In Salve of Marriage

Balancing Patriarchal, Feminist, and Individualistic Values Against Marriage

Within the past fifty years of social transformations, the institution of marriage has witnessed a portentous shrinkage in size and importance. The rates of divorce, even as they seem to be leveling off today compared with few decades ago, are still a source of much confusion. Challenges in interpersonal relations between men and women with an aim of forming a family have become even more complicated, rendering marriages extraneous. For the young adults, however, the so-called millennials, who continue to be flustered by the welter of demographic changes and sociological experiences, marked with a growing power of women in socioeconomic status, and constantly in search of explanations, a marriage (as a rite of passage) is still relevant. But if we're to salvage the institution of marriage from extinction and that of family defined by father, mother, and children, says Mokes Gama, we must critically analyze our own attitudes on patriarchal, feminism, education, and individualistic values that we embrace and adjust accordingly.