Online magazine Bustle offers “8 Totally Valid Reasons To Never Get Married“. Sounds like writer Gina M Florio has set us a challenge we can’t refuse. How do her “reasons” stack up.
Marriage Is Going Out Of Style
Well yes, the stats do suggest that. And, of course, you are just the sort of person to follow any trend that’s going, why stand out from the herd? Well, actually there are a couple of good reasons or two.
- Nothing says I love you like real commitment “till death do us part”.
- Married people are happier.
- Married people are healthier.
- Kids do better if their parents are married to each other.
No, you just follow the crowd!
You Can Opt For A Domestic Partnership Instead
Well, yes you can. If all you want is to live in a state-sponsored institution. But who wants to live in an institution? Why not live a relationship, with promises you make to each other, not obligations imposed by law?
So Many Marriages End In Divorce Anyway
How defeatist can you get? Every real life ends in death. Does that mean I should refuse to live? Certainly too many marriages end in the tragedy of divorce. Certainly, many divorces are tragedies. But, “don’t get married it might not work out” is poor advice, which comes from listening too much to those whose marriages have broken and ignoring those whose marriages still “after all those years” bless and rejuvenate them.
You Don’t Need To Be Married To Fulfill A Lifelong Commitment
Marriage is not (at the very least is not just) a legal document, where is the “lifelong commitment” if there are no promises to each other made before others? That’s what marriage is after all, a commitment two people make to each other, in public, before witnesses, to stick together through thick and thin, and if they are blessed with children to raise them together.
Historically, The Institution Of Marriage Considered Women Property
Well maybe, but then “historically” the woman was her father’s property till she married, so where “historically” is the advantage in that!
You Don’t Have To Be Married To Have Children
Sadly, this one is all too true. Because the evidence suggests that if you are married to each other the chance of your children being happy and healthy are higher. Who is as selfish as the person who brings a new life into the world knowing they will give them a worse chance at life than they might otherwise have had? Are you really that selfish?
You Might Feel More Independent If You’re Not Married
Well, true, I might, but I prefer to depend on Barbara and that she can depend on me!
Not Getting Married Is Not Synonymous With Being Alone
Well true, but then did anyone ever write a dictionary that said it was? Come on, you are scraping the barrel here. Are there really so few reasons to resist marriage?
