Marriage

“Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.” 

― Albert Einstein

What is marriage?

Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws,^[1] as well as society in general. The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal.

Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, social, libidinal, emotional, financial, spiritual, and religious purposes. Whom they marry may be influenced by socially determined rules of incest, prescriptive marriage rules, parental choice and individual desire. In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, child marriage, polygamy, and sometimes forced marriage, may be practiced as a cultural tradition. Conversely, such practices may be outlawed and penalized in parts of the world out of concerns for women's rights and because of international law.^[2] In developed parts of the world, there has been a general trend towards ensuring equal rights within marriage for women and legally recognizing the marriages of interfaith or interracial, andsame-sex couples. These trends coincide with the broader human rights movement.

Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization, a religious authority, a tribal group, a local community or peers. It is often viewed as a contract. Civil marriage, which does not exist in some countries, is marriage without religious content carried out by a government institution in accordance with the marriage laws of the jurisdiction, and recognised as creating the rights and obligations intrinsic to matrimony.

Marriage Views

Thanks to late-night cable reruns, even the youngest generation can see how marriage was portrayed in the early days of television, when social parameters kept a lid on anything outside the traditional "married with children" model. But TV shows, movies, and life in general expose today's teens to far more complex marital issues than how mom should decorate the cake for dad's birthday dinner. The 1960s and '70s ushered in a period of unprecedented social norms -- divorce, premarital sex, and having babies before the wedding, if indeed there is to be a wedding at all.

Today, married couples with children make up just 24% of households, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. That number is down from 40% in 1970, and is expected to sink to 20% by 2010. The Gallup Youth Survey* asked teens (aged 13 to 17) what they think about the moral acceptability of specific issues surrounding marriage. Results show that a majority of teens see both divorce and sex outside of marriage as morally acceptable (66% and 57%, respectively), while just 4 in 10 (42%) feel the same way about having children out of wedlock. But only 5% teens said that married men and women having an affair is morally acceptable, while 94% said it is not.

Researchers:

The researchers examined data on recent cohorts of teens and also tracked trends in teens’ attitudes in the past 30 years.

Key Findings:

Teens’ attitudes toward marriage are generally favorable. Most teens think their parents have good marriages, and over 80 percent plan to marry some day. Teens in the study come from a mix of family structures, with 63 percent residing with married parents—50 percent with both biological parents and 13 percent with a parent who had remarried. About one in four live with a single parent. Teens with estranged parents hold less positive views of the quality of their parents’ relationship.

 

Attitudes toward marriage are shifting. Although most teens express strong general support for marriage, the study suggests that they are increasingly accepting of cohabitation before marriage. The proportion of high school seniors who think it is a good idea for couples to live together before marriage has climbed steadily over the years, from 40 percent in the 1970s to 64 percent in 2006. Growing numbers also report wanting to wait until later in life to get married —47 percent in 2006 versus 27 percent in the 1970s.

Boys’ and girls’ views differ. Girls have less positive views of marriage, but boys are more interested in delaying marriage. Across a broad range of measures, boys are more likely than girls to support marriage. For example, 69 percent of boys think it is better for a person to get married than to go through life single, compared with 56 percent of teenage girls. However, 85 percent of 12th-grade boys want to delay marriage for at least four to five years after high school, compared with 79 percent of their female counterparts.

THEREFORE MARRIAGE IS THOUGHT TO BE THE FINAL CONCLUSION OF LOVE..!!