Marriage and Gender Attitudes
Paper Three: Marriage and Gender Attitudes
Section One: Introduction – The Issue at Hand
In America, our society seems to have a growing social problem when dealing with gender attitudes and marriage. The institution of marriage itself is at serious risk. The current divorce rate in America is estimated to be around 40-50%, meaning that almost half of all marriages end up as divorces. In a study done by Divorce Magazine, it was found that 10% of the US population is divorced. Ten percent may not seem to be a large number, but when one takes out children and all those who have not been marriage, that is a decent-sized figure. Another interesting statistic was discovered by Jennifer Baker from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield. She found that a first marriage has a 45% to 50% chance to end in divorce, while a third marriage has a 70% to 73% chance (“Divorce Statistics”). This may be due to the idea that if a person has already divorced previously in their life, they are more likely to call it quits when the next marriage(s) comes along. Over 40% of first marriages end within 13 years, and over 20% of first marriages end within 5 years. Interestingly enough, women are the first to file for divorce 65% of the time (“Divorce Rates”). Why is this? Also, the website Divorce.com found that since 1970, divorces have increased 40%. Since that same date, marriages have declined 30% (“Divorce Statistics”). With less people getting married and divorces still happening at a high level, it makes one wonder about the potential cause of this predicament. What could be the issue? If one takes a look at modern society, an interesting thought comes to mind. Is marriage less vital in society because men and women do not agree on gender roles anymore? Could this be the potential factor?
Section 2: Literature Review
Two experts who can shed light on the subject of marriage and gender issues are Lucy Hawke from the
Section One: Introduction – The Issue at Hand
In America, our society seems to have a growing social problem when dealing with gender attitudes and marriage. The institution of marriage itself is at serious risk. The current divorce rate in America is estimated to be around 40-50%, meaning that almost half of all marriages end up as divorces. In a study done by Divorce Magazine, it was found that 10% of the US population is divorced. Ten percent may not seem to be a large number, but when one takes out children and all those who have not been marriage, that is a decent-sized figure. Another interesting statistic was discovered by Jennifer Baker from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield. She found that a first marriage has a 45% to 50% chance to end in divorce, while a third marriage has a 70% to 73% chance (“Divorce Statistics”). This may be due to the idea that if a person has already divorced previously in their life, they are more likely to call it quits when the next marriage(s) comes along. Over 40% of first marriages end within 13 years, and over 20% of first marriages end within 5 years. Interestingly enough, women are the first to file for divorce 65% of the time (“Divorce Rates”). Why is this? Also, the website Divorce.com found that since 1970, divorces have increased 40%. Since that same date, marriages have declined 30% (“Divorce Statistics”). With less people getting married and divorces still happening at a high level, it makes one wonder about the potential cause of this predicament. What could be the issue? If one takes a look at modern society, an interesting thought comes to mind. Is marriage less vital in society because men and women do not agree on gender roles anymore? Could this be the potential factor?
Section 2: Literature Review
Two experts who can shed light on the subject of marriage and gender issues are Lucy Hawke from the