...Changing Views on Marriage: How Society Sees Marriage Now Marriage is the bonding of two people legally therefore it should be granted to all-including homosexual marriages. This paper will discuss various points that will conclude that gay marriage has no lasting negative effect on society. Although many will not want to grant such an opportunity, it is a decision that is already on its way to being widely approved of. There has been one argument that has incited interest worldwide: same sex marriage. Being homosexual has changed from being a shameful secret to a public relationship. Over the years, the debate on allowing the legalization of gay marriage has been going on back and forth. It has taken the United States years to publically approve of a homosexual relationship and now this group demands the right to marry legally just like opposite sex couples. Marriage should be a privilege granted to all regardless of sexual orientation because it is a human right as well as a personal decision. One afternoon at a bar in New York in the year 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the police (Andryszewski, 11). This bar was the home to many gay couples. In this time, being homosexual was not something to be public about. Those at the bar that afternoon became aggressive and did not allow them to shut the place down. For many nights there were riots that would be aggressive at first and would slowly calm down to become peaceful protest. This event became a critical turning...
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...life, we expect a marriage life to be happily ever after like the children’s stories, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, but it isn’t always the case. In reality, some marriage life does last forever but some doesn’t. As for mine, it only lasted for a couple years till I finally draw the line and said, “No more of this miserable life.” As time goes on, I have been living in a more stable and happy life compared to the married life I have before. How and why did I do it? Basically, I did it by re-socializing to adapt and cope to the married life I have now. What do I mean by re-socializing? It means that I must learn from my past experiences and make a dramatic change in the area concerning my behaviors, attitudes, expectations, and values to improve my new life. Before I get into my behavior change, I want to give a brief discussion on the topic why people get divorced. There are many reasons why people get divorced, but I will list a few of the important ones. First reason has to do with the break-down in communication and disclosure. This occurs with when both party starts to limit the communication between them. When one stopped talking to the other, it showed a lost of interest to be with the other one. If this goes on, both parties will eventually have negative thoughts such as, he or she is cheating, he or she don’t love me no more, or he or she is up to something no good. These kinds of negative thoughts aren’t good in a marriage life. Another reason...
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...Cause and Effects of Divorce Marriage symbolizes a unity between two people. Some marriages last and some result in divorce. For instance, a newlywed couple could start off exceedingly romantic. As the marriage progresses, more problems and issues arise that are left unsolved. Feelings could build up over time and every little action he or she does could increasingly annoy the other spouse. Conflicts are not resolved properly and as time passes, the couple may start to have more and more disagreements about unimportant subjects. There are three main causes of divorce: lack of communication, early marriages with unexpected pregnancies and drastic career changes, which are listed below. First of all, lack of communication is the main cause of divorce. Communication is the revealing of thoughts or ideas and is an important aspect of all relationships. If effective communication is not present in a marriage, then the relationship will suffer and slowly weaken. To have an effective communication with one's spouse, one should try to be as open as possible by revealing all emotions and feelings. A result of a failed marriage could be divorce. Divorce is common because there is a lack of effective communication. On the other hand, one might believe that a lack of communication is not the reason why divorce is common. The lack of communication in a relationship cannot be the single reason why marriages fail. All couples are not the same. It could be possible that they have good communication...
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...Marriage & Family Changes: American Society DeVry University April 11th, 2014 Spring 2014, Session II Changes to Marriage & Family: American Society The American society has had very dramatic changes in the ways that certain aspects of our modern culture are shifting the traditional American family. These changes bring a new different perspective to the rise in divorce rates. Cohabiting relationships rather than traditional marriages has brought a new way of viewing relationships. Blended families of both gay and heterosexual design surface new issues. And children being born out of wedlock and its normalcy in today’s society. High Rise in Divorces The American society has been demonstrating signs and symptoms of change with the rise of technology. Marriage has long been recognized as a fundamental social institution but with the rise of modern economies and the associated individualism, many functions once confined to marriage now take place outside of it (Musick & Bumpas, 2012). Divorces has several factors that contribute to the high incidence in our modern times. Many parents use the media as surrogate parents, allowing the internet and social media to be the child’s main support, instead of dedicating personal quality time to their children. In change, these children have grown up in the last decade young marriages tend to dedicate more time to their social platforms rather than spending one on one time with their spouses. Social media also affects...
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...Keenen Walker Price Sociology 1160 3 December 2013 Same Sex Marriage The term social problem is defined as something that is damaging to society. There is a process for something to become considered a social problem. The process is made up of multiple steps all starting with claims making. Claims making is the step that defines the problem as an actual issue that is harmful to society. In the issue of gay marriage rights, the claims makers are people such as political leaders and people who have authority in society. Gay marriage rights is a major controversial issue here in the United States. Even though, according to a poll taken by Gallup, the majority rule of fifty-two percent would be for gay marriage to be legalized by the American people, it is still a very big issue. There are still many people who are not accepting of the gay marriage rights, believing that marriage is tradition between a man and a woman. The issue has been a main topic in political campaigns, and even in the 2012 election between Obama and Romney. The issue was brought up in many of the debates because it such a current issue, with both sides having very different opinions. In the poll taken by Gallup, the demographic groups who are the most supportive of gay marriage rights were: liberals with seventy seven percent agreeing, those with no religious affiliation with seventy six percent, Democrats with seventy percent, young adults aged eighteen to thirty-four with sixty nine percent, those...
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...Examine the reasons for the changes in the patterns of marriage In the last 30 years, the British society has experienced many changes affecting the family. There have been changes in attitudes to and expectations of family life, as well as official changes such as government legislation. Society has been affected by feminism, which has led to increased awareness of women’s rights and freedoms, as well as postmodernism and secularisation. The changes resulting have affected marriage rates, which are decreasing, and more people are now marrying later in life and more than once. More people are choosing to cohabit, either before or instead of marrying, and this is becoming increasingly common in young couples. Divorce rates have also increased in the last 30 years, following changes in legislation and attitudes. As society’s view of a ‘conventional family’ has changed over the last 30 years, the acceptable norms have widened. In the past, an unmarried woman would be looked down on, as it was expected that women would marry and invest their time in raising a family. If they didn’t, it could be presumed that could they couldn’t find a willing partner, or that there was something wrong with them. Although 95.1% of British women still marry before they are 49, it has become more acceptable to choose not to get married, and rather than being looked down on, single women are more likely to be viewed as strong, focussed, and independent. This means there is less pressure on...
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...the 1960s Divorce refers a married couple ending their marriage contract between themselves. Official statistics show that the divorce rate has generally risen over the last 40 years; also there have been fluctuations during that time. Since the 1960s the numbers of divorces have increased greatly in the United Kingdom, the number of divorces doubled between 1961 and 1969, and had then doubled again by 1972. The upward trend continued, peaking in 1993 at 180,000. Since then, numbers have slightly decreased to 157,000 in 2001. This rate means that about 40% of marriages end in divorce. About 7 out of 10 applications for divorce come from women; this is in contrast to the situation in the past. For example, in 1946 only 37% of applications came from women – barely half todays figure. Sociologists have identified the following reasons for the increase in divorce: changes in the law, declining stigma and changing attitudes, secularisation, rising expectations of marriage and changes in the position of women. One explanation for the increase in the number of divorces since 1960 is the changes in law. Divorce was very difficult to do in the 19th century Britain, especially for women. Gradually, over time divorce has been made easier. There are three kinds of changes in the law; equalising the legal reasons for divorce been the sexes, widening the grounds for divorce and divorce being made cheaper. The most significant change in law was the introduction of the Divorce Reform Act in...
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...investigates how changes in policies, technology, and lifestyles affect individual's decisions about their health, well-being, and life choices. The dissertation primarily focuses on two questions within this topic: i) the effects of greater affordability of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on women's marriage and fertility timing decisions and ii) the effects of time spent working on individual's obesity and health status and the mechanisms contributing to these effects. In two chapters, I examine whether greater affordability of ART has impacted women's fertility and marriage choices. ART consists of medical technologies that help women and couples with fertility problems conceive a child using such methods as in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Since the percentage of women facing infertility increases greatly with age, by making it affordable for women to delay family formation and then use ART to start families later if they face infertility, greater affordability of ART could induce women to delay marriage and childbearing. To formally identify channels through which greater affordability of ART might impact women's decisions about timing of family, I develop theoretical models of greater affordability of ART and women's allocation of time on work and family investment over the life course. To test the implications of the models, I utilize empirical strategies exploiting variation in the mandated insurance coverage of ART across U.S. states and over time. In the first chapter...
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... Same-sex marriage in the USA In the summer of 2012, gay marriage was a steaming hot topic of discussion in the United States. The right of marriage between two men or two women is one of the most controversial debates in the history of America. On several locations around the world, gay marriage is a legal act. But should homosexuals have the same right as “normal” people when it comes to marriage? A lot of different reasons why homosexuals should not have the right to get married have occurred in this discussion. One of the reasons why homosexuals should not have the right to get married, according to American law and point of view is, that if its possible by society, a child has the right to be taken care of by the parents who gave them life. David Blankenhorn, a publisher in the magazine “The New York Times” and author of the book “The future of marriage”, took a stand in this debate in a Californian court where he referred to a piece of law by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, which guarantees children this exact right. He starts out saying that he once opposed gay marriage on simple principles such as lack of biological ability to create a child, and that the child has the right to be raised by those individuals that committed to each other. Once this is explained, Blankenhorn goes on to say that he is now a marriage advocate, and that it was time for him to change his view on gay marriage. Blankenhorn believes that marriage between same...
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...Most countries in the world have very different love and marriage laws. These laws are often adjusted over time to match change in social values. Transformative trend of the past one hundred years has led to large changes in attitudes to love and marriage between contemporary society and earlier times. Marriage can be defined as a vow between two people to remain together as a couple. It has a civil form and a religious form. There is a great diversity of types of love and marriage, and social attitudes to some of them have changed greatly. In particular, attitudes towards cohabitation, gay and lesbian marriage and sole parenting were more accepted in the world. A cohabitation relationship can be defined as living together of two people as partners but without a marriage certificate. Gay and lesbian refers to marriage between people of the same gender. Sole parenting concerns a parent who is raising their children without a spouse. One area of serious alteration is in attitudes towards cohabitation which has become more acceptable. In the past, cohabitation was considered to be shameful. However, today there are many people who live together as a couple without marriage. This is more popular in modern life than ever before. In Viet Nam for example, cohabitation is a new phenomenon in society over the last few years and has become a widely spreading trend. Viet Nam society used to base on Confucian values. Most children in the family were expected to live formally. Losing...
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...The Social Changes in Marriage Western Governors University Social Changes in the Module of Marriage Bob Dylan said it the best, “The times they are a changing”. The purpose of marriage in today’s society is no longer what it was over a century ago. Families in the early 1900s were depicted in movies such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” where arranged marriages were the social norm. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet or Leave It to Beaver were the “families” of the mid-1960s.They were comprised of two parents, two children and a happy stable environment. The Husband’s role was that of the provider, with the Wife’s role being that of a homemaker and nurturing mother. The children were a reflection of their parent’s social reverence to society norms. In the late 1960s – 1970s cultural norms regarding marriage, pre-marital sex/cohabitation and childrearing changed significantly. The family was replaced by divorced parents or blended families, reflected in shows such as “Different Strokes,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Parent Trap” reflected such. Currently, non-traditional families are accompanied by same sex marriage and depicted in sitcoms such as Modern Family, which combines multiple variations of family models in one show. These various family modules are becoming widely accepted in society, along with changes in the social module of marriage, as “traditional family values are being swept away by a wave of tolerance toward lone mothers, gay couples and unmarried...
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...Gay Marriage Gay marriage, moral, immoral, equal rights, unconstitutional just some of the words that are spoken when this topic is brought about. This topic is a touchy one to say the least. When talking about same sex marriage or union it can be argued in many different lights. Some argue the morality, some argue about equality, some argue just about using the term “marriage” to refer to it. My point of view on this topic is solely on how I feel about it as an individual not to be considered right or wrong but just to get an understanding of how I feel about the subject. Two individuals committing to one another for life to me shouldn’t matter on gender. I look at us all as human beings and truly believe the meaning of life is the pursuit of happiness and love. So to deny two individuals that, weather they are same sex or different races, religions, whatever to me seems wrong. My first opinion of this subject will be referring to the equal rights as Americans. I feel that same sex marriages should be allowed and they should be given all the rights as traditional marriages. Why should we discriminated against who someone chooses to be with? We as a country grow and progress, we’ve changed over time to give women rights, African Americans same rights because they are just people like everyone else. They are part of this country what makes this country what it is, so I believe everyone should be given the same rights. No matter how people feel about it. If we went by how everyone...
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...Diminishing Morals Over the course of a decade, America has been overcome with changes. Changes that have impacted American society, economy, and culture.Traditional values are currently being replaced by modern day modifications revolving around the changing outlooks in American households. Values dating back to times of segregation have begun to change for the better, while values regarding marriage and family relationships have taken a turn for the worse. Respecting authority, having faith in God, and maintaining one marriage for life are no longer an importance to American citizens. This change in ethics across the nation cannot be summed up to one cause, rather as an effect of multiple causes that have caused society to transform. However, several causes stand out above all others as the most probable. Changing social behaviors, divorce rates, and technology have altered the average American’s values and outlook on the world. In the late 1950’s, CBS aired a sitcom called “Leave it to Beaver”. The show portrayed a typical American family: a married couple and their two biological children. This portrayal was pegged as the “nuclear family” (Stanley 2012). During the times of both world wars up until the 1980’s, blended families were not common. Once a couple married, they typically maintained their marriage for better or for worse. A couple’s family tree continued only after they had said their vows, when it was socially acceptable to reproduce. Most women in 1950 were...
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...some major changes and among these changes needs to be the end of the institution of marriage. In this day and age divorce rates are reaching 40-50% , 90% of couples describe that they have lost the passion and, in 80% of marriages there has been an affair. Conservationists are arguing that same sex couples are ruining the sanctity of marriage but have we not already done that ourselves? It is time to accept it. It’s just not in our nature to be with someone "forever" and social science is proving this now more than ever. This is not just a recent problem, though; Plato refers to marriage as a "natural enemy" for the "commonwealth". It is time to stop being conditioned by society and ask our self why law is needed to keep people together if it’s such a natural act. What is the proof to this inhumanity you might ask? Well in America there is a divorce every 13 seconds, which is 6,646 divorces per day with divorce rates reaching as early stated 40-50% with those who do remain married describing themselves as unhappy. Those who disagree with this put forth that this is because of young people getting married who do not know what they are doing, but, the average age of couples going through divorce is 30 years old. There is then the fact that first time marriages have a 41% chance of permanent separation and it only gets worse from there with 60% chances for second time and, a 73% chance for third time. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting...
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..."This type of legal marriage must be forbidden simply because natural instinct revolts at it as wrong." Rep. Sen. WI -- c.1934. This quote can be interpreted in many different ways. When we first heard it in class everyone thought it was about gay marriage, we soon learned what this quote was truly about. Senator Wisconsin said this in 1934 about interracial marriage. There are many similarities in the arguments between the ban on interracial marriage and same sex marriage as well as differences. When we first heard the quote we all jumped to conclusions and thought it was about gay marriage because that is a problem we are facing today. There are laws against people who are gay and want to get married. Just like there were laws against interracial marriage in the 1930’s when the quote was said. In the 1930’s most people did not like when Blacks and Whites got married. They did not think it was normal because they thought everyone should marry within there own race, particularly with whites and black. Both interracial marriage and gay marriage are against social norms at one point or another. “The Norm” changes constantly and it is different everywhere you go. For a long time, gay people would not “come out” to their friend’s or families because it was not socially acceptable to be gay. It was the same for interracial couples back in the 1930’s. In New York they finally passed the law and gays can get married legally, where as in Arizona you cannot be gay and get married...
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