Monday, March 31, 2008

Divorce; Now Becoming a Trend?

In this day and age, divorce is becoming more common then ever. As quickly as people are getting married they are getting divorced several years later. Looking back on the history of divorce, it dates back to the years of Mesopotamia. Back then the ancient Athenians allowed divorce but the person who wanted the divorce had to present papers to a magistrate. From there the magistrate would determine whether or not the reasons were sufficient enough. Based on the decision a divorce was either granted or the subject was dropped. Today the divorce rate is 17.7 for every 1,000 married women. Consequently, the marriage rate is on a steady decline. There has been a 50% drop in marriages since 1970. But what is the reason for all of these divorces and the cutting down of marriage?

One significant factor deals with the fact that men and women need each other less for economic survival. Through the years women have become independent, moving into high ranking positions and being able to support themselves on their own. Another factor of why marriages are declining and divorces are occurring is because the advances made with birth control allow men and women to separate sexual life from a life with children. Other factors that contribute to the outcome of divorce are money, career issues, and lack of communication or emotional maturity. Bills become overwhelming; fights begin to last for days and other issues such as jealousy, animosity, etc. begin to show. Other grounds for divorce include unfaithfulness, abuse or addiction. For some, temptation of the opposite sex is too much to handle and their emotions become hard to control causing them to cheat on their spouse. With all life’s hardships it is unfortunate that some people find the need to turn to drugs or alcohol and before they know it are quickly addicted. Their addiction could lead to violence and injury to their spouse.

Although no one wants to experience divorce or watch someone go through the painful process sometimes it is the best option. Marriage is not always the answer and sometimes the people we think we could spend the rest of our lives with may not be that person at all. Sometimes people are forced into a marriage whether it has to do with pregnancy, the feeling of not being able to find anyone else, etc.

As the daughter of two divorced parents, I had to witness the whole process. The reasons my parents got divorced, the talk I had to have with them before they went their separate ways and the period after my family broke apart was more than I could handle at the time. From experience I could say that this decision was one of the better decisions they could have made. I see the way my family is today and realize how much better off we are with things as they are. Not only are my parents much happier but I have learned a lot through the whole process. I learned how to become an independent woman and separate my problems at home with the rest of the activities I had to fulfill throughout my day. I can now attest that while things may seem like the worst decision at the time and when things seem like they could never get worse, one day you realize why everything happens the way it does.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Though divorce may be good in some cases, people are giving up on marriage too quickly as divorce becomes the easy way out. Take a look at this article written about the divorce era by a family law lawyer, you may find it interesting. http://www.freemychild.com/pdf/fm_disposabledivorce.pdf