Marriage - 9781534507661

Marriage is an age-old institution whose purpose has changed in recent times. No longer do families arrange unions for economic and social reasons; today, most Westerners marry for love. Still, the median age for first marriage has risen steadily over the years, and 32 percent of adults have never been married. The viewpoints in this volume explore how marriage fits into our changing society, including issues of same-sex marriage, domestic violence, women's equality, and children and divorce. Readers will analyze the wedding industry, and the Unmarried Equality Movement, which is the movement for single people to attain equal rights to married people.