“Marriage is no longer necessary in today’s society.” Discuss. Essay outline: Group members: 10S06S Priscilla Wong Pan Fayang Ruth Ng He Shi.

“Marriage is no longer necessary in today’s society.” Discuss.

Essay outline:

Group members:10S06S

Priscilla WongPan FayangRuth NgHe Shi

Introduction

-Definition of marriage: formal recognition, by the state, of the union of two individuals.

-In today’s world, divorce rates are going up, as are single-parent families.

-Changing view of marriage today: no longer a permanent / lifetime bond.

“Do we still need marriage or can the family unit still function without the union of the parents?”

Thesis:

While society is according it less importance, the institution of marriage remains an important part of society.

Argument 1:

Outline:

Family is the basic unit of society.

If we regret marriage, we are rejecting the concept of the family unit. We are telling young men and women that it is alright to have sexual relations with no intent to commit to the union.

Family is the basic unit of society.

You are bonded with a family when you are born. This relationship cannot be broken because it is forged by blood.

Families are connected through marriage. Marriage, in other words, is the union of two people. It is a commitment made by a couple to stay together whatever happens. It is the couple’s obligation and responsibility to connect the families together. Thus, the society has giant covalent structure, which family is the element and marriage is the covalent bond. The society will be scattered to pieces if we have families without marriage.

Also, when family is not co-related with marriage, we are telling young men and women that it is alright to have sexual relations with no intent to commit to the union. There will be disastrous consequences for society.

Argument 2:

Marriage offers emotional support to the partners.

Because of the support from spouse, married people will have a more optimistic outlook toward the life

Lead to a very close-knit life

Live substantially longer/fall ill less often

One of the biggest benefits that marriage offers to the partners is emotional support, and hence married people will have a more optimistic outlook toward the life. Men and women stay together and lead a very close-knit life. They can share their personal secrets with each other, and do not need to hide anything. They are able to discuss all of life’s big and small events and go to social functions together as one unit—the family. When one partner is depressed or life takes a sudden turn to the worse, his or her spouse can provide support and encouragement. On a more practical note, if we recognise legal marriages, the institution can be used to support and help both parties. For example, medical welfare can be shared or assets can be transferred in the event of death. Marriage is clearly a win-win situation for both. Due to the emotional support the get, married people tend to live substantially longer and fall ill less often compare to the individuals.

E.g.

According to a new research, marriage can be good for health. A survey of 80,000 Americans showed that people who were never married were 58 percent more likely to die than their married peers. Compared with people who live with their spouses, those who were divorced were 39 per cent more likely to die during the follow-up period.

Argument 3:

Marriages bring society closer together.

It increases concrete links between members of society

More cohesiveness: less apathy among people toward country

Harmony between races / econ background (especially necessary in today’s globalising world)

Marriage is still necessary in society today as marriages bring society closer together. Marriage brings two people, a man and a woman, together as one, joining them and linking them together. This is perhaps why marrying is also called “tying the knot”. The link that marriage provides is concrete, and marriage can be said to help bring families and friends of the husband and wife closer together. These friendships and relationships that arise from marriages results in greater cohesiveness among the people in a country, and hence keeps apathy among the citizens of a country. Interracial marriages, which is getting more common in today’s globalised world, also results in greater harmony between people of different races. Marriages can hence be seen as tying knots within families, countries or even the world, more closely-knit.

Counter argument 1

However, marriage is becoming less and less relevant as the increase in women’s status in modern society.

Men are conventionally believed as breadwinners of the family, while women are obliged to stay at home, with the primary job of a homemaker and nurturer. This is prevalent in rural communities, as well as most countries just a century or two ago. The family unit was used to designate each individual his responsibilities to the family and to the community. Marriage was a key part of this as both men and women were brought up with a specific skill set, which complemented that of his or her spouse. As such, marriage was integral to the needs of society.

Counter argument 2

With time, however, this world-view came into question. Nevertheless, with the rapid growth of the technology, men and women’s jobs are not as clear cut as before. Women now have the chance to go for work and earn a living while men are expected to pitch in in household work and bringing up their children. Duties of individuals in a marriage was no longer as clear cut, thereby making marriage no longer necessary in ensuring the balance of the family unit. This seems to suggest that marriage is not a boon any more, it is a burden. Why would anyone form a bond with another when one can be enjoy the freedom of being alone? When he can hire a woman to give birth to his child and she can choose the DNA she wants in her child at a sperm bank? This seems to make marriage inconvenient and irrelevant.

Counter argument 3

Some may argue that a society without marriage will function in a largely similar fashion because the physical signing of a marriage document has no direct relation to a couple cohabitating and starting a family. Indeed, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt could bring up all 6 of their children in a conducive family environment despite their very diverse back grounds, showing that without marriage, some couples can enjoy the same union and same family life. However, family is still the basic unit of society after all. Marriage takes on an emotional and societal significance beyond a pair of signatures on a document or shark’s fin soup in a hotel function room.

Conclusion

If we, as a society, reject the importance of marriage, we are suggesting to young men and women that one can have relations, even sexual relations, with another with no intent to commit to the union. This has potential to exacerbate the current problem of the diminishing respect for marriage. As such, the increasing apathy toward marriage is not a reason for us to dismiss it; instead, it increases the necessity for the state to state its stand on marriages more clearly. As such, marriage is more important than ever in today’s world.