Marriage Versus Living Together

2 Pages 623 Words

Marriage versus Living Together

I chose the article Marriage versus Living Together published by Jo McGowan because it displays a difficult decision that many of us make in today’s world. We either choose to marry, then live together, but more commonly among young people today, we choose to live together, then marry (maybe). In this article McGowan explains the pros and cons of this question. The author also shows that different cultures see these choices in a different perspective.
Marriage in the United States is not permanent, unlike other cultures. In India for example, “divorce is practically unheard of” (Scott and Warren 84). Once an Indian person chooses a significant other, they stay with them, even if they never marry, they choose to marry to become accepted; the social norm. Therefore in India, people have more of a permanent thought on commitment, and even a commitment to live with each other. In America, we have seen divorce from our parents, friends, parents’ friends, and even pastors. We do not believe in the permanence of anything, let alone just living with each other. Americans do not fully understand the concept of marriage. We believe that living together is marriage without the ceremony, and if there are problems in the relationship we are able to call it quits many without complications. I believe that marriage and living together are quite different, both in communication and in commitment.
Americans believe that living together and marriage are the same thing. Americans believe that living together will allow them to try one another out, to see if they are compatible. While this makes sense, it allows us to call it quits when things become a rough, not seeing that there will always be rough times which make a relationship stronger. While in a marriage we are committed to the other person and are more apt to try to work out a minor disagreement, and the marriage becomes more secure. W...