Summary:
Chapter 9 talks about being single and why people decide to postpone marriage or not get married at all at macro, micro, and cultural levels. It goes into discussing aspects of cohabitation and why people cohabit. Two reasons are it is easier to end a relationship and it can help people find out how much they care about each other by discovering their personal habits. Other aspects of cohabitation are also discussed, including what types of marriages result, laws on cohabitation, its effects on the family, and the types of unions gays and lesbians have.
Interesting Material:
Something I found interesting was the fact that by age 44, 34% of black men haven’t married yet. I think that is a very high percentage for any race because marriage is still very much a norm.
Question/Concern:
My question is how effective does the class think a trial marriage is? Are trial marriages a good idea or should couples be willing and ready to just take the step into a real marriage?
I think your question about trial marriages is interesting. I think that it could go both ways depending on the couple. But, I also tend to side with the idea that it would be very helpful. I think that it would be good to test out how a relationship works while living together, because often that can change a lot and be the source of a lot of stress. And, I think that in the long run it will help people to be positive that they want to be in that relationship for the rest of their lives before they actually need to commit to it.
ReplyDeleteNatalie LaBarbera
I agree with Natalie. I once had a teacher say that it should be much harder to get married and easier to get divorced. Her reasoning was that then more people wouldn't get married in the first place if the process to get married was more difficult. Along those lines I think the idea of a trial marriage might be an interesting way to make sure couples are positive that they want to make the commitment.
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting article about this idea being implemented in Mexico City...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/crista-tharp/renewable-marriage-contracts_b_997322.html
Ali Mosser
While I understand where the both of you are coming from, don't you think that if you are going to marry someone, you have decided to love that person through it all. Do you really think living situations should be a deal breaker for a marriage? I understand that stress can come along with things, but isn't part of working through those times what makes a marriage stronger?
ReplyDeleteMaria Nicholas
While I do not argue with you that hypothetically this is the way that marriages and relationships should work, in the real world this has become rather rare. For many, it does not take much (compared to what one might think) to cause the relationship to fall apart. Additionally, when living with someone, you are able to see a side of their personality that you were not able to before, which may in turn be something that may not be able to be worked through. Because of this, I think that the trial marriages are an interesting way to get at this issue.
ReplyDeleteKarl Wahlen