Marriage

The book has a section entitled, “Marriage is traditional” and in that particular section it mentioned about how “marriage has changed over time.” When examined current day marriage trends show that people are looking for partnership or soul mates, not for the most traditional reasons of the past. The idea that one person is supposed to be with one person for the rest of their life is no longer relevant. It is possible to have many happy years with one person, but that does not mean that these people will die together. People can have a falling out. Situations change—people do grow. If people stayed stagnant their whole lives, where would society be? With the way

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

Marriage is a relationship is about coming together in which two people have promised themselves being with each other. However, marriage in the United States has changed in the 1950s from what it is today. Marriage in the 1950s was different because there was no such idea of a divorce because women had to fix their marriage. (Tartakovsky). Yet, marriage that occurs today people can get a divorce in America. Marriage is better today in America than in the 1950s because of more freedom and not being pressured into marriage in society. This time period 2015 for me is more preferable to live in for marriages instead of in the 1950s. Although marriage is a union between two people, there is a

To begin with, marriage is a celebration of love, instead of an obligation. The world has transformed into a more open-minded. In bygone days,

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.

In America’s society today, the norm of marriage consists of the fundamental idea that husband and wife both work and are independent. The idea that there is an emotional connection between the couples is the reason for the marriage. Andrew J. Cherlin, author of the article “American Marriage in Transition” explores how the transition in marriage occurred and why it affects everyone, and even destroys that one role that wives used to play everyday of their lives. Because of the popular and powerful transition to the modernized, individualized marriage, the role of the housewife has become obsolete.

In Ralph Richard Banks’ book entitled “Is Marriage for White People?” the definition of marriage varies from different cultures and views. The most popular and idealistic notion is that marriage is a result of the unconditional love of two people wanting to share this union for the rest of their lives, in a long committed way. For some however, marriage is more of an economic arrangement, like a pact for two people to catch each other when the other one falls. And for others, it is only a piece of paper that can be thrown away if not needed, or by simple saying, marriage is not important.

A quote from a famous American author, Mark Twain says “Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.” The definition of marriage varies with cultures and views. The most popular and idealistic notion is that it’s a result from the unconditional love of two people wanting to share it for the rest of their life, in a committed and long bonding way. For some, however, marriage is more of an economical arrangement, a pact for two people to help and catch each other when the other one fall. And for others, it is just a paper that one can throw away if not needed, or by simple saying, marriage is not important.

Looking at Marriage today, as the age of enlightenment has hit America, Timothy Keller says in his book The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God, “Marriage was seen as a contract between two parties for mutual individual growth and satisfaction. In this view, married persons married for themselves, not to fulfill responsibilities to God or society.” Although marriage is only between two people, the concepts can be applied to any community, as God ordained marriage as the holy community, sealed by and through him. Marriage is supposed to be all about serving one another, and growing spiritually and morally through the years, not about feeding off of sexual gains and other individual desires. This is why divorce rates are so high, and why so many fights happen. It is because America has lost the definition and beauty of marriage, as it is often portrayed as a trap, or a “settle down” type thing. Not at all, because marriage is all about spiritual growth through each other and the

Author Stephanie Coontz writes about the ideas of love and marriage through out history in the article “The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love.” Early in the article Coontz quotes an early twentieth century author by the name of George Bernard Shaw, who states, “marriage is an institution that brings together two people under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions. They are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.” ( qtd. in Shaw 378) Coontz explains that the ideas of marriage today are, although heart felt, unrealistic and daunting. She reveals

Marriage recognizes the lifelong union of two people, which sounds like a private thing. But every person, in every culture, has a different opinion about what actually defines marriage, creating an endless controversy over marriage ethics. Pressure from family, overall expenses, and the excruciating stress from planning marriage deters a lot of people from marrying. Not every marriage has a pleasant motive, and not every marriage will last. There are significantly less younger people getting married today than there were 30 years ago. New priorities and a different social outlook on wedlock is scaring people away, and postponing the ceremony for when they are older and happier. Where has the magic of matrimony gone?

Marriage is considered an “out dated” tradition that has no place in the modern world. So why do people feel like marriage is the ultimate goal to achieve? Matrimony is an institution very few people can be good at. Surprisingly, almost half of all marriages end up in a divorce. Marriage is a union of two individuals in a personal relationship. A plethora of qualities is needed to fulfill a high level of happiness in a caring and intimate marriage. The paradigm for marital structures has drastically changed in modern America; communication is a vital part to find a clear and collective solution to save a marriage in modern times.

The description of how the concept of marriage in today’s era in comparison to how marriages was originally conveyed is accurate. Andrew Cherlin describes the current thoughts of marriage of how I view it—marriage should be something as a last resort for adults. Reason being—people should experience their life first beforehand, gained knowledge and skills that will help them out in a long run. Thus, when marriage is becoming an option, they have plenty of experience to take them further into adulthood. This was the problem I had with my sister getting married back in May. I felt that she was rushing into marriage in order to compete with her friends (whom are getting married as well, after they already settled everything they needed to do).

Marriage is unnecessary and it shouldn’t be held in such high esteem by society as it is. The idea that people’s relationships are considered not as meaningful and valued less if they are not married than those who are. Marriage is a social construct that restricts people and is not essential to a happy life like society thinks. People say it is a sign of love and devotion to your significant other but when cheating and abuse occurs in relationships that shows otherwise. When arranged marriages still exist it raises the question of how marriage can be used to control people. Marriage is many things, a way to control, a cage, a political statement, but it’s definitely not what everyone seems to believe.

The marriage revolution has been a controversial issue since the dawn of time, and all that are and have been involved with “matrimony” are aware of the issues of the future. There can be no denying that the culture of marriage has changed. This very course is itself a great example of this fact. Much like any other sociological subject of any real concern, there are many “opinions” related to this issue. This paper will attempt to highlight marriage seen as the sociological transformation, marital erosion versus evolution, and why many people fail at marriage and what does it take to be successful in greater detail. This will allow you, the readers, to make up your own minds regarding this extremely multifaceted issue.