Whats happened to the institution of marriage in recent history?
At the end of the book, I talk about a shift in the view of marriage over last 25 years as more and more private. Marriage appears to offer emotional and economic security along with personal freedom, which is a very seductive combination even though it’s paradoxical. It seems to provide an arena where you have protection from the assaults of outside forces and where you can act and be yourself; you don’t have to perform. That’s a combination that seems unbeatable. And maybe it is. At the same time, if that combination is achievable it should be possible without the legal marriage. But you don’t get as much material security (by government and private employers’ provisions, for instance) if you’re not formally married. Given its political history, what do you want every Indiebride reader to understand about marriage? There is a lot of ignorance around the legal components of marriage, and men and women should educate themselves. It’s more than just rights to medical insurance – there a
