Why get married? In this day and age it's not something that is mandatory for long term couples.
Previous generations were married for decades as marriage was something that was taken very seriously and divorce was almost unheard of (whether they were happy or not).
Now, since divorce has become, for want of a better word, common, divorce rates have sky-rocketed to 42% with marriages lasting only 8 years. In the 2009 US census it was found that 11.6% of men married twice, 3.1% three or more times and 12.1% of women marrying twice and 3.2% marrying three or more times. Almost half of all children in the UK and US with married parents will experience divorce and live between homes. The family unit is now made up of step-parents, step-children/siblings and half siblings. If this is the norm that the next generation are growing up with, it would be fair to assume that this kind of pattern will carry on now we have what seems to be a very relaxed attitude towards marriage.
The split of a marriage is something that is consistently reported on in gossip magazines and on websites about our current obsession as a society: celebrities. As soon as a couple makes themselves public the question of tying the knot comes up and as soon as they are married its reported that the couple are already on the rocks and divorce is being spoken about with infidelity being the main cause for a split. True or not. With this kind of influence it appears that marriage is now something that you can get out of as soon as you don't like it.
From a birds eye view it looks as though people are now only preparing for the wedding rather than the marriage.
With most people meeting others online it has been reported that around 72% of couples are now meeting online. Social apps like Tinder and Grinder are now more popular than ever. This begs the question: what affect has this had on people? Even before getting into a relationship never mind marriage.
With social apps and the popularity of the selfie people are now picking people based on what they look like immediately. Look at their picture, swipe one way if you like them, swipe the other if you don't. You don't even have to speak to them. There is something very impersonal about the whole thing.
Feminism is now becoming an ever increasing issue all over the world, women are calling for equal treatment as people rather than being treated based on how they look. If this is the case then shouldn't participation on dating apps like Tinder go down? Or at least have profiles without a picture? Statistically women take far more selfies than men which makes me wonder whether or not they know they are playing into the objectification of themselves willingly (especially when its proven that the more skin you show the more attention, likes and comments you'd get, from both sexes). Women are saying one thing but their actions say the complete opposite when looking for some kind of romantic attention.
As a result, the young men of my generation now look at women even more as sex objects because it looks like that is all what young women want as well. Relationships are now shorter and people ask for nude selfies even before they meet the other person.
Dating is now a very daunting aspect for people as going online is the number one means for getting a date and is completely based on what you look like.
Only 10 years ago people were asked out on dates by people coming up to the other and introducing themselves first. A personal connection would be made first before anything else.
Where are we going if we treat each other like a novelty item? Will marriages that actually end with 'death till we part' be a thing of the past in the future?
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