Why do you think divorce is so prevalent?

Joanne's FAVORITE answer:
Divorce is prevalent because women have rights. In the olden days,women had to suffer through their husband's infidelity. And women whocheated were beaten by their husbands (or killed). As you know theterm "rule of thumb" was coined in regards to the thickness of thestick you were legally allowed to beat your wife with. Now, women mayleave. And men may not legally beat them. So instead we see divorce.

Joanne's answer:
Probably one of the biggest reasons is that the gender roles (especially for women) have changed quite a bit - women can now have opinions, women can now have jobs...and women can now support themselves without the help of a man! Also, for the most part, because traditions of society have loosened a bit, both women and men now have more CHOICES in their life - if they are in a bad marriage, they are allowed to leave. They don't have to stay in a situation that makes them unhappy. While I certainly think some people give up on marriages too easily, I would venture to say that most people who get divorced are better off. Unhappy marriages are way worse for your psychological health than being single. And they are a lot less fun, too!

And the other answers!

I don't know why people get divorced, but I think I know one thing. Research has shown that the older you are when you first get married, the less likely you will get divorced. Well, let me tell you something. The older you get, the lower the chance becomes that you'll get married in the first place. So, of course, those older folks who successfully got married at an old age are less likely to get divorced, because of the "self-selection" effect!! --31-year-old female, obviously not married

I sincerely believe that divorce is so prevalent because the two people going into the marriage don't really look at it as a life time commitment. It's all fun and romantic and the bride gets to be center stage for a day and treated like a princess for the duration of the honeymoon. Then real life begins to set in. Living with someone else day in and day out is work. You have to consider the other person's feelings, needs and wants every day. If you don't there is hell to pay. And if you don't consider the other person's feelings, needs and wants long enough, then one of you is going to stray or move out. People today don't want to work at making the union work. And, don't be deceived, marriage is work. Just like keep your home clean and your property in order, it's work but when you sit down at the end of the day it's a nice feeling to know the home, this property, this mate in life, is yours to have and to hold. Maybe too, it's too easy to get married. If it took more paperwork to get married maybe more people would think about it longer before making that big step.

Psychologists.

Because registering for a wedding is awesome! When else do you get to request tons of things from your friends and family members? Who wants to be only able to do that once?

I think divorce is so prevalant because it is allowed and not looked down upon like it was earlier in the century (the last century -- ha ha!). Also, I believe people just have a more conventional way of thinking nowadays and are going after what makes THEM happy and to hell with whoever stands in their way. If they aren't satisfied in their marriage they see no problem with ending it instead of trying to fix what is wrong and compromising. I realize that may not always be an option, but people seem to give up more easily today if something is not going their way. Also, what you said yesterday about that guy who got divorced from his barren wife and then she couldn't deal with his cancer. Well, the vows say "in sickness and in health," do they not? Or did they leave that clause out? Our culture is prevalant in teaching people that they have a sense of entitlement. People are just selfish. I think that is what it boils down to.

Being the child of divorced parents, I think I have a little insight into this one. This isn't why my parents divorced, but I think the reason today is mainly that people don't take that "for worse" part seriously enough. Sure I'll take you for better, but if you do something that I don't like, then I'm out of here. Make sure you know how far your "significant other" is willing to go on the "worse" part. Now, I'm not married, so I can't say that I know the real angle of marriage, but you can bet if I am going to spend the time and energy to get to know someone, date them and marry them, then I am going to stick it out, unless it can't be fixed ever (i.e. infidelity, she attempts to kill me, she has someone else attempt to kill me, etc., etc., etc., etc.). I just believe that there are going to be some really rough times, and you have to expect that and do your best to deal with it.

[My husband] and I talk about this a lot and here are some of our ideas:
- People get married when they are too young to know who they are, what they want in life, and what type of person is best for him/her.
- People forget that a good marraige requires work (like everything worthwhile in life) and they get lazy and stop trying to be a good partner.
- People give up too quickly because divorce is more socially acceptable nowadays.
- A really, really unfortunate number of marraiges seem to end because of infidelity -- which is totally controllable on the part of the cheater. This gets into the selfish factor -- some people who get married aren't really in it to take care of the other person or don't take that part of the marraige seriously -- another reason why divorce is prevalent.
- Couples forget that they should keep going on dates and do courting type stuff to remind themselves of how they felt before they got married and to keep romance alive.
- Some people stop taking time out for themselves and loose themselves and blame it on the marraige.

Cause people don't have enough self-restraint to keep their pants on.

I think that there are a few reasons that divorce is so prevalent. For one thing, society does not support long-term, stable marriages. The media and society in general promotes - not just infidelity - but, the idea that if you're not experiencing a constant rush, constant gratification, then you are missing out on something that everyone else has the sense to make sure that they get. The other thing is that marriages these days can mean a lot of different things. If a husband and wife don't have the same idea of what marriage and their lives together are supposed be like, then it's not going to work. Also, I think more people are marrying for "love" (translate: passion) instead of finding a good friend that will make a good life partner. When the passion people fizzle out, there's not really anything left to hold them together. When well-suited life partners go through rough spots, their respect and genuine affection for eachother can see them through.

Because we have all learned from the O J mess, unless you have great lawyers, you can't kill them.

Because people are fucking stupid and marry the wrong people for the wrong reasons like because its the cool thing to do or becasue they want to look good in a white dress. Its fucking dumb. But I'm not bitter or anything...

Because women don't know how to listen.