Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan
In rural Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo's still played with a freshly killed goat and the men still marry their women the old-fashioned way: by abducting them off the street and forcing them to be their wife.
Basically, here's how it works: A prospective groom gathers his friends into a car or van, drives to the home or neighborhood of his desired bride, then ambushes her and drags her kicking and screaming into the van and away from her family.
Although the tradition of bride kidnapping is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, authorities largely ignore the law. Nearly half of all marriages in rural Kyrgyzstan are a result of the practice, with the most common justification being "tradition."
Vice traveled to the Kyrgyz countryside to follow/aid and abet a young groom named Kubanti as he surprised his teenage girlfriend Nazgul with the gift of marriage/kidnapping.
this documentary does a good job at keeping the watcher's interest and attention. though the journalist is not at all objective, it brings a bit of humor into this otherwise horrific practice
This journalist added no sort of educational value to this documentary. Worthless, and creepy. Any average civilian could have performed better.
the first thing they do is show her the kitchen...hahaha
At first i was outraged and upset, but it clearly looks like everyone is in on it, even the bride. In this case, at least. I'm sure the same cannot be said when it is a stranger.
How do you know he/she is telling the truth? The real problem is idiots like you in the world are prepared to take anything on face value. What ever happened to researching/investigating for yourself? Who has actually been to Kyrgyzstan? The less uneducated do-gooders on the planet the better.
there are some points that this might be staged. still a better love story than twilight.
Imagine if every human in the world could meet in a place like this site, and settle misconceptions about each others cultures and beliefs as easily as Alibek just settled this one. What a wonderful world that would be.
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.
I am from Kyrgyzstan and even though I havn't watched the video I am quite aware of this tradition that took place some time ago. Being born and raised in a city, I can assure you that this kind of tradition is non-existant in urban areas and rarely seen in rural area, and even if practiced, it is only for "following the traditions" and entertainment purposes with mutual agreement of the groom & the bride.
By many Kyrgyz people this tradition is viewed in fact as a thing of the past just like tradition of burning women accused of witchcraft in the western world.
You will not see men riding horses and tossing around a freshly killed goat on a daily basis. These kind of games are only played during special festivals. Even "fake" bride kidnappings are staged as well. This is done in order to preserve the unique culture and traditions so that the new generations will not forget their past.
I am sure there are many festivals in other countries that are aimed at preserving and remembering certain traditions.
this will be a good movie if the actors stop laughng in the movie . they need good actors .
She looked like she was enjoying the whole charade, funny how she was wearing pretty good clothes when she got kidnapped. Nothing much wrong here, just a bit of charade for the cameras and a bit of old custom, a bit like Greeks smashing glasses at a wedding.
"Vulva-disfiguration" (AND circumcision) still goes on as well. The Muslims are STILL living in the stone age, because TPTB want it that way. "keep 'em stupid." That's the Muslim rule. Treat your women like "objects of trash," and when you die for "Allah" you get to have 72 VIRGINS, and start the terrible-treatment of women..........ALL OVER AGAIN. The only REASON Muslim-men, have their women hide their faces, is because the "LITTLE-BOYS" that they are, are afraid and jealous an American-man, or ANY other man for that matter, might "take them away from the LITTLE BOYS. What these LITTLE BOYS never seem to realize is, IF they treated their women as equals, AS HUMAN BEINGS, their women wouldn't WANT to leave them!
(72 VIRGINS!?" I just love that one......
thats caveman style of wanting a shag grab the bird and carry her away into the wilderness i bet the female really enjoys that, i thought that man had evolved from that but obviously not.
This should have been named Runaway Bride
There is one more aspect to consider - sex! In cultures where no pre-marital sex is allowed the marriage is the only way for the woman to have sex. Men are a bit luckier- usually they can visit prostitutes, but still marriage is pretty much the only way of having "normal" sex life for both genders.
I'm sure if Kirgiz guys could have normal girlfriend-boyfriend relationships before the actual marriage this practice would have not been this popular.
@dewflirt
you should learn to come out of your shell and let us know what you really think lol
@anyone who wishes to read this
no matter what the issue if the best reasons for or against something are it is based in some ancient myth, that's the way we have always done it or an alternative way has faults too then odds are what you are doing is wrong.
I think I should now say something sensible here. That this practice of bride kidnapping is traditional and serves to get the job of marriage done, is not an indication that it is right. It clearly shows that the men think the women are unable to make any rational choice about their lives and are skittish individuals that need to be broken in much the same way that they break their horses. They may well be excellent horsemen (and they are!) but that is not the sign of an excellent husband. They should try a little whispering...
They seem to want the women to submit themselves, and I guess in a 'days of yore' kind of way, it could be seen as romantic. Maybe. Its all a bit taming of the shrew.
I have said before, I am no feminist. The few I have met seem intent on trying to beat men at their own game, why? Why would I want to be like a man? We are equal and opposite. They end up placing men above themselves, making their imagined superiority something to aspire to. As a woman, I have my own game and my own rules! If these boys treated the women like women, they would be treated like men and wouldn't have to prove their manhood with rough handling. They are on a weird little power trip. Does that continue after the wedding? Are they pressed into giving their bodies up as well? That thought does not sit comfortably in my mind at all!
Those boys are not flavour of the month. In fact they are not even dish of the day! But I'll have mine skinned and deep fried, please ;)
I don't know how people can possibly defend this or go on a diatribe about "our marriage." Can't you just swallow your pride, put away your relativism and just declare bride kidnapping is just plain wrong on every level? It is. I'm sure the victims would agree.
Girls eh? Always saying no when they really mean yes. Good job the men know better, and its traditional which makes it all ok. Like trepanning. That's for your own good too ;)
It makes me think about the artificiality of marriage to begin with. I have a Russian friend that used to say 'just pick one, any one, it doesn't matter, its all the same in the long run.' I think this mentality is similar to Krygyztan and part of me doesn't feel its primitive, but rather more authentic than the Western mentality. The US Disneyfied view of marraige is of the knight on a white horse with plenty of money coming to rescue the princess. I currently live in Japan which has a practical view of marraige where love is secondary to stability and loyalty. In the end, I think marraige is an artificial construction that generally doesn't suit human needs but acts as more of a legal and economic partnership. In a perfect world, men and women would both be free to meet different people, stay with someone when the partnership worked out and leave when the relationship has run its course. Children and the economic system we live in constrains this sort of mobility though, and you usually end up in a messy divorce with custody and money battles. I definitely don't condone kidnapping, but don't really think the western view of marraige is much more enlightened, its rather another form of social pressure that men and women conform to because thats what's expected of them.
**** why don't we do that, instead of wasting money getting her pissed. Maybe women would be a bit nicer.
I respect the traditions..... But its not good one........
Turns out he drinks like a fish.
marrying a woman is much easier in the west...
go to any bar, say hello to random women till one says hello back, ply her with alcohol, show her you care and she will marry you!
when you get bored just divorce her and repeat the process above...
theoretically you could end up with an infinite number of women all bearing your children...
Seems to me that that entire process of kidnapping didn't need to happen and felt more like it was expected to keep tradition and go through the process.
Though, there is so much potential for actual abuse (even if it isn't the norm, one is one too many) which makes this abducting tradition completely degrading and disgusting.
I really dont know how to feel about this, on the one hand I can understand the need to keep traditions alive as its important to preserve your culture and remember where you came from and on the other hand it just seems like a barbaric practice thats completely and utterly reprehensible.
I think this tradition is one that needs to end or at least taught and remembered but not practiced. We need not forget where we came from or our history but correct our mistakes and change for the better as we go forth in the future.
there are lot's of unacceptable traditions going on in many of the 3rd world countries.. unlike the developed countries most of the ppl living in the 3rd world have a strong sense of responsibility and duty of care, respect, towards the society/neighborhood. so in this case, the girls can't get back to their normal life after breaking the marriage due to this huge responsibility n respect towards the society...bright side is ppl still live happily together in a big joint family n few elderly ppl end up in nursing homes....