"Is marriage obsolete?"

A free-lance writer called Eric Steinman heard a discussion during a thanksgiving party:

"...some of the male family members were engaging in a crudely philosophical debate, which asserted that the construct of marriage was invented and perpetuated by women (no comment), and that gender relations have developed to such an extent that women no longer have any use for the institution of marriage (still, no comment). Whether you can buy into this argument or not, is irrelevant, a better question would be, is marriage relevant for anyone anymore?"

“...that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be. Neither men nor women need to be married to have sex or companionship or professional success or respect or even children — yet marriage remains revered and desired.”

He asks: "Where do you think the institution of marriage is going? How does your concept and marriage reality differ or reinforce dominant notions of marriage? Do we need marriage, or do we just need to rethink marriage altogether?"


http://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-...-obsolete.html