China Media Research, 7(3), 2011, Sandel, (Mis)perceptions of Individual & Cultural Differences in TW http://www.chinamediaresearch.net 43 editor@chinamediaresearch.net Is it Just Cultural? Exploring (Mis)perceptions of Individual And Cultural Differences of Immigrants through Marriage in Contemporary Taiwan Todd L. Sandel University of Oklahoma Abstract: Increasing migration across national and/or cultural boundaries for the purpose of marriage is one of the unintended outcomes of the forces of globalism in recent decades. Such migrations lead to communicative challenges in relationships among spouses, families, and communities, due to differences of culture and individual understandings. The study first reviews the literature of marriage in Taiwan, examining the economic, demographic, and cultural factors which supported two kinds of marriage: “Minor marriages” of the past and cross border marriages of the present. Then it presents findings from a study of members of cross border marriages conducted across a range of communities in Taiwan from 2007-2008. These demonstrate how culture guides what participants may do to constitute marriages, and how cultural categories may be invoked to talk about such actions. Finally, the role of individual agency to shape cultural talk is also examined. [China Media Research. 2011; 7(3): 43-55] Keywords: Culture, Cross Border Marriage, Taiwan, Chinese, Individual agency While migration that results in the mixing of individuals and groups of differing cultural patterning has happened across the span of human history, recent decades have witnessed a rapid increase in such mixing. The end of the Cold War, increased global economic integration, the growth in national and international transportation networks, and the rise of global communication technologies have all led to an integrated and “flattened” world whereby citizenship in one nation no longer either limits or enhances an individual’s opportunities (Friedman, 2007). Knowledge of what is moral, ethical, and religious is not gained solely through the teachings and examples of community leaders, but is now discoverable by individuals through the internet and a website that could come from anywhere (Roy, 2006). Therefore, today’s young person is not limited to pursue only those opportunities found in his or her community or nearby urban center, but can see, imagine, and pursue opportunities wherever they may be found across the globe. Transnational or cross-border marriage is one way increasing numbers of people pursue individual opportunities. While in the recent past a woman growing up in rural China may have entered into an arranged marriage with a man living in the village next door (A. Wolf, 1968), today she has other opportunities. She may move to coastal China, work and support herself in a factory, and marry someone of her own choosing, choose to delay marriage, or not marry at all (Chang, 2009). A Vietnamese woman through family connections may arrange marriage with an ethnic Vietnamese man living in the United States (Thai, 2008), or she may contact a marriage “broker” and consent to marry a man who has paid a fee to the broker to come to Vietnam from Taiwan in order to meet and choose a suitable spouse (Wang, 2007). Likewise, a woman living in China can find a website that offers her contact information about men living in North America, and then exchange emails with one or more such men, and may eventually decide to marry one of them (Constable, 2003). Thus, while women of previous generations were limited by their geography, educational attainment, and family’s economic support, today’s women have far more opportunities. Through both interpersonal contacts and mediated ones, e.g., television, telephone, and the internet, they can imagine, gain knowledge of, and pursue opportunities of life and marriage in lands far from home. Greater individual opportunity and movement across borders in the pursuit thereof, however, do not come without challenges. The woman who engages in cross border marriage may find that the life she imagined is not the reality she faces. Her husband may be much older (Wang & Chang, 2002), may be divorced with children from a previous marriage, or may be financially less well off (Tien & Wang, 2006). Likewise some of the women who choose marriage as a path to advance their lives may engage in “other” activities, such as prostitution (Hirsch, 2007). However, as claimed by Hsia (2007), the social “problems” of cross border marriages are often over-reported by the media and lead to inaccurate stereotypes. While the phenomenon of cross border migration for the purpose of marriage presents challenges in such areas as education (Chung, 2005; Hsia, 2003), health (Yang & Wang, 2003), and family policies (Hsia, 2001), at its root are perceptions of cultural similarities and/or differences. Beliefs and practices involving pregnancy and birth, the care of young children, the management