View source for Shotgun wedding

{{Short description|Wedding following premarital pregnancy}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Celebratory gunfire}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2017}}

A '''shotgun wedding''' is a [[wedding]] arranged in response to [[pregnancy]] resulting from [[premarital sex]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/shotgun-wedding|title=the definition of shotgun wedding|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=2016-12-11}}</ref> The phrase comes from the figurative imagining that the relatives of the pregnant bride threaten the reluctant male groom with a [[shotgun]] in order to ensure that he marries the woman.

== Rationale ==
One purpose of such a wedding can be to get recourse from the man for the act of [[impregnation]]; another reason is trying to ensure that the child is raised by both parents. In some cases, as in early U.S. and in the [[Middle East]], a major objective was restoring the social [[honor]] of the mother. The practice is a [[loophole]] method of preventing the birth of [[illegitimate children]], or if the marriage occurs early enough in the gestation period, to conceal the fact that conception had already occurred prior to marriage.

In some societies, the [[social stigma|stigma]] attached to [[illegitimacy|pregnancy out of wedlock]] can be enormous, and coercive means (in spite of the legal defense of [[undue influence]]) for gaining recourse are often seen as the prospective father-in-law's "right". Often, a couple will arrange a shotgun wedding without explicit outside encouragement, and some religious groups consider it a [[moral imperative]] to marry in that situation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Department of Justice |date=2013-09-30 |title=Reasons for forced marriage - Analysis of Data Collected from Field Workers - Report on the Practice of Forced Marriage in Canada: Interviews with Frontline Workers: Exploratory Research Conducted in Montreal and Toronto in 2008 |url=https://justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/fm-mf/p2.html |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=justice.gc.ca}}</ref>

== By culture ==
=== Middle East ===
Premarital sexual relations remain [[taboo]] across all social strata throughout the [[Arab world]]. In many cases, [[fornication]] is illegal and even a criminal offence under [[Sharia law]]. Even when it is not, the social response can be extreme, especially against women who have lost their virginity prior to marriage.

In Arabian culture, shotgun weddings serve to obscure the fact that a baby was conceived prior to marriage. When that proves impossible, the social standing of the couple involved is irreparably damaged. Nevertheless, shotgun weddings help prevent the individuals involved, especially the women, from becoming [[Outcast (person)|social pariahs]].

Apart from instances of regional slang, there is no universal, specific term for "shotgun weddings" in Arabic. This is because they are not recognised as a regular social phenomenon and because a successfully conducted Middle Eastern shotgun wedding is generally unknown to the guests. In some [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Persian Gulf]] nations, the term "police station marriage" ([[Arabic]]: زواج مخفر) may be the closest colloquial analogue for the concept of a "shotgun wedding".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Netton |first=Ian Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/middleeastsource0000nett |title=Middle East sources : a MELCOM guide to Middle Eastern and Islamic books and materials in United Kingdom and Irish libraries |date=1998 |publisher=Richmond, Surrey : Curzon |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-136-81017-6}}</ref>

=== East Asia ===
[[File:Marriages Preceded by Pregnancy by age in Japan.svg|thumb|Marriages preceded by pregnancy by age in Japan (2010).]]
*In Japan, the slang term {{nihongo|''[[dekichatta kekkon]]''|出来ちゃった結婚}}, or {{nihongo|''dekikon''|デキコン}} for short, emerged in the late 1990s. The term can literally be translated as 'oops-we-did-it-marriage', implying an [[unintended pregnancy]].<ref>Haruna Kashiwase, "Shotgun Weddings a Sign of the Times in Japan," ''Population Today'', July 2002,  [http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/ShotgunWeddingsaSignoftheTimesinJapan.aspx prb.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025004811/http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/ShotgunWeddingsaSignoftheTimesinJapan.aspx |date=2012-10-25 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/5602308/Japan-embraces-shotgun-weddings.html "Japan embraces shotgun weddings"]. ''Telegraph''. June 22, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2010.</ref> A quarter of all Japanese brides are pregnant at the time of their wedding, according to the Health Labor and Welfare Ministry,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brasor|first1=Philip|title=Oops! Pregnant celebs dancing down the aisle|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/01/08/national/media-national/oops-pregnant-celebs-dancing-down-the-aisle/|access-date=13 January 2016|work=The Japan Times|date=8 January 2012}}</ref> and pregnancy is one of the most-common motivations for marriage.<ref name=NIPSSR>{{cite web|last1=National Institute of Population and Social Security Research|first1=The Fourteenth Japanese National Fertility Survey in 2010|title=Marriage Process and Fertility of Japanese Married Couples|url=http://www.ipss.go.jp/site-ad/index_english/nfs14/Nfs14_Couples_Eng.pdf|access-date=13 January 2016|date=October 2011}}</ref> The prevalence and celebrity profile of {{translit|ja|dekichatta-kon}} has inspired Japan's wedding industry to introduce an even more benign phrase, {{nihongo|''sazukari-kon''|授かり婚||blessed wedding}}.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ryall|first1=Julian|title=Japan embraces shotgun weddings|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/5602308/Japan-embraces-shotgun-weddings.html|access-date=13 January 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=22 June 2009}}</ref>
*In China, the term {{lang|zh|奉子成婚}} ({{zh|p=fèngzǐchénghūn|l=married by the order of the child}}) means that the couple married because conception occurred outside of marriage. It is a pun on the phrase {{lang|zh|奉旨成婚}} ({{Zh|p=fèngzhǐchénghūn|l=married by an imperial edict order}}). It is becoming increasingly common among China's youngest generation. However, in the same age group, there is objection and criticism to such a practice.<ref>[http://www.chinapress.net/big5/newscenter/2009-12/05/content_265515.htm 奉子成婚成常現象 "大肚新娘"挑戰傳統貞操]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Married by the child became a norm, "Pregnant brides" are challenging the traditional chastity.</ref><ref>[http://www.sdenews.com/html/50811.htm “奉子成婚”挑战传统道德底线] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610193906/http://www.sdenews.com/html/50811.htm |date=2015-06-10 }} "Married by the Child" challenging traditional marital limits.</ref>
*In South Korea, the slang term {{lang|ko|속도위반}} ([[Revised Romanization of Korean|RR]]: {{translit|ko|sokdowiban}}; literally: 'speeding over the limit') refers to the situation in which the pregnancy preceded the marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Keuntae |date=2023 |title=저출산 시대의 혼전임신 현황과 사회경제적 결정요인 |url=https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002966449 |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Korea Citation Index}}</ref>
*In [[Vietnam]], the term {{lang|vi|bác sĩ bảo cưới}} (literally meaning 'because the doctor said so') is often used with humorous intention.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

===Southeast Asia===
*The [[Philippines]] has a shotgun wedding tradition ([[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]: ''pikot'') where a man is forced to marry a woman for various reasons. Although the most common ground is impregnation, another variant of this practise include the woman's parents forcing marriage on the man to their daughter due to his social status or wealth, rather than his desire to marry her for love; this occurs even if the former did not penetrate the latter. Weapons may or may not be used in coercion, but other means include litigation, particularly when the woman's family threatens to file rape and lascivious acts charges against the man.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ase/anup |date=2015-04-24 |title=Top 15 news websites in English from Southeast Asia |url=https://aseanup.com/top-15-news-websites-english-southeast-asia/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=ase/anup |language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[Indonesia]] has a similar condition with the Philippines; this is usually called "married by accident".{{cn|date=August 2025}}

=== Europe ===
Because of the [[sexual revolution]] beginning in the 1960s, the concepts of love, sexuality, procreation and marriage began to separate after being intimately entangled in social consciousness for centuries.<ref name="Buelens">{{Cite book |last=Buelens |first=Geert |date=2018 |title=De jaren zestig: Een cultuurgeschiedenis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdtPDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT115 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Ambo/Anthos |page=115 |isbn=9789026329500 |access-date=20 May 2018|lang=nl}}</ref> However, sexual practice had not always followed [[social convention]], resulting in shotgun or [[Knobstick wedding]]s.

*In the [[United Kingdom]], one source reports that almost 40% of all brides were pregnant in 1850.<ref>{{cite book |author=Faramerz Dabhoiwala |title=The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0199892419}} Quoted at [https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-first-sexual-revolution/]</ref>
*In [[Denmark]], a 1963 study found that 50% of all brides were pregnant.<ref name="Buelens"/>
*In the [[Netherlands]] and [[Belgium]], the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] term {{lang|nl|moetje}} was a commonly used euphemism for marriage resulting from unintended pregnancy. The noun is formed from imperative of the verb {{lang|nl|moeten}} ('must, 'to have to') with the added suffix {{lang|nl|-je}}, indicating a [[diminutive]]. Thus, it might be translated as a 'little must' or a 'little you-have-to', i.e. one is compelled to marry to avoid the shame of giving birth out of wedlock.<br />{{lang|nl|Moetjes}} were a common occurrence in Belgium and the Netherlands during the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, about a quarter of all marriages in the Netherlands were shotgun marriages; however, in some areas, up to 90% of the brides were pregnant.<ref name="Buelens"/> By the late 2000s, the practice had become so rare that the term was growing obsolete.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Noordman |first1=Joannes Maria Antonius |last2=Rietveld-van Wingerden |first2=Marjoke |last3=Bakker |first3=Petronella Catharina Maria |date=2008 |title=Vijf eeuwen opvoeden in Nederland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mT9CrHjhTnUC&pg=PA286 |location=Assen |publisher=Uitgeverij Van Gorcum |page=286 |isbn=9789023246138 |access-date=20 May 2018}}</ref> According to a 2013 by the Centrum voor Leesonderzoek, the word ''moetje'' was recognised by 82.5% of the [[Dutch people|Dutch]] and 43.1% of the [[Flemish people|Flemish]].<ref>[http://crr.ugent.be/papers/Woordenkennis_van_Nederlanders_en_Vlamingen_anno_2013.pdf Woordenkennis van Nederlanders en Vlamingen anno 2013], p. 679. Centrum voor Leesonderzoek.</ref>
*In [[Spain]] shotgun weddings are called {{lang|es|casarse de penalty}} in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] or {{lang|ca|casar-se de penal}} in [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ({{lit|marry by [[Penalty kick (association football)|penalty]]}}), in which language also the expression {{lang|ca|fer Pasqua abans de Rams}} ({{lit|to celebrate Easter before Palm Sunday}}, or 'to put the cart before the horse') is widely used.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Fer Pasqua abans de Rams' plus 23 proverbs and sayings about Easter {{!}} Info Barcelona {{!}} Barcelona City Council |url=https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/en/fer-pasqua-abans-de-rams-plus-23-proverbs-and-sayings-about-easter_490668.html |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=www.barcelona.cat |language=en}}</ref>
*In [[Italy]] they are known as {{lang|it|matrimonio riparatore}} ('mending marriage')

=== North America ===
In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], the use of duress or violent coercion to marry is no longer common, although many anecdotal stories and folk songs record instances of such coercion in 18th- and 19th-century America and Canada. Pressure to marry immediately due to pregnancy has become less common as the stigma associated with out-of-wedlock births has declined and the number of such births has increased. As a result, the typical, voluntary wedding during pregnancy might be more neutrally termed a ''mid-pregnancy marriage''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Blumberg |first=Perri Ormont |date=2023-03-23 |title=Here Comes the … Baby Bump |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/fashion/weddings/wedding-baby-bump-reveal.html |access-date=2023-03-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  Mid-pregnancy weddings are common enough that many suppliers of both [[bridal gowns]] and [[maternity clothing]] sell wedding dresses that fit during the later stages of pregnancy.<ref name=":0" />

While a 2016 study suggests that couples who wed while pregnant do not necessarily have an increased risk of subsequent divorce, another study by [[Duke University]] from that same year demonstrated that, among whites, divorce rates increased from 19% for non-pregnant brides to 30%.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://today.duke.edu/2016/11/shotgun-marriage-dead | title=Is Shotgun Marriage Dead? }}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Another shotgun wedding, with neither party willing - C.J. Taylor. LCCN2012647635.jpg|thumb|This 1897 political cartoon portrays the American [[Newlands Resolution|annexation of Hawaii]] as "Another shotgun wedding, with neither party willing".]]

=== Films ===
*''[[Eight Girls in a Boat (1932 film)|Acht Mädels im Boot]]'' (1932), German musical film
*''[[Eight Girls in a Boat (1934 film)|Eight Girls in a Boat]]'' (1934), American feature film, refilming of ''Acht Mädels im Boot''
*''[[Nightmare Alley (1947 film)|Nightmare Alley]]'' (1947), American [[traveling carnival|carnival]] [[film noir|noir]] 
*''[[Seven Brides for Seven Brothers]]'' (1954)
*''[[Jenny (1958 film)|Jenny]]'', first Dutch fullcolour feature film,<ref name="Buelens" /> refilming of ''Acht Mädels im Boot''
*''[[A Kind of Loving (film)|A Kind of Loving]]'' (1962), British feature film<ref name="Buelens" />
*''[[Girl with Green Eyes]]'' (1964), Irish feature film<ref name="Buelens" />
*''[[Ride with the Devil (film)|Ride with the Devil]]'' (1999) Confederate Bushwaker film.
*''[[Shotgun Wedding (2022 film)|Shotgun Wedding]]'' (2022), American feature film

=== Books ===
*''[[The Lonely Girl]]'' (1962), Irish novel on which ''Girl with Green Eyes'' is based<ref name="Buelens"/>

== See also ==
* [[Cohabitation]]
* [[Forced marriage]]
* [[Knobstick wedding]]
* [[Marry-your-rapist law]]
* [[Premarital sex]]
* ''[[Oklahoma!]]'', a play where one character, Ali Hakim, is forcibly coerced towards marriage on two occasions.
* [[Marriage of convenience]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Wedding}}

[[Category:Forced marriage]]
[[Category:Weddings in the United States]]
[[Category:Weddings in Canada]]
[[Category:Human pregnancy in culture]]

[[ja:できちゃった結婚]]