Unit 10 Relationships 4 While you read
Is she really going out with him?
The latest census in the UK
has confirmed that inter-racial mariages are increasingly common,
leading many journalists to claim that we are a totally tolerant society.
However,despite what the census might suggest,
the truth is that the vast majority of us tend to eventually marry a partner
not only of the same race,
but also of the same religion,class,age and background.
While mixed of various descriptions may be on the increase,
prejudice and social and family pressures are still very much alive,
and love cannot always overcome them.
We talked to two couples about their experiences.
A religious divide
Rachel McCarthy and David Brown decided to leave Belfast,
the city in Northern Ireland that they both grew up in
and where their parents still live,
when they got married last year.
Rachel is a Catholic and David is Protestant.
The two halves of the christian religion are still deeply divided in Northern Ireland,
and although the bombing and killing which occurred between the two communities has largely stopped,
as Rachel and David know,
people in mixed marriages are often ostracised and verbally abused.
'We actually found it difficult to find a place to live in Belfast
because areas tend to be either Catholic or Protestant.
That's really why we left.
Over here,we just look the same as everyone else and no one really knows
-or cares-that we have different backgrounds.
It has been very difficult,though,
because we haven't had any support from our families.
Neither sets of parents have really come to terms with out relationship
and that's obviously been very painful.'
The age gap
Jamie Brodlin is twenty now and has been going out with his partner,
Jane Fisher,for three years.
Believe it or not,Jane has just turned sixty!
They met when Jamie was out clubbing with three friends.
Jane was working in the cloakroom
and when Jamie came up to her and started chatting her up,
she thought he was pulling her leg.
'I thought he was just some lad with too many beers inside him
who was doing it all for a bet.
It was only later when he phoned me up to ask me out on a date,
I realised just how mature and sensible he really is.'
Jamie says:'To be honest,I never have gone for girls my own age.
I tend to find them a bit immature.
They usually just want to talk about music and shopping,
whereas you can have a proper conversation with someonw who's older.
I guess Jane was quite a bit older than my previous girlfriend,
but there was just something about her and about the way she moved
and hung up the coats that caught my eye.
She's a very warm and appealing sort of woman.
My mates did think it was a bit weird,
but I just told them it's none of their business,
and now they don't really ask about Jane.
Jane often stays in with my parents when I go out clubbing.
She says she's too old for that kind of thing these days,which is fine.
I was worried that my parents wouldn't approve of her
when I first broke the news to them,
but they've been fantastic.
They found it a bit difficult to accept I was in love with someone old enough to be my gran,
but when they met her,they just got on really well.
I don't know if we'll ever get married.
We'll see.We haven't really talked about it.'