MARRIAGES, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS

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MARRIAGES, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS SOCIETY

• Unit 3 Chapter 6

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The Purpose of Marriage

• Functionalists
• Explain marriage as the central social grouping
  to meet the basic needs in all societies
• Norm of society
• Many individuals feel that getting
  married gives them adult status
  within their society and family

3
Love Marriage

• Social Exchange Theorists
• Explain that being married will be better than
  being single (benefits vs. costs)
• The contemporary ideal in most cultures suggests
  that marriage is a happy state in which one can
  love and be loved
• Canadians said what they liked most about
  marriage was companionship, including love and
  support and the stability of the relationship

4
Marriage Identity

• Symbolic Interactionism
• When people marry they acquire the
  status of husband, wife, spouse or life
  partner
• Marriage changes how other people see them, but
  it also changes how individuals see themselves
• Also perception that marriage is the right and
  acceptable choice to make

5
Two heads are better than one!

• Systems
• Idea that groups are better than individuals
• Marriages need to continue in order to carry on
  family system

6
Conflict

• Based on power dynamic
• Couples have more access to supports (money and
  social status)
• Power dynamic between couple has typically been
  that man wears the pants changing!

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The Purpose of Marriage

• In the past, marriage provided legitimate access
  to sexual partners and ensured the bearing and
  raising of children
• Now, 90 of Canadians accept adults having
  premarital sex but expect to marry when they want
  to have children
• Marriage also allows individuals to share
  resources to improve their standard
  of living

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A Legal Point of View

• 3 Models of Marriage in Western Society
• (Justice Blair Court of Appeal for Ontario)
• The historical classical model emphasizes the
  complementary biological and social roles of men
  and women and views marriage as the ideal
  situation for raising children
• The choice model views marriage as a private
  agreement between individuals, with an emphasis
  on self-expression of sexuality
• The commitment model views marriage as a
  committed, intimate relationship based on
  emotional support. Although it is founded on
  individual choice, it focuses on connection
  within the community.

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A Legal Point of View

• Canada currently follows the commitment model
  which assumes
• emotional and financial interdependence
• obligations of mutual support
• shared social activities
• marriage is more important for raising children
  than for producing them

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Marriage Identity

• The commitment model is based on
  shared lifestyle
• In the past, if men or women wanted to improve
  their social status, they would marry someone of
  higher status
• Today, individuals who want to improve their
  quality of life will choose a partner who has
  similar goals and financial means, they will
  strive together to develop a higher status

11
The Timing of Marriage

• The timing of significant developments in life is
  determined by a cultures social clock and by an
  individuals readiness to make the change
• Canadians believe the best age to marry is 26.3
  for men and 24.9 for women (2004)

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The Timing of Marriage

• the average age of first-time brides was 28.5
  years and for grooms was 30.5 years (2004)
• many Canadians cohabit before they marry, but it
  is not clear whether cohabitation is a cause or
  an effect of delayed marriage
• emerging adults are delaying marriage, but they
  are also delaying cohabitation

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The Timing of Marriage

• Marriage is no longer the significant rite of
  passage into adulthood that it once was
• Several adjustments in the social clock
  accommodate these changes
• post-secondary education
• finding a job in the chosen career
• employment security
• finances
• readiness to have a child

14
The Economics of Marriage

• Marriage has always been an economic union
• The economic benefit is achieved by sharing
  resources as well as the labour
• Marriages are no longer essential for economic
  survival for women who are employed and
  self-supporting
• Women who are educated and
  earning comparable incomes to their
  spouse are less likely to accept
  traditional marriage roles

15
The Economics of Marriage

• By law, when a couple separates, all assets are
  communally owned, regardless of individual income
• Spouses have a responsibility to share their
  income for mutual support
• Couples who choose to marry or to cohabit for 3
  years in Ontario, assume this
  unwritten contract under
  Canadian law

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Cohabitation

• Most common choice of Canadians
  for their first conjugal relationship (a
  relationship based on a sexual union)
• Also called a common-law relationship
• these relationships are not governed by written
  law but by legal and social customs
• Although cohabitation begins less formally than
  marriage, spouses are still subject to some legal
  obligations and they are more likely to separate
  than if they were married

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Cohabitation

• Fewer emerging adults are married,
  but the decline is almost offset by the
  greater number of individuals who are cohabiting
  with a partner
• Between 2001 2006, the number of families with
  cohabiting adults increased by 18.5, while
  families with married adults increased by only
  3.5, and single-parent families by 7.8

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Cohabitation

• Most people assume that cohabitation means living
  together before marriage, it is a prelude to
  marriage, not an alternative
• The high divorce rate makes some people feel a
  need to test their relationship before making a
  firm commitment
• Although cohabitation is perceived to be
  insurance for a lasting marriage, it is not
  effective

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Cohabitation

• Fewer cohabiting couples marry than in the past
• Common-law couples are more likely to separate
  than married couples
• Couples who marry after cohabiting are twice as
  likely to get divorced
• Why?

20
Cohabitation

• People who cohabit might
• be less selective about their partner because
  they feel the relationship is less durable
• not make the commitment to the relationship by
  pooling resources or developing problem-solving
  strategies
• not be sexually exclusive

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Cohabitation

• Perhaps living together without a commitment
  changes peoples idea of marriage and family and
  reduces the importance of commitment so theyre
  more likely to separate when problems arise
• Perhaps the problems that prevented marriage in
  the first place might continue to cause
  difficulties after the marriage

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Same-Sex Couples

• Same-sex relationships have always existed, since
  the Civil Marriage Act was passed in 2005,
  same-sex marriage has been permitted in Canada
• In Canada, individuals choose to marry or cohabit
  based on the romantic attraction of partners, not
  on the traditional responsibilities that are
  defined in the law or by religious beliefs

23
Same-Sex Couples

• 61 of Canadians feel that same-sex couples
  should continue to have the right to marry (2009)
• marriage provides the same protection to partners
  and their children in gay and lesbian families
  that it provides to heterosexual couples