It is impossible to remain optimistic about the “institution of marriage” in the conditions of the current cultural anxiety when the importance of marriage and family is declined. Young people are more devoted to their feeling and emotions both while getting married and while divorce as being free in their decisions, people are interested in personal freedom and when they are restricted in it, they prefer to get rid of the ties which connect them. Family ties are not that important for modern people. There are a lot of different reasons which impact the desire to ignore the traditional institution of marriage and stress on personal freedom.
The first reason which makes people refuse from family as the obligatory condition for family creation is the greater freedom for women. The possession of freedom for women means that they are not going to be housewives anymore. Their desire to get a career to achieve something greater than just the clean, flat, and tasty supper makes those become stronger. Thus, they do not need the support of men as they are able to protect themselves as they feel that they are able to protect themselves, to earn enough money and make it possible to make their life comfortable.
The popular culture of the present youth is directed at independence; therefore, there is no place for the family as the institution. The traditional understanding of the family is based on the dependence on each other and circumstances. The modern situation has changed. Young people do not want to be responsible for anything, they are brought up in a world where each one is for oneself, and there is no place for others.
Second, many young people understand that they are able to bring up their children themselves, and that is why they do not hurry up to get married even if a girl is pregnant, and there are no restrictions from marriage. The popular culture has influenced the situation. Many stars of the movie and singing propaganda their private life where they are presented as good mothers or fathers, or whether they are married for several times and the modern youth wants to be like them. Of course, they want to look like their idols, and there is nothing strange that many women refuse from marriages, or even if they get married, they do not value this sacred union as their parents did.
Third, looking at the modern culture and the values people, it becomes obvious that there is no particular goal people are looking for. Education, relationships, career, etc. are just the stages on the way to achieving something greater, the goal of the whole life. The problem of modern people is that they do not have this goal; they life for something miserable, which cannot be valued on the level of the whole society. People do not have goals they may want to achieve together with their loved ones.
Moreover, it has been believed for many years that a man is a provider and a woman is a carer. However, nowadays this formula does not work. The roles of the men and women have shifted. It is possible to see a man who stays at home with a one-month-old child while a mother goes for a work. Thus, women feel that hey have the power, that they should not be wives and the institution of marriage becomes useless for them. At the same time, many men agree n such positions and do not refuse. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the absence of the goals and the refusal from the sacred ties of marriage have led to useless nature of the institution of marriage.
Reference List
Brown, A. D. (2011). Family Life Cycle Lecture Notes. Lecture.