Presumably, most of these cultures place a high premium on women having kids (and probably a lot of kids, hence the child marriages). This isn’t to say that we should completely ignore kids’ preferences (adapted preferences are still preferences!), but I don’t think we should take them at face value, either.
I agree there is a lot of instinctive force behind this; it definitely seems like some preferences are in some sense ‘illegitimate’ e.g. this). However, it also seems like a potentially fairly symmetrical argument. Should we also decline to take people’s preferences for fewer children at face value if they grew up in a place that de-emphasizes family, or education-related preferences if someone grew up in an are that emphasized schooling? Without a general theory of what makes a preference legitimate it seems hard to object in specific cases.
I agree there is a lot of instinctive force behind this; it definitely seems like some preferences are in some sense ‘illegitimate’ e.g. this). However, it also seems like a potentially fairly symmetrical argument. Should we also decline to take people’s preferences for fewer children at face value if they grew up in a place that de-emphasizes family, or education-related preferences if someone grew up in an are that emphasized schooling? Without a general theory of what makes a preference legitimate it seems hard to object in specific cases.