Marriage has become obsolete in today’s society

Marriage and its Evolution

Marriage is a legal marriage of two individuals who form a personal bond and work together as partners. It is an organization that many cultures have upheld as the fundamental unit of every society. The Holy Scriptures promote and endorse marriage in its primary position of procreation. Marriage was traditionally intended to be between a man and a woman for the intent of raising children. Racial equity, on the other hand, has seen the acceptance and development of same-gender partnerships. Today, society’s view of marriage has shifted, and the majority regards the relationship as an outmoded phenomenon. An analysis of marriage shows that it is based in a patriarchal social structure. The traditional family structure gives a man more privileges than the woman and therefore does not uphold equality between the two partners. Man is supposed to be the head of the institution, and his role is to oversee everything that goes on in the family. Also, he issues orders on how activities should be performed and makes a follow-up of the same. According to the patriarchal family structure, women’s role is to make the man happy and perform household duties. Some of the duties include cooking, washing, and bearing children (Buckley 16). Today’s society indorses equality between marriage partners where no one is superior over the other. People value gender equality in the modern society and traditional social constructs that promote the patriarchal society are shunned. The patriarchal structure is becoming obsolete in these contemporary times, and since many marriages are founded on such social family structure, then it is considered outdated.

Economic Empowerment and Changing Roles

Economic empowerment of women has led to a shift of their role in the family. Many women are working and earning salaries which can support them and their children. The financial prowess of women has made them almost independent of the men in the society. Being able to work and earn money for personal development makes women have the option of living as single mothers. In traditional societies, women depended on men for provision and most communities required women to be housewives. However, the marriage perspective that women should get married and assume their position as housewives still lingers on (Giddens 25). Today, women can provide for themselves when they secure employment hence do not see the need of getting into a marriage institution. An employed woman can successfully raise children on her own without assistance from a man. Due to economic empowerment, especially for women, some people consider marriage as odd since they can afford children upkeep on their own without assistance from the other partner.

Marriage vs. Career

In modern times, people value the idea of pursuing their careers and working hard to get into higher ranks at the workplace. Career men and women are on the rise and many values their career more than their family. Work takes up most of the time and leaves little time for the family. For this reason, many people have opted to stay away from marriage but give their career the top priority. It is also becoming unrealistic to remain committed to the marriage institution as the career may require a person to move from one town to another. Marriage and serious career commitment seem to go in parallel paths making it difficult for married partners (Knox, David, and Schacht 39). Many are opting to remain single parents so as to balance between work and family. Career men and women no longer value marriage as it acts as a hindrance to career advancement. Therefore, career has become a more important aspect than marriage in today’s society.

Changing Perspectives on Cohabitation

Cohabitation outside the marriage institution has become common in today’s society. Extramarital sex is no longer shunned the way it was in the traditional society. Besides, the social fabric connecting members of the group have weakened and measures to control extramarital affairs are ineffective. This provision has made it possible for couples to have children out of wedlock. Others have decided to sire children although they are not married and cohabiting has become common since there is little commitment in such relationships. If a partner is able to get children without committing themselves to marriage, then the institution loses its significance. Moreover, advancement in technology has made it possible for the unmarried people to have children. If the unmarried can have babies, then most of them do not see the need to commit themselves to the marriage institution (Hiekel et al. 391). It can be asserted that having technology that enables unmarried people have babies and rampant cohabiting renders the marriage institution obsolete.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various reasons to ascertain that the marriage institution is outdated in today’s community. The patriarchal structure on which the marriage institution is based has lost its place in modern society as gender equality has made both man and woman equal. Economic empowerment has meant it possible for a person to support themselves and raise children on their own hence they deem marriage as an outdated institution. Career women and men value their careers more than marriage hence little regard to the institution. Technology has made it possible for unmarried to have children, and cohabiting has undermined the marriage institution.

Works Cited

Buckley, Cara. “Gay Couples, Choosing to Say ‘I don’t’.” The New York Times, 25, 2013, pp. 16-24.

Giddens, Anthony. The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. John Wiley & Sons, 2013, pp. 21-39.

Hiekel, Nicole, Aart C. Liefbroer, and Anne-Rigt Poortman. ”Understanding Diversity in the Meaning of Cohabitation Across Europe.” European Journal of Population, 30.4, 2014, pp. 391-410.

Knox, David, and Caroline Schacht. Choices in Relationships: An Introduction to Marriage and the Family. Nelson Education, 2012, pp. 1-58.