Definitions

Exact definitions diverge historically & between & around cultures: modern understanding emphasizes a legitimacy of carnal knowledge in marriage, however a universal & unique attribute of marriage is the creation of affine ties (within-relative-in-law). Traditionally, societies encourage a single to marry "out" far sufficiency to strengthen a ties, however "close" plenty and then that a inside-relative-in-law come "one of us" or even "our kind". 1 exception to this rule is noticed in the marriage of royalty, world health organization strengthen their help across concentration of wealth like than across affine ties. Possibly in that instance, a human was typically encouraged to marry "within" close personal restricts. (Farther discussion & information: Marvin Harris, late, Prof of Anthropology, Columbia University)

Marriage remains significant when the socially sanctioned attach around a sexual relationship. Marriage is unremarkably conceived as a male-female relationship designed to develop youngsters & with success socialize the babies. Historically, virtually all societies develop sanctioned polygamy. A West occurs as major exception. Europe & a United States were monogamous cultures. This was within section the Germanic ethnical tradition, the requirement of Christianity, & the mandate of Roman Law. Still, Roman Law supported whoredom, well-turned, sex outside of marriage, homointimate sex, & sexual access to slaves. A Christian West formally banned these practices. Globally, virtually all existent societies don't sanction polygamy as a form of marriage. For instance, China shifted from either permitting polygamy to supporting just monogamy in a 1953 Marriage act when the Communistic revolution. Virtually all African & Islamic societies prove my point to allow polygamy (in Two.0 billion humans). This includes India in which polygamy is permitted for Muslim citizens. Probably, to a lesser degree 3% of completely Muslim marriages come polyoicous. These come further and more expensive inside an Urban setting, however more utile inside rural areas in which kids are the first source of agrarian labor. Virtually all of the globe's people sleep in societies in which polygamy is less most common & it is irresistibly monogamous. Since a latter decades of the 20th century many of society's assumptions about a nature & purpose of marriage and personal use been challenged, particularly by gay rights advocacy groups, who disagree sustaining a notion that marriage should become solely heterosexual. Occasionally population likewise argue that marriage can be an unneeded legal fiction. This is a share of the general disruption of traditional families in the West. Since WWII the West has seen the spectacular increase around divorcement (6% to above 40% of number one marriages), cohabitation forgoing marriage, a growing single people, & toddlers born outside of marriage (5% to above 33% of births), likewise as an increase inside fornication (8% to above 40%). The models of somewhat serial monogamy has de facto emerged. However, legally sanctioned non-monogamous marriage arrangements come highly uncommon.

Around modern days, a term marriage is usually reserved for the state sanctioned union (although occasionally humans disagree). A sentence legally married may be wont to emphasize this point. In the United States there are ii methods of getting state sanction of the marriage: common law marriage and obtaining a marriage license. A huge majority of U.s.a. states run recognize most common law marriage. Several neck of the woods run trend lines various types of farm partnerships.

Since the 12th century, marriage or even holy matrimony has been a sacrament in the Catholic Church, when well as more Orthodoxies, in which these are defined as the relationship between the human & a woman. A Protestant Reformation reformulated marriage as a life-womb-to-tomb covenant. Marriage of the few variety is witnessed around virtually all societies, & usually married population form a nuclear household, which is often afterwards extended biologically, across children. In a West the nuclear personal emerged fallowing 1100. Virtually all non-American societies have a wide definition of personal that includes a long personal network. As an alternative, humans might take to exist as "childfree". Eventually, it can be childless due to infertility, and even search coarse of action or even assume adoption. A term matrimony occurs as equivalent word for marriage, & is principally utilized in the sentence "out of wedlock" to describe a baby born of parents world health organization were non married (understand illegitimacy).

In the West marriage has evolved from either the life-lifespan covenant that may sole exist as broken by fault or even demise to the contract that become broken by either person at may. More shifts within American marriage since WWI include: (a) Unlike the 19th century women non men become toddler custody all over 80% of a instance, (b) each marriefive hundred person st& a formal duty of spousal trend lines (there is there are no protracted just the hubby), (hundred) Out-of-Wedlock youngsters have the equivalent rights of trend lines when legitimate toddlers, (d) inside virtually all states rape potty legally occur witharound marriage & exist as punished, (e) married man could no elongated physically discipline or even abuse their married woman, and (f) in a select few jurisdictions, property acquired since marriage is not owned per title-champion. This property is considered married & to become divided among a better half by community property law or even just distribution via a courts. There is a growing debate just about a form(s) that marriage should choose. Both of the virtually all hotly-debated variants come discussed in the image below: same-sex marriage - legal in a select few countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada (and a United states of america state of Massachusetts) by 2005 - and, polygamy.

Types of marriages

A nature & severity and functions of marriage alter from either culture to culture.

Western world

In the United States and Europe, in the 21st century, legally sanctioned marriages are monogamous (although some pockets of society however sanction polygamy socially, if does'nt legally) & divorce is relatively elementary & socially sanctioned. In the West, a prevailing learn from toward marriage now is that these are according to emotional attachment between the partners & entered into voluntarily.

Eastern world

Occasionally societies permit polygamy, around which the human stand multiple married woman; potentially in such societies nonetheless, virtually all men use merely a single. Around such societies, getting multiple married woman is typically considered the sign of wealth & power. A status of multiple married woman has varied from either a single society to a second. In the Muslim world, marriage is sanctioned between the human & a woman, however there are verses around chapter Little joe of the Qur'an which state that inside certain conditions the human is allowed as much as quartet married woman. Around Muslim societies, the different married woman come considered compeer & must become treated intrinsically. Inside Indonesia, the big Muslim majority state, marriage is allowed between a human & a woman world health organization profess the equivalent faith, when atheists are non allowed to marry.

Inside Imperial China, formal marriage was sanctioned only between a human & a woman, although among the upper classes, the primary married woman was an ordered marriage by owning an elaborate formal ceremony when concubines could be taken in down the road using minimum ceremony. Lone them from either a official union were considered legitimate. To better control people incubation when a rise of Communism, exclusively strictly monogamous marital bed come permitted, although divorcement occurs as comparatively elementary run.

Polygamy, monogamy, and polyandry

Polyandry (a woman by using multiple hubby) occurs super seldom within two or three isolated tribal societies with limited resources. These societies include occasionally elastic of a American Inuit, although the practice has declined sharply in the 20th century due to the vary from either tribal religion to the Moravian religion.

Societies which permit group marriage are extremely uncommon, however stand existed within utopian societies such as a Oneida Community. But, around 21st century Western civilization, when bigamy is illegal & coitus out of wedlock come typically frowned-upon, divorce and remarriage have officially been comparatively convenient to undertake. This has led to the practice known as serial monogamy. "Serial monogamy" normally refers to what occurs whenever the married man, unremarkably of norm to high socioeconomic status, divorces an older married woman & will require in the immature married woman. A immature married woman is popularly known as a "trophy wife" by many world health organization frown upon a practice. A modern practice of serial monogamousness is strikingly similar to the matrimonial practices found around heteroicous societies. Serial monogamousness in a LGBT community refers to the practice of having meaningful long-long-run relationships and so moving in to an additional, whilst appropriate. This practice is one of two or three alternatives for bisexual person, & is expert by numbers of homosexual & lesbians too. (It should become noted that these LGBT souls come refused their civil correct to marry. It may be argued that this is park using straight world health organization aren't wanting or even ready to "settle down" or even world health organization wonder a tradition heterosexual ethnic norms of marriage. Virtually a lot all one souls would become offended at a see that these relationships weren't meaningful & buy greater possibliity for private incubation than traditional hetero relationships offer; their partners would never exist as known as "trophy wives" because a growth,learning, love & respect is reciprocal.

Traditional cultures

A few traditional cultures however practice marriage by abduction, a form of forced marriage in which the wohuman world health organization is kidnapped & raped by a man is repute his married woman. This practice is limited to two or three traditional cultures inside the little total of countries, & is usually look upon detestable by more cultures.

Same-sex marriage

Although equivalent-sex unions keep around been recorded inside the history of the total of cultures, marriages between equivalent-sex partners were uncommon or even wanting in more cultures. Equivalent-sex marriage remains infrequent worldwide, especially when it remains illegal around virtually all countries. Still, a bit of countries recognize same-sex marriage, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and Spain; in the United States same-sex marriage is legal in the state of Massachusetts. "Civil unions" come recognized inside Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Germany, France, Portugal, New Zealand and the U.S. states of Vermont and Connecticut, and is recognized in the United Kingdom from December 2005; a growing total of U.s. states & various neighbourhood, like Maine, recognize domestic partnerships, which offer parity of spousal rights, to different degrees, with marriage.

Understand Historical pederastic couples, Pederasty, Two-Spirit

Rare phenomena

Occasionally area of India follow a custom where a groom is required to marry using an auspicious plant called Tulsi before a second marriage to overcome unfortunate predictions all about a health of the husband. Even so, a relationship is non consummated and doesn't affect their ability to remarry late. Of these should note that this is non a norm observed through the entire Indian sub-continent.

In the state of Kerala, India, the Nambudiri Brahmin caste traditionally practices henogamy, around which sole a firstborn boy in every personal is permitted to marry.

Inside Mormonism, a couple might seal their marriage "for time and for all eternity" across the "sealing" ceremony conducted inside a LDS temple. A few is so believed to become attached to every more around marriage throughout eternity whenever it survive based on data from their covenants made in the ceremony. Mormonism besides allows residing souls to work when proxies in the sealing ceremony to "seal" a marriage between ascendent world health organization own been dead for at least of these season & world health organization were married in the period of their life. Based on data from LDS theology, these are so as much as a gone people to assume or even reject this waterproofing in the spirit world before their eventual resurrection. The residing human can as well exist as sealed to his or even her asleep spouse, with an additional person of a equivalent sex when the dead soul acting when proxy for that at rest individual.

More unusual variations include marriage between the residing human and a ghost (Taiwan), a dwelling human and a recently-deceased human being by having whom it were emotionally required (France), & between the human and God (Catholic and Orthodox monasticism). Over again, these lack a social meaning of ordinary marriage & belong like to the realm of religion or (in the case of weddings of dogs to more dogs, Kermit the Frog to Miss Piggy, and a rather) pure spectacle.

Recognition
Couples ordinarily search social sanction for even their marriages, & several societies need official approval of the religious or civil person. Sociologists so distinguish between the marriage conducted under the auspices of a religion and a state-sanctioned civil marriage.

Around numerous jurisdictions a civil wedding can require place in a period of the religious marriage ceremony, although it is deuce distinct breathe. Inside virtually all Our contries states the marriage can be officiated by a priest, minister, or religious authority, & around such a experience the religious authority acts at the same time as a religious authority & an professional of the state. Within a bit of countries like France, Germany and Russia, it is necessary to exist as married per state prior to getting the religious ceremony. A select few states allow civil marriages which are then non allowed by numerous religions, like same-sex marriages or civil unions, and marriage might when well exist as created per operation of the law alone as within common-law marriage, which is a judicial recognition that 2 humans dwelling when domestic partners are entitled to the effects of marriage. On the other hand, there are examples of population world health organization have a religious ceremony which is non recognized civilly. Examples include widows who could have to lose the pension in case it remarry and then undergo the marriage in the eyes of God, homosexual couples, a select few sects of Mormonism which recognize polygamy, retired couples that would lose pension rewards whenever legally married, Muslim men world health organization wish to locate withwithin polygamy that is condoned in a bit of situations under Islam and immigrants who din't wish to alert to the immigration authorities that it is married either to the partner it is allowing behind or even because the complexness of immigration laws might produce it hard for partner to visit on a holidaymaker visa.

Inside Europe it has traditionally been the churches' professional to produce marriages official by registering the babies. Hence, it was the important step towards the clear separation of church and state & also an intended and efficacious weakening of the Christian churches' role inside Germany, when Chancellor Otto von Bismarck introduced the Zivilehe (civil marriage) in 1875. This law processed the declaration of a marriage prior to an official clerk of the civil administration (each partner affirming their might to marry) the procedure to produce a marriage legally valid & efficacious, & reduced the clerical marriage to a mere personal ceremony.

Rights and obligations
Generally, marriage is the institution across which humans joinside together their lasts in emotional and economic ways through forming the family. It typically confers rights & obligations by owning respect to raising tykes, holding property, sexual behavior, kinship ties, tribal membership, relationship to society, inheritance, emotional intimacy, and love.

Marriage periodically: establishes the legal father of a woman's toddler; establishes the legal mother of a human's baby; gives a married man or even his personal control all over a married woman's intimate services, labor even, and/or property; gives a married woman or her personal control above a married man's intimate services, labor, &/or property; establishes a joint fund of property for the gain of tikes; establishes the relationship between the families of the hubby and married woman. There are there are no society does a lot one; no one of these is universal (watch Edmund Leach's article inside "Marriage, Family, and Residence," edited by Paul Bohannan & John Middleton).

Marriage hwhen traditionally been the requirement for starting the personal, which ordinarily serves as the building prevent of a community & society. So, marriage non exclusively serves the interests of a deuce souls, however as well a interests of their toddlers & the society of which it is a a share.

In the Jewish, Muslim or Christian world, marriage is traditionally a requirement for sexual intercourse: unmarried humans are non supposed to eff, which is so known as fornication and is socially discouraged or even criminalized. Around practice, virtually all one societies keep close at hand tacitly accepted sex between single population whenever it marry when soon when pregnancy occurs (see shotgun wedding). Sex using the married individual differently a single's partner, known as adultery, is even less acceptable & has besides typically been criminalized, especially in the out break of the individual world health organization occurs as representative of the government (e.g. president, prime minister, political representative, public-school teacher, officer).

Marriage restrictions
Societies keep around universally set restrictions in marriage camping, though a degree of prohibited relationship varies widely. Around everthing but all societies marriage between brothers & sisters is forbidden, using Ancient Egyptian, Hawaiian, & Inca royalty existence a uncommon exception. Inside numerous societies marriage between a few 1st cousins is favorite, when at a more extreme, a medieval Catholic church prohibited marriage between distant cousins. the present day Catholic Church however maintains a standard of involved few feet away (inside each blood kinship & affinity) for marriage.

Around Indian Hindu community, especially in the Brahmin caste, marrying human of the equivalent Gothra is prohibited, since persons belonging to the equivalent Gothra come said to develop monovular patrilinear descension. Within ancient India whilst Gurukul was in being, a shishyas (a pupils) were advised against marrying any of Guru's children when shishyas were considered Guru's toddlers & it would become considered marriage among sib (though there were exceptions rather Arjuna's son Abhimanyu marrying Uttra, the dance student of Arjuna around Mahabharatha).

Numerous societies stand besides adopted more restrictions in whom 1 may marry, like prohibitions in marrying souls by owning a equivalent last name, or even souls using a equivalent sacred fauna.

Anthropologists refer to these sort of restrictions when exogamy. 1 exception to this pattern is inside ancient Egypt, where marriage between brothers & sisters was permitted around the royal line; this privilege was denied common person & can use at times served to concentrate wealth & power in a single personal (Understand as well incest). A symptom of the incest-taboo is exogamy, the requirement to marry somebody from either an additional class action. Anthropologists use so pointed out that a claw taboo will help to promote social solidarity.

A "one man one woman" model for the Christian marriage was advocated by Saint Augustine (354-439 AD) with his promulgated letter A Dependable of Marriage. To discourage polygamy, he wrote it "was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce. For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful." (chapter Xv, paragraph Xvii) Sermons from either St. Augustine's letters were popular & influential. Within 534 AD Roman Emperor Justinian criminalized all but monogamous man/woman sex inside a confines of marriage. A Justinian Code was a basis of European law for 1,000 years.

Societies own besides at days involved marriage from either inside the certain class action. Anthropologists refer to these restrictions when endogamy. An lesson of such restrictions would become a requirement to marry somebody from either the equivalent tribe. Racist laws adopted by some societies it used to be that, like Nazi-era Germany, apartheid-era South Africa and most of the southern United States and Utah prior to 1967, which prohibited marriage between persons of different races (miscegenation) could likewise exist as considered examples of intermarriage.

When tolerance of homosexuality has become other far flung within Western civilization, the few governments stand recognized a correct to marriage by humans of the equivalent sex. This has inside turn created the general backlash, virtually all notably around Great Britain, where a Church of England has officially banned gay marriage, and in the United States, where many states stand specifically outlawed gay marriage, often by popular referenda. At a United States federal level, a Defense of Marriage Act hwhen created the federal definition of marriage when between the human & the woman too as permitting of these state does'nt to recognize a equivalent sex marriage recognized by an additional state. Arguments develop been processed that a DOMA conflicts by owning a United States Constitution, and can conceivably exist as overturned on this basis. To assure this doesn't happen, occasionally, including President George W. Bush, support amending the Federal Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages. Occasionally countries & 1 U.S. state presently recognize equivalent-sex marriage, & legal challenges to marriage restrictions can shortly exp& a recognition of equivalent-sex marriages to Wash., Future York, and more states. Notwithstanding, piece [http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm opinion polls] show trend lines per general majority of Europe & Northward United states for legal recognition of homosexual partnerships for the purpose of granting rights & immunities same to victims of heterosexual marriages, [http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm the same polls] show wide majorities, up to both-thirds, disapproving of the vary to the legal definition of marriage to include homosexual unions.

Termination
Numerous societies provide for the termination of marriage across divorce. Marriages can as well exist as annulled or cancelled, which is the legal proceeding that establishes that a marriage was shut-in from either its beginning.

Weddings
the ceremony where the marriage is enacted & announced to the community is known as a wedding. The wedding where two or three marry in the "eyes of the law" is known as the civil marriage. Religions likewise help weddings, in the "eyes of God." In numbers of European & a few Latin U.s. countries, in which somebody chooses a religious ceremony, it must too hang on to that ceremony separate from either the civil ceremony. Certain countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands even legally demand that a civil marriage has to require place prior to any religious marriage. Within a few countries, notably a United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Spain both ceremonies can be held together; a officiant at a religious & community ceremony besides serves as an professional of a state to enact the civil marriage. That doesn't mean that a state is "recognizing" religious marriages; a "civil" ceremony upright requires place at a equivalent instance when a religious ceremony. Typically this involves only signing a register in the period of the religious ceremony. Whenever that civil element of the fully ceremony is left retired for any cause, in the eyes of the law there is no marriage took place, regardless of the holding of the religious ceremony.

When a bit of countries, like Australia, permit marriages to be held in camera & at any location, others, including England, require that the civil ceremony become conducted around a place specially sanctioned by law (explorer. the church or even register professional), & exist as open to the public. An exception may be processed in a pack of marriage by favorite emergency licence, which is ordinarily granted only if one of the parties is terminally sick.System all about in which & whenever souls may marry deviate from either place to place.A few regulations necessitate that one of a parties reside in the vicinity of the register professional. Because of Australia's super lax system in marriage, numbers of famed population, including Michael Jackson and Elton John), have opted to marry around Australia, then when to have a personal ceremony.

a way where a marriage is enacted hwhen changed across instance, as has the institution of marriage itself. Within Europe during the Middle Ages, marriage was enacted by the few promising verbally to both more that it would become married to both more; the presence of a priest or even more witnesses was non needed whenever circumstances prevented it. This promise was referred to as a "verbum". When a share of the Reformation, a role of recording marriages & setting the system for marriage passed to the state. Per 1600s many of the Protestant European countries had heavily state involvement within marriage.

Marriage and religion
Numbers of religions keep around extensive teachings on marriage. Virtually all Christian churches give some form of blessing to a marriage; the wedding ceremony typically includes occasionally rather pledge per community to trend lines a few's relationship. In the Roman Catholic Church "Holy Matrimony" is considered to become 1 of the vii sacraments, therein out break one that the better half bestow upon every more before of a priest & members of the community when witnesses in the period of a "Nuptial Mass". In the Eastern Orthodox church, these are one of the Mysteries, & is seen as an ordination & a martyrdom. Inside marriage, Christians look at the picture of the relationship between Jesus and the Church. Within Judaism, marriage is viewed as a coming together of deuce families, so prolonging a religion & ethnic heritage of the Jewish population. Islam also recommends marriage highly; among more items, it assists in the pursuit of spiritual perfection. Hinduism sees marriage as a sacred duty that entails both religious & social obligations. By direct contrast, Buddhism does not encourage or even discourage marriage, although it does teach how else 1 may survive the pleasantly married life.

It's too worth noting that different religions own different beliefs when regards a breakup of marriage. E.g., the Roman Catholic Church does not permit divorcement, because within its eyes, the marriage is forged by God. A Church states that what God joins together, human being can't sunder. Following, population world health organization develop the civil divorcement come however considered married in the eyes of the Catholic Church, which doesn't allow the babies to remarry, possibly in case it is allowed the civil marriage. Around a select few favorite lawsuits, but, Catholics may be permitted an annulment. Sustaining the nullity, religions & a state typically use different system, meaning that two or three, for instance, can receive a divorcement from either a state & non use at times their marriage annulled per Catholic Church because the state disagrees by having the church all over whether an annulment can be granted around a particular example. This produces a phenomenon of Catholics contracting Church annulments at a same time using state divorcement, permitting a ex-partners to marry more population in a eyes of each the Church & the State.

Islam does allow divorcement; still, there is a verse declared in the Qur'an describing divorce as the least desirable act allowed between people. a general rule is for even a human to allow his married woman to stay until a prevent of her catamenial time or for Trine months whenever she therefore wishes when the divorcement. When you took this cycle it would exist when divorced therein it would just become dwelling under a equivalent roof but not functioning as human & wife. A Qur'an scholars indicate that a independent point is to cease any decisions per woman from either existence affected by hormonal fluctuations also when to allow any heated arguments or even differences to exist as resolved inside a civil manner prior to the marriage is wholly terminated. Nonetheless, no obligation on the woman to stay, in case she and so wishes she can leave. the human is besides obligated to give his married woman a gift or even pecuniary total same to at least half her mahr (gift or even pecuniary total which is given to a married woman at the commencement of the marriage). Specific conditions when to how else a divorcement is conducted besides use whenever the woman is pregnant, or even has given birth good before the divorcement.

refer Qur'an 2:228-232, 236, 237, 241 & 65:1-7. View likewise 4:35.

Marriage and economics
A economic science of marriage develop changed across instance. Historically, around numbers of cultures the personal of the bride experienced to provide a dowry to pay a human for marrying their girl. Around more cultures, the personal of the groom experienced to pay a bride price to the bride's family for a correct to marry the girl. Inside a bit of cultures, dower & bride cost come however demanded now. Around two instances, a fiscal dealing requires place between a groom (or even his personal) & a bride's personal; a bride has there are there is no partly inside the dealings & typically no selection in whether or even does'nt to participate in the marriage.

Within numerous modern legal systems, ii humans world health organization marry stand a selection between keeping their property separate or even combining their property. In the latter example, known as community property, when a marriage ceases by divorce each owns half; if 1 partner dies a living partner owns half & for the more half inheritance rules apply.

Inside the few legal systems, a partners inside a marriage come "jointly liable" for the debts of the marriage. This has a basis within the traditional legal notion known as the "Doctrine of Necessaties" whereby the hubby was responsible to provide necessary items for his married woman. In which this is the out break, of these partner can be sued to collect the debt for which it did non expressly contract. Critics of this practice note that debt collection agents could abuse this claiming an unreasonably wide range of debts to become expenses of the marriage. the numbers of defense & a effect of proof is so situated on a non-getting person to prove that the expense is non a debt of the personal.

the various maintenance obligations, when you took & within time when a marriage, come regulated in virtually all jurisdictions; see alimony.

These are conceivable to analyze a institution of marriage utilizing economic theory; watch [http://www.best.com/~ddfr/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_Chapter_21/PThy_Chap_21.html David Friedman, Price Theory: Chapter 21: The Economics of Love and Marriage].

Criticisms of marriage

Under a principle of church-state separation, libertarians criticize a government regulation of & the state's involvement inside marriage, because several nowadays assume marriage the religious institution. A libertarian review is that in case government must recognize marriage the least bit, it should become treated as a contract like any other between deuce freely consenting parties, which would au fond reduce family law to a subset of contract law. A religious aspects should remain a province of a single's church & that church's ecclesiastic courts (in case it has the two). Comparatively fresh legal developments such as palimony have already tilted certain governments slightly in this counsel.

More commentators keep close at h& argued that marriage has a important dark side, periodically condemning single local practices and every now and again possibly the entire institution of marriage. A good several one come feminist critiques, which claim that in several cultures marriage is particularly harmful to women.

[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm With the divorce rate half that of the marriage rate], [http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf 15% of men are awarded custody, unchanged since 1994 (cf. p. One)], & [http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/004012.html annual support payments increasing 18% to $40 billion paid by 7.8 million separated parents, 6.6 million are fathers] with [http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title04/0458.htm cash incentives of up to $4.1 billion available to states that create support and arrearage orders, and then collect (cf. 6B, 6C, & 6D)], it may help to explain the conclusion of a [http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/SOOU/SOOU2004.pdf recent marriage report] by Rutgers University. "Continuing decline of the marriage rate accompanied by an increase in the number of cohabiting couples; a small increase in the percentage of children living in fragile families and born out of wedlock; and a sharp increase among teenage boys in their acceptance of unwed childbearing and a slight decrease in agreement among teenagers, especially girls, that "living together prior to wed occurs as dependable idea." says 2004 Social Health of Marriage in America. Marriage strike behavior although not explicit.

Further, during a litigated divorce allegations of domestic violence, child custody, paternity, alimony, child support, fathers' rights create additional concerns, especially with divorce attorneys rates up to $300.00 per hour.

[http://www.eleventhdistrictcourt.state.nm.us/stats/mckinley/dvcumulative.pdf 85% of orders of protections are awarded to females, 7% of petitions denied.] Since the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act of 1995, [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo/about.htm more than $1 billion spent to police and prosecutors]. Since 1995, when a wife feels fearful, it is domestic violence. Divorce attorneys practice leveraging this assault charge into an order of protection to get a spouse, usually the man, out of the home, physically separating him from children and his property.

In many areas of the world, when a woman was in her early teens her father arranged a marriage for her in return for a bride price, sometimes to a man twice her age who was a stranger to her. Her older husband then became her guardian and she could be cut off almost completely from her family. The woman had little or no say in the marriage negotiations, which might even have occurred without her knowledge.

Some traditions allowed a woman who failed to bear a son to be given back to her father. This reflected the importance of bearing children and extending the family to succeeding generations.

Often both parties are expected to be virgins before their marriage, but in many cultures women were more strictly held to this standard. One old tradition in Europe, which survived into the twentieth century in rural Greece, was for this to be proven by hanging the bloody bed sheet from the wedding night from the side of the house. Similarly, sexual fidelity is very often expected in marriage, but sometimes the expectations and penalties for women have been harsher than those for men.

In some traditions marriage could be a traumatic, unpleasant turn of events for a girl. "A Lot of Women" written in Athens in the mid 5th century BC laments this situation: On the other hand, marriage has often served to assure the woman of her husband's continued support and enabled her to focus more attention on the raising of her children. This security has typically been greater when and where divorce has been more difficult to obtain.

Some older wedding traditions still survive in some form in today's ceremonies. Women may still be symbolically "given away" by their fathers. Some brides still vow to "love and obey" their husbands and some bridegrooms vow to "care for" their wives. A groom might remove his bride's garter, a symbol of her virginity, as a public representation of his claim on her sexuality. Brides toss their bouquets towards a group of single women, who compete to catch the bouquet; the woman who catches the bouquet is believed to have the good fortune to be the next woman to get married.

One very common tradition is that of the groom carrying the bride over the threshold of their house. Investigating the origin of this tradition around 100 AD, Plutarch postulated three different possibilities. The first was that the act of picking up the bride was a symbolic re-enactment of the Rape of the Sabines. Another was that it symbolized the bride's reluctance to surrender her virginity, which she did only under duress. And the last suggested marital faithfulness - having been carried into the house by her husband she would only leave it the same way. This of course was in the context of a patriarchal culture in which it was said that a woman should only leave her house when she was so old that people would not ask whose wife she was, but whose mother. It has also been said to originate from a Roman belief that it was bad luck for a bride to stumble while entering her new home.

These traditions, though often attacked by critics and scholars, nevertheless remain a treasured part of many ceremonies, cherished by both bride and groom.

Pragmatic marriage

A Pragmatic (or 'Arranged') marriage that is facilitated by formal procedures of family or group politics. A responsible authority sets up or encourages the marriage. The authority could be parents, family, a religious figure or a consensus. The former two often start the process with informal pressure, social pressure, whilst the latter two often start the process with a formal system or statement. In both cases, the authority has a compelling veto over the marriage, and this system is socially supported by the rest of community so that to deny it is extreme and drastic. Once declared, an engagement is implicit, which follows through with a formal marriage ceremony. Those who uphold pragmatic marriage frequently state that it is traditional, that it upholds social morals, that it is good for the families involved.

Differences of opinion
Those who believe in romantic marriage will often criticize pragmatic marriage, considering it is oppressive, inhuman, or immoral. Defenders of pragmatic marriage disagree, often pointing to cultures where the success rate of pragmatic marriages is seen to be high, and holding that nearly all couples learn to love and care for each other very deeply.

Those who believe in pragmatic marriage also have some traditional criticisms of romantic marriage, saying that it is short-term, overly based on sexual lust or immoral. Defenders of romantic marriage would hold that it is preferable to achieve an emotional bond before entering into a lifelong commitment.

Cultures that aspire to create relationships after couples marry are those with institutionalized practices of pragmatic marriage. Cultures that come to think that marriages should only be tried once a short-term compatibility already exists adopt romantic marriages. It is debatable whether either method is more correct or that either set of ideas about marriage is more right - the underlying assumptions are different. Much criticism of the "more" form of marriage to what one person accepts is based on misunderstanding assumptions about marriage made from different cultural starting-points and what different groups of people consider marriage to be.