Is Marriage Worth it Today?

Marriage is a legally and socially sanctioned relationship, usually between a man and a woman, governed by laws, norms, conventions, beliefs, and attitudes that define the spouses’ rights and responsibilities, as well as the status of their kids (if any).

Marriage universally structures many basic social and personal functions within different societies and cultures. These include regulating sexual gratification, dividing labor based on gender, overseeing economic production and consumption, and satisfying personal needs for affection, status, and companionship.

Procreation, child care, education, and socialization, as well as the management of lines of descent, are some of its most important functions. Marriage has taken many different forms throughout history.

By the twenty-first century, the nature of marriage in Western countries had begun to shift, particularly in terms of the importance of childbearing and the ease with which divorce could be obtained. The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex weddings in 2000, and the law took effect on April 1, 2001. Several other countries, including Canada (2005), France (2013), the United States (2015), and Germany (2017), followed suit in the years that followed.

Read: Discussing Prenups: How to Avoid Conflict with Your Partner

Marriage has been less popular in recent times, particularly in developed countries. In the mid-to-late twentieth century, the institution experienced a major collapse, owing in part to rising divorce rates, but also to the fact that many couples have chosen not to marry at all.

People who believe that gay couples should have the same opportunity to marry as heterosexual couples have questioned the traditional definition of marriage in recent years.

The Benefits of Marriage

Companionship

You have most likely heard the phrase “man is a social animal”. Most people don’t like being alone and prefer being in the company of others. When you can share your experiences with someone who cares about you and shares your interests and concerns, life is richer.

Marriage, when done right, provides you with a life-long companion that you can share experiences, joys, pains, setbacks and breakthroughs with. They will always be there for you through the good, the bad and the ugly. Of course, when the kids come (if you want kids), that company grows and you have even more people to love and share life with.

Building wealth together

Another significant advantage of being married is the opportunity to generate wealth with your partner.

This can involve financial assets, co-founding a business, or building a home together. Many people will not be able to afford to build or buy a home on their own and will require the assistance of a partner to achieve this aim.

Banks are frequently more inclined to lend you money to buy a house if you are married. As a result, marriage can be a terrific approach to achieving goals that you wouldn’t be able to achieve on your own.

Improves longevity

According to numerous studies, married people live longer and are happier than their single counterparts. However, a study conducted at Harvard recently found that married people are considerably more likely than unmarried people to diagnose cancer in its early stages and seek treatment. One can assume that a loved one is pressuring them to seek medical help when anything is wrong.

Aside from that, the emotional support that can be provided in a marriage gives each spouse the sense of being “heard.”

Being in a solid relationship, especially for men, allows them to break free from gender stereotypes and roles. Men often bury or neglect their emotions, feelings, and needs due to clichés like ‘Men don’t cry’ and ‘Men don’t talk about feelings.’ Having a partner, however, creates a safe environment where they can actively express these emotions and needs.

Popular opinion today

Due to a plethora of reasons, many young people no longer feel the compulsion to marry. Some of them include:

Need for Individuality

The youth of nowadays want to be free as the wind to do whatever they want, whenever they please. They view marriage as a limitation to their precious freedom so they are not very keen on the idea of it. Single people can contentedly live their life without having to regard the wants or wishes of others, whereas married people must always consider the requirements of their partners.

Getting Stuck

Marriage can help a couple stay in a bad or toxic relationship for longer. Most people would rather leave their toxic boyfriend than go through the process of divorce and deal with the stigma that comes with it. Hence, they would rather stay unmarried than get stuck in a traumatic situation.

It is getting increasingly common for people to mask their true colours till after they tie the knot. Once that happens, they unleash the monster that is their true personality. Some of them even wait till the kids come so the spouse feels like they have to stick around for the children’s sake. Stories of people who have suffered or are suffering this predicament are all too common so it’s easy to see why people would rather not bother themselves with all that.

Conformity

Conformity is one thing that people (especially youth), recent, have been actively fighting against. They no longer want to behave in accordance with socially accepted conventions and standards.

People nowadays do not like the fact that when it comes to marriage, it’s all about getting approval from civil and religious authorities. You have to go to a religious institution and a legal one in order to tie the knot with your beloved when the two people in the relationship should be the only ones who matter. They believe that relationships should strictly remain personal, keeping religion and the government out of it.

Limitations

The conventional concept of marriage has become obsolete as society has “progressed”. Progressed is in quotation marks because while we wish all of society would progress together, this is not so. People around the world still practice conventional marriage concepts, and those who dare go against them face a full package of social stigma and discrimination.

Till the world learns to accept all types of human connections (e.g. single-parent households, gay couples, cohabiting couples and so on) and broaden our definitions and boundaries, marriage will continue to be one of the last things in people’s minds

Final Thoughts

Marriage as an institution has its good times and bad times no matter what. Good marriages may go bad and bad one could become good, it’s a volatile thing. Whether or not it is worth it depends on who you ask.

Someone could tell you that it saved their life, while someone else could say it is overhyped and can be done without. Whatever your view is on the subject, be sure to do right by your own self. The worst thing you can do to yourself is to allow society, your family or whatever else, to pressure you into marriage.

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