The Gypsy and Traveller community firmly believe that “marriage is for life” and divorce is rare. Older children may be particularly reluctant to leave permanently.
Unmarried young men and women are not allowed to socialize alone together because of the emphasis on female chastity. Couples marry young - girls at around 16 or 17, and boys between 18 and 19. They're not supposed to marry non-travellers but marriage to second cousins in families is common.
Their lifestyle is comparable to what it was five hundred years ago. The task of the Romani woman is to take care of the children, to maintain the household, and to hold together the extended family. As mother, she knows precisely the details of her children's lives, including all of the stupid things they do.
Both sexes are expected to marry someone within their tribe and most Gypsies conform by marrying someone within their group. If a Gypsy male marries a non-gypsy female, his community may eventually accept her, provided that she adopts the Gypsy way of life.
Among Gypsies, or Roma, marrying young is a tradition born of the need to survive in an environment where young women were fair game for non-Roma men. Romanian Roma, in particular, turned to early marriage during 500 years of slavery that ended only in the 19th century.
Physical appearance is least important in selecting a bride. The prospective brides are judged on their merits, such as health, stamina, strength, dispositions, manners, and domestic skills. The character of the girl's family, as well as their prestige in the community, is also taken into account.
Although monogamy is the rule, polygamy is not unknown, depending upon ability to bear the expense of additional marriages. The orthodox gypsies, however, are forbidden plural marriages by law. Among the gypsies of Rogatika, although they are Moslem, polygamy is rare on account of their poverty.
Rom (man) and romni (woman) also mean "husband" and "wife." Roma avoid Soviet ceremonies and have their own interesting wedding ceremonies, which are strictly observed, even in big cities. These ceremonies blend Orthodox wedding ritual and Gypsy custom. Weddings generally take three days.
Romanian law allows girls to get married at age 16 with parental consent, or at 18 without it.
At the same time both qualitative and quantitative studies show a steady trend of gradual increase in the marriageable age and age at first child birth among Roma, and today most of the Romani females get married after reaching the lawful age of 18.
In the Gypsy culture, there is a ritual that determines if the bride still retains her virginity, the so-called “handkerchief test” is performed to check the purity of the bride on the same wedding day. Sometimes, it is also called “town hall.”
Traveler men are usually over twenty-one years of age when they marry, but their brides may be as young as twelve with the average being between fifteen and eighteen.
All traveller boys take part in 'grabbing'…
Made popular by the television show 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding', it is where Traveller girls are 'grabbed' as part of a courtship ritual, which sees boys forcing a kiss. The majority of Travellers have never heard of this and courtship occurs through careful supervision.
The Gypsy and Traveller community firmly believe that “marriage is for life” and divorce is rare. Older children may be particularly reluctant to leave permanently.
It's not uncommon for Romanichal gypsies to marry their first cousins. The wedding had begun with all traditions of a typical traveller wedding.
Some of the better known areas of work that Gypsies and Travellers are involved in include seasonal agricultural work, motor trading and tree-felling. Some are employed as academics, teachers and public servants and in this way they add to the local economy.
Marriage in Romani society underscores the importance of family and demonstrates ties between different groups, often transnationally. Traditionally an arranged marriage is highly desirable. It is custom for the parents of the groom to pay the family of the daughter.
Gypsy, Roma and Travellers have the poorest health outcomes than any other social or ethnic group (SWPHO, 2011:3). The life expectancy of a GRT person is 50 years old for both men and women.
They're not supposed to marry non-travellers but marriage to second cousins in families is common. Once married, the man rules the roost. As seen on Channel 4's My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, weddings can be over the top and extravagant. Weddings are seen as huge social events where travellers can get together.
One of the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of Gypsy is, 'term for a woman, as being cunning, deceitful, fickle, or the like … In more recent use merely playful, and applied esp. to a brunette.
In comparison with other studied groups from Ukraine (mainly Ukrainians but also other minorities) Djaczenko found that Gypsies have the lowest cephalic index, the widest nose, darkest pigmentation, and the most dense beard. Generally those features are rather alien to Eastern European populations.
It is common practice for Travellers to marry first and second cousins, leading to a situation where they have some of the highest rates of duplicated DNA in the world. "The isolation and consanguinity (marrying cousins) have in turn led to an increased prevalence of recessive diseases, " the authors said.
Yet the dedication to cleaning – born during nomadic days when keeping wagons clear from dust and dirt on the road was a tough undertaking for traveller women – remains important. As a result, cleaning is a process that takes priority over everything else – including school.
To earn a living today, gypsies might weave furniture, make bricks, resell clothing and goods, or trade horses, but employment is typically a side note in their existence. Sources repeatedly underscore the difficulty that the Roma have in obtaining regular work because employers often don't want to hire them.