Marriage

I know the tradition and the meaning of marriage is very important to many Americans. However, the percentage of people getting married today does not suggest that. According to a recent study nearly 40 percent of people believe marriage is becoming obsolete. I believe many people, myself included, are a bit intimidated to get married because the divorce rate is equal to the success rate. With that being said, I unfortunately do not believe marriage is alive and strong in our present day. But I do think marriage is still part of the social fabric. The only way I see that changing is if America becomes more like the countries in northern Europe where marriage rates are extremely low. Our social fabric would be much stronger today if our economy and culture was how it was in the mid 20^th century. In the past, many couples would often stay together even if the were not always happy. Divorce rates are much higher today because people are more interested in their personal fulfillment rather than working on a marriage.

Rivera’s essay on “temporary marriages” was a bit bizarre in my opinion. Mexico City lawmakers proposed a bill that allows couples to apply for a temporary marriage license. The minimum being a 2 year contract and after 2 years they can decide weather or not to renew it. Many people were against this idea saying things like “It is like doubting the marriage before it even starts”. Leonoal Luna, who co-authored the bill backed up her argument by showing a statistics report. In the U.S. there were 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people. In Mexico, the divorce rate was 0.33 per 1,000 people. She believes the short- term contract will “slow divorce rates and free couples from the hassle of divorce”. I personally would not consider this. If I ever get married one day, I would want to be fully committed to that person and prove life long marriages can still be successful.