Our Voice
Marriage is no longer a sacred bond
“For as long as you both shall live,” is a sacred phrase once used in the sacrament of marriage, but is quickly being altered by Americans into a national joke.
Marriage is supposed to be the biggest commitment one makes to another.
It is not meant to take place until each partner knows that the person in front of him or her is the one, without question.
Somewhere through the changing generations, the idea of chivalry and keeping a family intact became commercialized.
Marriage has descended from a private bond joining two people, to a publicized industry where brides fuel off competition and desire for the best and most extravagant wedding.
Almost 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Successive marriages show an even more tragic statistic with 65 percent of those marriages concluding in divorce.
The desire to get married right out of college shouldn’t be encouraged on prime time television.
Shows like “Say Yes to the Dress,” “Four Weddings” and “Bridezilla” do nothing at all to discourage the fascination with a fairytale wedding.
Over a billion people witnessed the April wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Sure there weren’t a billion attendees in person, but through social media, television and the Internet, the world watched the exaggerated and unrealistic royal wedding.
While many say their wedding was just entertainment to see how the royals do it, it is unrealistic to think that the wedding didn’t leave a substantial impact on young brides.
Instead of finishing school and entering a self-developing stage, people are attaching to partners and locking them down.
Maybe it’s the struggling economy that’s pressing young adults not to want to enter the business world on one main income. These younger people are feeling the pressures from society, friends and parents.
Maria Yoon turned 40 on May 25, three days after her 50th wedding.
“Maria the Korean Bride,” as she has been known, refers to herself as “the voice of the unmarried Asian-American woman.”
Yoon started a project against the pressures she felt from her parents to wed when she was so young.
Even though these are fake marriages where the vows are only promised until the conclusion of the ceremony, Yoon has proven the ease and accessibility of marriage.
Through her 50 marriages, many of her friends and bystanders view her experiment as degrading the sacred act of two people. But honestly, didn’t Americans ruin this for us? It is rumored Kim Kardashian made around $18 million off of her “fairytale wedding” and still wants more revenue after 72 days of marriage.
Media puppets like Kardashian are able to get married for less than three months, but we still deny that right to same-sex couples in committed relationships.
In a poor economy where divorce payments are ruining lives, the fantasy wedding shows are a bigger issue than we thought.
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