Running Head, FAMILY & MARRIAGE

Family & Marriage

Family & Marriage

When two people plan to unite and begin on that arrangement called marriage, they are usually getting into something which is, to say the least, adventurous. Crittenden, The New Standard Encyclopedia Dictionary defines marriage as the act of marrying, the state of being married, or any close union between two people. Traditionally, marriage has been looked upon as the primary purpose of founding and maintaining a home and family. Today many people marry for different reasons, like love, which may be based on physical attraction. Graglia, People might marry for social, political or economical advantages also. Family in the past has always been looked upon as a major building block within society. From the vast social and cultural changes that have occurred since then, society looks at family and marriage much the same way, but with more diverse and trivial social interventions than the past. Most people would agree that marriage expectations and traditions have altered during the years. It is easy to see that our images and expectations about marriage and family are constantly being altered within society.

Most men work, while most women stay in the home place. Society plays a major role in the aspects of marriage and family. Horn, As a child, I remember wanting to marry someone and live happily ever after. Marriage, to me, was a fantasy. I was too young to realize that marriage was not just an act between two people. It involved coping with society, the family and supporting each other emotionally. As a child I had dreams of getting married and having that perfect life. My understanding and intervention with society was limited then. Perhaps if I had known how society interacted with the two I would not have been so intrigued by my childhood fantasy of marriage, like I am now.

During my adolescent years, I began to understand how society operated and how everything seemed to function within it. I began to see how times had changed and what affects they had on marriage. I saw that maintaining a family was much more than what I believed as a child. It was at this point in my life when I realized truly that my childhood fantasy of marriage had little chance of becoming true. During my adolescent years, my understanding of my parents became clearer. Marshall, I could see how it truly was ...