Analysis Of Taking Marriage Private By Stephanie Coontz

The marriage rites and customs now have drastically changed when  being compared to how they seemed to be during the 16th century. The rites women possessed then have had a greater increase, the marriages have different beneficial reasons and not to mention weddings aren’t as chaotic and scripted anymore. From the beginning of the topic, marriage was and always will be a sacred bond between two people. There are also a few perks made in “marriage”, over two years ago gay marriage was granted. In most religions , you were expected to be married before “knocking boots”. Not only religions ,but households as well.

Many legal and financial advantages can be attained through marriage. Instead of getting married after high school, people tend to go to college, get their life together, and then marry. The average groom is now thirty-seven and bride thirty-four (Discuss). According to Associated Press Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, “41 percent of spouses admit to infidelity, either physical or emotional.” Couples these days aren’t communicating the proper way. Instead they get mad at each other and ignore one another. One or both people in the relationship have “checked out”, but they don’t want to divorce for the sake of the children. Or they still love each other, valuing each other as a support system and as close friends, but don’t feel that intimacy toward one another. As said in a marriage article from faqs.org, “The study, by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, found that the marriage rate among Americans is at its lowest point ever. Over the last forty years, the rate has fallen forty-three percent. In addition, fewer people are reporting themselves as being “very happy” in their marriages.” Today, most wedding ceremonies involve a religious service, which contains many traditional features that are significant to their cultures. Christian’s services contain wording that has been unchanged since the

In Andrew J. Cherlin’s essay “American Marriage In Transition”, he discusses how marriage in America is evolving from the universal marriage. Cherlin’s definition of the universal marriage in his essay is the man is the breadwinner of the household and the woman is the homemaker. In the 20th century according to Cherlin, the meaning of marriage has been altered such as the changing division of labor, childbearing outside of marriage, cohabitation, gay marriage and the result of long- term cultural and material trends (1154). During the first transition of marriage, Cherlin discusses how in America, Europe, and Canada the only socially accepted way to have sexual relations with a person and to have children is to be married (1154). The second change in marriage occurred in 2000, where the median age of marriage in the United States for men is 27 and women is 25 (1155). Many young adults stayed single during this time and focused on their education and starting their careers. During the second change, the role of law increasingly changed, especially in the role of law in divorce (1155). It is proven in today’s research marriage has a different definition than what it did back in the 1950’s. Today marriage can be defined as getting married to the same gender or getting remarried to someone who already has kids. The roles in a marriage are evolving to be a little more flexible and negotiable. However, women still do a lot of the basic household chores and taking care of the

In her book Marriage a History Stephanie Coontz explains the male breadwinner family model and its dominance in family life during the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s. An illustration of the male breadwinner model is composed of a father, mother, and two children; typically a boy and girl close in age. Funded by their father’s well paying middle class salary, the wife and children live a comfortable life in suburbia and participate regularly in consumer trends. Perceived as the head of the household, the father was the sole financial provider. On the other hand the mother was the head of domestic life and was responsible for the children. The popular 1950’s TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet exemplified this family model. With regard to the male breadwinner family model, imagine having eight other brothers and sisters. Imagine growing up without a mother, and with a father who worked constantly. Then consider living this life alongside your peers who come from the “normal” male breadwinner families Coontz describes… How would your family differ from your peers? What would be your thoughts and feelings towards family life? More importantly, how would these unique circumstances change your perception of the nuclear family?

After reading the article called, “What is Marriage For?” by E.J. Graff I completely agree with the article and I also relate, as well. The reason is I’m part of the LGBTQ community and from the moment I realized I was, I knew when I decided to get married it would be a huge obstacle because I would have to leave the state I was born and raised in which is North Carolina. The reason why I had to leave would be before the law was made in North Carolina same sex marriage wasn’t allowed but only few states allowed it. So, I was truly happy when it was legalized. In addition, in some of the states the only way I could really get married is by civil union which has far less benefits when compared to actual marriage. In the article, it even talks about some of the stories that same sex couples had to deal with the

In over half a century, marriage has transformed from being a social requirement to simply being an option in today’s society. What has caused this change? Many institutions in our society have changed drastically along with marriage. Although these institutions have not caused marriage to be optional, they do strongly correlate with the decreased value. The economy, education, religion, and government have all altered since the 1950s. When any institution encounters a change, all other institutions are affected. Family is a major institution in society, and I believe that marriage is an important aspect of this institution. Cohabitation, religion, women in the work world and divorce have all effected the way marriage is viewed today.

The Holocaust was one of the most horrific events, to ever occur in history. Hitler and the Nazi party started a genocide that killed millions of people because of their ethnicity. The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman tells the perfect story of how life was like during the Holocaust period, through a woman and her family. The main characters in the book are Antonina, the wife and mother, Jan, the husband, and Rys, the couple’s son. The Nazi’s invaded Poland, and took over the Jan and Antonina’s zoo. Throughout the whole novel, Jan and Antonina Zabinski play an active role in the underground network of both hiding Jews and taking care of animals within their Zoo. The main character, Antonina, finds herself managing various relationships during the novel, she’s a zookeeper, a wife, and a mother as well. Throughout the course of the novel, she reveals aspects of her relationship between the animals, and her husband.

Marriage has been a heated controversy for the past few years because people often marry for the wrong reasons. Anyone who thinks of an ideal marriage would think of two people loving each other and sharing a personal bond or goals together. Marriage is regularly defined as the legally or formally recognized union of two lovers as partners in a personal relationship. This definition remarks there is an actual connection between two people in marriage, but do people actually consider this when committing to “love” and “support” their partners forever? As research and studies have shown, people ultimately get married for many reasons, except love. This philosophy can be easily applied to the short poem, “Marriage” by Gregory Corso. In this emotional poem, the author argues marriage is more effectively understood or known for culture and convenience rather than through the abstract considerations of love. Here, we can identify people generally decide to marry for the incorrect reasons, for instance the story of the author himself. Corso finds himself confused multiple times, wondering if he should marry to not be lonely, for tradition and for his physical and mental health. He disregards love, a relationship or a connection with his future wife. General ways of convenience like loneliness, health and economic status between cultural stereotypes and religion are usually the true reasons of why people chose to have the commitment of marriage with another person.

Marriage in the United States, up until the early 1800’s, was a soley private matter. Two individuals were considered “wed” by their peers and religious

Traditional wedding vows state, “I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part”(Callaway). Marriage is defined as two people bond together legally under the protection of laws. Couples are able to express and establish their life long relationships officially, publicly, and permanently. Due to the fact that homosexual relationships are increasingly more accepted by the public, gay marriage has become one of the most controversial topics throughout the US. The fundamental human right of marriage should not be limited to a man and a woman;

Marriage is a fundamental right that everyone has, and it is protected by our government, who gives minority groups rights in order to protect themselves against complete control.

Churches are private and considered non-profit organizations. Many couples choose to marry in their church, and their priests are their ministers. Certainly, the ruling on this case will create tensions between these organizations and the government. Before, ministers had the right to turn down offers of officiating weddings if they didn’t agree with the couple’s lifestyle

Love is an intense feeling of deep emotion and affection. It can overcome pain and heartache making for a happily ever after type of fairytale. Love can lead to happiness regardless of any issues that may arise or any traditional clichés that may be met. In both poems "Marriage" by Gregory Corso and "Break it Down" by Lydia Davis the assumptions of love are made very clear. They both suggest that love/marriage inevitably leads to an undesirable outcome resulting in lack of spontaneity and a great deal of pain.

As the society changing, the history of marriage also changes. Marriage is legally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship, but do those two partners always have to be a man and a woman? Most people believe that homosexuals should be granted equal rights as heterosexual couples. Being as an important social issue, same-sex marriage has become a hot topic of public debates in the recent years. For over the past decade, public support for the same-sex marriage has quickly risen. The United States is one of over twenty countries that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. I believe that same-sex marriage should be legalized in all countries for several reasons, such as being an issue of equal rights, separation of church and state, no negative effect on the heterosexual communities, increasing in child adoption, and decreasing divorce and suicide rates.

Marriage has evolved over time. Once, far back in history, when states were run in close cooperation with religious leaders, a marriage was strictly the dominion of the church, and the only definition was much like the one above (though they were more lax in avoiding incest than I would suspect Schulman’s proposed structure would be). In the eyes, there had to be a system where sex would be legitimized, while women and children were protected from it and its consequences. This made sense when repeated sex acts would almost definitely cause pregnancy, and possibly spread disease. As religion and government split into different organizations, each retained a definition of marriage that was a bit different from the other. Since religion held sway over what was considered pure and good, it took it upon itself to retain the parts of the old structure that dealt with the morality and social responsibility of marriage, and this is generally considered to be a social structure of marriage. And now, the social form of marriage is migrating into being controlled by the couple who are being married instead of their church. The government, on the other hand, became able to define who would be able to marry and place official benefits and restrictions on a married couple, creating a legal structure of marriage that was not the same as the social one. While