Isabel Gonzalez, Juris Doctor Candidate, St. Thomas University, submitted her essay for the Brandon Legal Group Legal Scholarship, choosing to write on the topic of “Why is marriage important to our society? What are the benefits?” The essay is presented here as an Honorable Mention. Isabel, you are welcome to submit a new essay in our next scholarship!
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Why is marriage important to our society? What are the benefits?
The institution of marriage has obviously evolved a great deal, but what remains congruent to generations past, is its importance to our society. While many argue that the frequency of divorce after a short-lived marriage is evidence of the lessening of its value today among our citizens, I argue that its importance to our society is not reflected by how short or how long a marriage lasts, but rather, frequent divorce is revealing of the individualistic values of our westernized nation. The benefits of marriage are numerous, both in a pragmatic sense and in a psychobiological manner. Perhaps that is why marriage exists to this day, adapting to our rapid sociological growth.
Our society seems to think that the institution of marriage will cease to exist since people tend to divorce more frequently in today’s society. What they don’t realize is that marriage is not inert. Marriage, in general, in our society, does not exist as it did many years ago. That does not mean, however, that it will disappear. Quite the contrary. It is my understanding that marriage was initially an agreement between families that wanted to combine their resources. That is still true for some today, although our society has shifted towards embracing marriage with someone for emotional reasons. It would be reasonable to imagine that even during the days in which marriage represented an economic advantage, people experienced romance and a deep sense of emotional attachment to another person, in or outside of their marriage.
The shift towards the celebration of the individual is reflected in marriage today, but it does not lessen its importance. For example, social media embodies our need to celebrate our thoughts, our daily routine, etc. Taking and posting a selfie to a social media source, is a mirror of the fact that we have become so individualistic as a society, however, it underlines our need to connect and feel accepted. Whether one’s connections on social media are superficial or not, is not important here. The mere fact that social media has gone viral reflects that we seek to be in relation with others. While our mode of relationship has changed, its importance has not. Marriage will more likely, than not, continue on into the distant future, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will change a great deal.
The pragmatic benefits of marriage, the reasons why marriage probably came into existence to begin with, are the summation of financial resources. Two family incomes are obviously more advantageous than one. If a married couple so wishes to have or adopt children, it would be reasonable to say that four hands and four eyes could manage to balance the responsibilities of parenthood, in the ideal situation in which both parents are involved of course. I am still arguing along the lines of logistics. Tasks accumulate when children are brought into a household and a contractual agreement between two people to support each other favors the management of such a project.
Beyond the pragmatics, there are the psychobiological benefits of marriage. Our society has shifted toward embracing marriage for these reasons, but again, that does not mean that its importance has lessened. As stated earlier, there are certainly individuals who marry for financial reasons as their main purpose, but I am generalizing. After meeting basic needs, such as feeling safe, and sensing that we have the means to obtain food and medical attention if we need it, people desire to feel accompanied on their journey through life. The mode in which someone feels accompanied differs immensely. For some, a mutual need to get a play-by-play description of what is happening in their partner’s day, exists, while others feel accompanied by their partner that shares their need to have distance and superficial involvement.
promise made before the courts, oath, to care for someone in sickness and in health. While two partners can support each other just as they could if they were married, a marriage, celebrated publicly or not, is an oath to our courts that we will care for one another. As a juris doctor candidate, I have made an oath of civility and professionalism. Is it reasonable to say that I could lead myself with professionalism and advocate for people in good faith without making that promise? Absolutely. But by verbalizing that promise, we make others cognizant of our intentions. Exchanging vows and applying for a marriage license externalizes the intent to care for one another and sets up a system of accountability.