Starke 1

Mady Starke
English 111
Erskine
11-5-15

What Qualifies as Marriage?

Since the United States was founded on July 4th, 1776, the majority of the nations
citizens have held true to their extremely conservative values. From attending church
every Sunday to women getting married in white dresses, it has been shown that people
value tradition; therefore, it is understandable that the older generations are having a
tough time accepting our newly established law that gay marriage is legal in all fifty
states. Marriage in the U.S., throughout time, has been a sacred union between a man
and a woman; but is it so harmful to edit the long-standing definition of the word in order
to provide equality for all combinations of gender unions?
Marriage today is dramatically different than it was thousands of years ago. Each
culture had adaptations to what they believed a marriage consisted of. In the Bible, it was
common for men to have multiple wives, while women were only allowed to have one
husband, creating a serious double-standard; however, in Roman cultures, marriage was
strictly monogamous. Despite the acceptance of multiple partners and blatant prejudices,
the United States has held strong in their convictions that marriage should be between a
man and a woman no matter what; but why?
When two people get married, they are devoting themselves to love each other
unswervingly, through sickness and in heath, for richer or for poorer. The love and bond
shared between two people has to be strong enough to weather the strong winds of

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hardship and get over the bumps in the road, all while learning how to love each other in
new ways through these difficulties. The promise of marriage is beyond important to
many individuals, which is why gay and lesbian couples have fought so hard recently to
be able to finally call their relationship a marriage rather than a partnership or a civil
union. Last year the government decided that the right to marriage is an inherent aspect
of individual autonomy, and that each American has the right to intimate association,
rather than just ridding the US of laws that ban homosexuality.
Marriage isnt simply a word that is to be thrown around, which is why everyone
who is in a devoted relationship wants to be able to use that word rather than having to
replace it with a less-scared word. Although it is difficult to define marriage in a
technical way since it can consist of relationships of varying lengths, combinations of
genders, religions, and types of people, marriage can still be defined to an extent.
Marriage is coming home to someone who is prepared to be an intent listener, a stable
shoulder to lean on, and a friend who ultimately knows how to be there. Marriage is
showing appreciation and kindness, even through the tough arguments and strong
differences of opinion.