Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Marriage is the New Fad
I've often said today marriage is like being engaged back in the 1940's. And being engaged today is like going steady in the 1940's. And dating today is like being friends back in the 1940's. There is no severity or seriousness we apply to courting anymore and just like you could break off an engagement back in the 1940's without much hoopla, you can get a divorce today quite the same. Of course that means there is no modern day equivalent of a 1940's marriage because the seriousness and commitment that existed back then just doesn't exist today, but I digress.
You are a true man.
ReplyDeleteExpect your ultra-conservative readers to shit a brick when they see the geographical distribution of the percentages on that map. Really shows the importance of a strong religious influence, huh? :D
ReplyDeleteI KNOW that you would agree that marriage is overrated and a bad idea for a successful man. Funny how the religious/conservative states have the most folks who have 3+ marriages.
ReplyDeleteToday is my wedding anniversary.
ReplyDeleteThe picture is from Mark.
Oops. forgot the /sarcasm.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Most_common_ancestries_in_the_United_States.svg
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see similar data from the 1940's. I know at least one of my grandfather's sisters (is that your grand-aunt or your great-aunt?) was married 4 times.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the minister at the church my grandfather attended turned out to have two wives, although I don't know if the aftermath of that would have been considered divorce or not. And when did Elizabeth Taylor begin her career?
Also, it would be even more interesting to compare that figure to divorce laws, specifically if a state has no-fault divorces and/or if common property laws are in effect. Because, really, how else do you explain California?
Expect your ultra-conservative readers to shit a brick if they interpret data as poorly as Alex.
ReplyDeleteMultiple marriages and divorce rates aren't the same thing. There's a correlation to be sure, but equating the two is sloppy thinking.
There are southern states that have high divorce rates, like Arkansas and Alabama, as well as southern states that have low divorce rates like Georgia and South Carolina.
New York shows less than 4% have multiple marriages while Georgia has 6-7.9%, but the divorce rate in New York is 35% higher than in Georgia. Washington D.C. has a lower divorce rate than any state.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/lif_div_rat-lifestyle-divorce-rate#source
Some people remarry after the death of a spouse. Some people get married once, get divorced and never remarry. Ignore those factors and you risk looking like an idiot when you assume this chart is a map of divorce rates.
Muh mamma always said, stupid is as stupid does ....
ReplyDeleteNice try Ryan, but I wasn't operating off the idea that these are divorce rates. Work on your reading comprehension.
I'm satisfied with you backpedaling your first post into irrelevance.
ReplyDeleteSo tell me, if you're not talking about divorce rates, why would conservative readers shit a brick when they see the distribution of percentages on this map?
Most of the "ultra-conservative" people I know don't have any problems with people getting remarried. It's divorce rates that they care about.
You've either got a very peculiar understanding of conservative values, or you're bullshitting to cover your initial screw-up. I anticipate your next excuse with bated breath; this'll be good.
I think being engaged is a new fad especially amongst early 20s college kids. For a guy (like myself) proposing to your girlfriend is not only a good way to keep her happy and ensure you continue having constant sex, but it also keeps her from straying. Even though in the end you may have no intention of marrying this girl I think it is like 'dating' used to be. Everyone is engaged now. Add to that, I would never marry someone unless they were the right person, but I cannot speak for most of my fellow citizens. You see it all the time on facebook etc of couples with the nice picture of them together although deep down inside the relationship is in shambles cause you decided to marry someone less than a year of knowing this person and realize after living with them, that they are totally f ed up. Not all marriages end up like this though, but I would in no way feel obligated to marry a girl just because I don't want to be alone. That is called co-dependency and is very unhealthy. Just my .02
ReplyDelete