[Sherman Logan]

Asma was only 10 when her parents, who had migrated to Britain from Pakistan, began grooming her for marriage.

This was the norm throughout western civilization only 100 years ago. Most girls expected wife and mother to be their primary roles in life.

Seems to me the "grooming" term is an attempt to make it appear as if marriage is the equivalent of sex slavery.

Which it can be, but certainly isn't always.

[erkelly]

I am a collector of children's and young adult literature from the late 19th and early 20th century; the literature does not describe a young girl in that era living in the confined and limited manner that this British/Pakastani girl describes. Young girls were allowed, even encouraged, to run and play, to do all sorts of things, including riding a bicycle. Education was important, as well as learning domestic duties, and aspiring to higher education and even careers were often emphasized in these books, although marriage of course was also elevated, even idealized. At some point, after the girl was grown up and had worked a few years as a journalist/writer, teacher, nurse, missionary, secretary (sometimes even a doctor or a lawyer) she did get married after a rather lengthy romance, often fraught with misunderstandings, until both parties were really and truly grown up (in their middle 20s!) These books were written to encourage young girls to aspire to all sorts of goals, from Louisa May Alcott to Lucy Montgomery.