certain core values which lead to the difference in expectations.
You may be sharing the perfectly same outlook towards career and hobbies, but you surely have different core values than your interracial partner.
How to deal with it?
The difference in expectations is just an obstacle, not a dead-end to a relationship. You can resolve the differences through communication. Discuss every minor thing before you push yourself into a committed relationship.
Discuss cultural differences about: religion, diet, birth control, and children, finances, family, grief, and yes, especially sex.
Family disapproval.
No matter how common interracial relationships have become, some family members are surely going to disapprove your relationship.
In today’s world, opinion polls have found that more than 90% of the youngsters are open about the interracial relationship but their parents are still not comfortable with such relationships.
How to deal with it?
You will be able to handle the disapproval by staying calm and relaxed. Prepare yourself to answer any questions and handle them in a relaxed manner. Your family members might get furious because of the interracial marriage bomb you dropped on them, stay calm and begin communication about it.
A new culture will be learned.
Just like any other relationship, you will be required to learn many things. Problem is, learning phase in an interracial relationship is much longer, you will be required to learn the food habits, daily rituals, lifestyle pattern, etc.
How to deal with it?
Instead of learning things on your own, ask your partner to teach and make you aware of the core values he/she follows, your partner will appreciate your efforts.
Negative stereotype
Negative stereotyping is a real issue in society, you won’t notice it until you experience it. Get yourself ready to fight against the negative stereotypes. Struggle involves answering awkward questions, bad jokes about race and sarcastic comments about your significant other’s race.
How to deal with it?
The best strategy is to ignore those idiots.