The truth about marriage in the west

[RCBH928]

I am not from the west, the west to me is Europe and North America.

I am asking for information.
I always had the idea that in the "west" people tend to get married at an older age, like at least 29. Now this is not my fault, this is the media's fault!

That is what I see on tv and news. People are always afraid of commitment and responsibility, and that at a younger age they just want to enjoy life no worries. I also get this idea due to hearing about a lot of older people getting married for the first time when they are 46 or 55, sometimes 65!
I also see on tv that a lot of celebrities and others that have a bf or a gf, and they are living together for like years, and they even raise children(their own) , but they are not married(I think I heard Halle Berry say that on tv)...they say no reason to get married, weird thing is this is practically a marriage just not on paper. weird.

Though recently as I look into the web (even here) I was surprised that more and more "westerners" are at a young age(20's) are married with children.

Could please some one clear up the idea for me, how is the marriage situation over there, just curious. I am not being judgmental , I just want to get the right idea. The only thing I will judge is , if you are living with someone for years and got children together, I think you rather be married.

[the7k]

Basically, people get married on a whip here (there are even drive-thru chapels in Vegas for speed marriages), then as soon as times get tough they get a divorce and half your stuff is gone.

Sweet deal.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Yup that abou sums it up,

Don't forget about Rev. Elvis though.

[Mozgus]

Just found out yesterday that one of my sisters got married last week, and she's 18. I refuse to believe these two idiots care for each other in any way.

I say marriage is pointless. It puts stress in the situation, it raises expectations to unreasonable levels, it makes you feel trapped, fear your own mortality, question your life. I don't understand how that one form of paperwork union can serve all kinds of couples in this country. Just enjoy life. Do things together that you enjoy, and do things separately when it will avoid problems.

Of course I don't know shit about marriage or women. I just know when I'm at the store, I always see miserable pairs of fucking sorry people, bickering over what kind of peanut butter to buy, and I suddenly doubt that I'm missing anything special.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Open mouth, insert shotgun marriage.

[the7k]

I just know when I'm at the store, I always see miserable pairs of fucking sorry people, bickering over what kind of peanut butter to buy, and I suddenly doubt that I'm missing anything special.

Yeah, that's even worse than an immediate divorce; being stuck with someone you hate for a large segment of your life. It's how my parents were; I remember when I heard they were finally split up, the only word I could reply with was: "Good."

18? Jesus. Is that the reason; Jesus? Cuz Jesus is the only reason I can see someone that young getting married. They wanna hop on the good foot and do the bad thing, but they don't want the giant invisible sky fairy to fucking spank them.

[Erik_Twice]

Marriage makes no sense. It is only useful nowadays to get some cash from the goverment when you have kids. Marrying for any other reason is stupid. Specially if you do it for "Love's sake". If you need to show off how much you love someone you are on a bad path.

[Harvey]

To answer kingmohd, people in the States get married at a range of ages. I think in general people have gotten away from feeling pressure to be married by a certain age. I got married when I was 23, but I have a brother who is still happily unmarried at 38.

Here is a list of ages at first marriage in many countries of the world. As you can see the average age for marriage is in the US is about 28 for men and 26 for women. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_at_first_marriage At a glance, it appears that the US's average age is somewhere in the middle of the list.

To the marriage haters on here, I can personally attest to the fact that marriage is a good thing if two people are committed to it fully. It is hard sometimes, but it is certainly not pointless or senseless. :2 cents:

[Curlypaul]

To the marriage haters on here, I can personally attest to the fact that marriage is a good thing if two people are committed to it fully. It is hard sometimes, but it is certainly not pointless or senseless. :2 cents:

I second that.

Marraige isnt about showing off how much you love someone, its a mark of commitment to one that person to show that person that you are indeed commited. Now lots of people dont take that commitment too seriously but thats their problem and their mess.

[Daniel Primed]

I agree with Mozgus that marriage seems like such a hassle, such a pressure. I'm rather young (old enough to get married though!) but I really don't see the need to get married at least not for another 8 years.

I consider 28yrs old to be a happy median for most people, which is why I'm not fond of teenage marriages like the other users here. Even if my gf asked me tommorow to marry her, I would say no. I don't understand why people are so keen to grow up and lose their life to the man. Be young why you still can people!

On the flipside, my Chinese friends from the "east", think that 25-30yo is about right. I mean, it's the "socially acceptable" age of marriage, and that's more than reasonable. Once you turn 30 though, the pressure's on. I have a 27 year old female friend who is going to be feeling that quite soon, should prove interesting.