Marriage is also no longer important, because some just don’t see the point in it and don’t see it any different than a relationship, with marriage just being ‘a piece of paper’. Lots of people don’t bother getting married and believe you can still be in a strong relationship with a person and love the without getting married and having a big wedding ceremony and signing ‘a piece of paper’ won’t make two people love each other anymore. For example, a woman might love her husband lots and after living together for three years, decide to get married. After they are legally married, they might not notice a difference to what their relationship was before, except of course they share the right to their belongings, but apart from that they are not any happier or love each other anymore.
Another reason is, because people have tried marriage and it has not worked for them and they might not remarry, because of the fear of getting divorced again or, because they can’t be bothered going through the complicated marriage process, or even because they didn’t like being married. A woman might have previously cohabited over a period of time and then got married. Her marriage might have been horrible, with lots of arguments and fights, with being married making her and her husband ‘spread further apart’, hating the marriage so much that she got divorced. Because of her previous experience with marriage, she might just simply decide not to marry, because of the fear of going through a horrible marriage again and divorce. Some people might have got divorced and not remarry, because of all the hard work that has to be put into the wedding; having to get a dress and all the other numerous preparations for a wedding, so won’t get married again.
Marriage is no longer important, because so many people are beginning to get divorced. Today divorce is a lot more socially acceptable, with lots of media influence and more benefits for single parents and also the fact it is a lot easier. Many people don’t really see marriage as that important anymore and instead of living in an ‘empty shell marriage’, which is when a couple remain legally married even though it is technically over, in the eyes of the husband and wife, they simply get divorced, as we seem to have a lot more freedom now.
However marriage is still important to some people. One of the reasons it is still important is due to people’s religious views and cultural traditions. Many Indians and Pakistanis, will marry as it is their tradition to get married at young age. They usually have low rates of cohabitation as they see marriage quite important within their culture and follow their traditions, sometimes having arranged marriages. Many Christians will also get married, maybe because they want to have children and only believe in having a children within a marriage due to the Bible and some Christians believe getting married symbolises your love for Jesus and God as marriage is what God teaches in the Bible. Because of ‘English traditions’, some people still continue get married, as although it is dying out it is still a tradition to get married and due to things like governments encouraging divorce, giving things like tax allowance for married couples.
It’s also important, because they believe a married relationship is the best environment to bring children up in. Many people will get married as they are less likely to separate, as it is not that easy to get divorced and to get divorced, although it is easy nowadays, you have to go through quite a long, complicated process. So if a couple don’t get on they would be more likely to try and work things out and get their marriage back on track, unlike if they were not married and could easily separate and just ‘walk away’ from their relationship. Many people believe a married environment is the best for children, as their parents are less likely to split up, giving the child a better childhood, avoiding both physical and mental disruption.
Marriage is also important when you have children, because a married mother and father, gives children positive role models and allows parents to socialize children in the ‘correct’ way. Some people might say it mean they have a positive female figure, helping in ‘gender socialization’, showing how ‘the women’ in the family acts, maybe cooking or cleaning, teaching children typical gender roles and maybe showing their father as the breadwinner of the family and with a male dominator, teaching a children typical gender roles, with married parents playing a key part in the socialization process for children.
Marriage is also important, because lots of people believe that getting married is the only way you can truly show your love to your husband or wife.. Some people might not see the point of making the effort for a wedding, but some think making a big effort for your wedding shows that you love you partner. Marriage can be seen as a symbol of two peoples’ love and ‘the piece of paper’ and their marriage licence, is more than a piece of paper, its ‘a piece of paper’ that shows to the whole world and symbolises their love for each other and making the commitment of being married enables someone to ‘spend the rest of their life with the person they love’.
Another reason why marriage is important is, because of the security it offers. Being married allows couple to have financial security, as when people get married they will sign a legal document giving rights to each others ‘belongings’, so if there partner was to die, they would know that they would get a sum of their money and their belongings, so lose everything, as they have the legal rights.
Marriage is also important, because of the financial support and also emotional support it offers For example if in a family, the wife might not work, maybe, because they are unable to get a job and her husband might work. Because her husband earns money, as they are married and ‘share’ things, she can live off her husbands money and he will pay for necesseties such as food and clothes and maybe even luxury items. Conjugal roles, might also be present, with men sometimes wanting to get married to have someone to rely on to do things like housework. Marriage also offers emotional support, giving people someone to talk to in hard times and seek comfort, as people did promise to ‘love and honour’ their husband or wife when they got married.
Marriage is no longer important, because so many people are beginning to get divorced. Today divorce is a lot more socially acceptable, with lots of media influence and more benefits for single parents and also the fact it is a lot easier. Many people don’t really see marriage as that important anymore and instead of living in an ‘empty shell marriage’, which is when a couple remain legally married even though it is technically over, in the eyes of the husband and wife, they simply get divorced, as we seem to have a lot more freedom now.
Overall, I think marriage is no longer important as marriage rates are continually decreasing, with increasing amounts of cohabitation, due to things like expenses of weddings and the commitment that has to be made and many people simply don’t bother going to the effort of organising a wedding, as they don’t see the point, unlike a few decade ago when it was the norm to get married. However marriage is important to some people, as many people are continuing to get married due their religion or their cultural traditions and due to the current recession, because of the financial support that it offers. So although marriage is no longer as important as it used to be, I think getting married will never ‘die’ out.
