Unmarried? thats cool!

In the United States and many European Countries, ones social status, financial security, and livelihood do not depend on being married to someone else.  For Men, there is not as much pressure to take on a wife and father children. For many, there is no land or animals to inherit, no legitimate reason to pass on your name. For women, there is even less reason to get married in this day and age. Women are finally on an equal playing field with men in business, politics, education, money making abilities, and every other sociopolitical sphere. In the past when women could not vote or own land, there would have been more of an appeal and necessity to be married. In both male and female cases, it would have been a way to gain social status and good standing in the community. In other developing countries, the choice to remain unmarried could hinder your life in enormous ways and is seen as somewhat of a taboo, especially for women. In many Middle Eastern countries, women will remain in the house of their parents for their entire unmarried lives. In many countries remaining unmarried is looked down upon and is looked at as being a burden on your family. Perhaps, as almost half of the marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, we as Americans take marriage for granted. Because there is no social reason that marriage is necessary, there is no need to remain married or work things out. Although it is important to keep in mind that even in America there are entire groups of people that are denied the right to marry, namely the GLBT community.