Your mileage may vary.

The thing about marriage is, as a couple you have to be pretty damn sure you're both in it for the long haul. Especially when kids enter into the equation.

That's why I think couples should wait at least five years after tying the knot to have their first child.

If you're not absolutely certain that you're cut out for marriage, it's better just to play the field and have fun living the single life and wait to see if something permanent eventually clicks.

I think it is an outdated institution invented by religion that is no longer relevant.

I as once married and then lived with another. Same result both times and being married or not made no difference. However, I got lucky and married again and it was fabulous. She wanted to get married at first but later thought it didn't matter. In the end it did because my military benefits (including health) made a huge difference in our relationship and her death. If people have worries about being ruined because of a divorce they need to really look into pre-nups. I also know of people who lived with another, got married and things fell apart and then divorced and moved back together. Some people are like that. For me, if I take the time and effort to fully know another I believe it can still be worth while.

I do! The older you get the less traditional marriage make sense. Also, the farther we get from the agircultural Age the less it makes sense. Information age requires flexiblity that traditional ideals don't agree with.

I am three weeks into my separation, so I suppose I'm possibly too raw to be answering this now, but here goes...I will never again legally bind myself to another human. I still love my husband, and I likely always will, but once I am past this hurt and contemplate the possibility of a new relationship, I can say with impunity, there will be no cohabiting and certainly no legal ties.

To each their own I suppose. I have been happily married for a long time, but if something happened to my husband I don't think I would get married again.

Marriage is a contract. It always has been. Sometimes between families. Sometimes between countries. I think the decision to marry should be between the two people and shouldn't be mandatory. That being said, I'm twice divorced. Maybe I'm the wrong person to listen to.

A marriage license is just a piece of paper. I will most likely never marry someone again. Been there, done that.

If other people want to get married, I have no problem with it. However, I hate the fact that marriage is still looked upon so highly in society. I do not like how if you decide not to get married by a certain age or choose to live with a partner outside of marriage, society tends to have a worse opinion of you. I also do not like how it involves the government and others in your sex life. Another thing is that there are still sexist undertones in marriage. For instance, women who are married still normally taking the man's last name and the fact that a woman's marital status defines her title (ms., mrs.) but a man's marital status doesn't.

I personally think that two people who choose to live together who are not in a romantic relationship should be able to get the same benefits of marriage if they want to as well. You should not have to be having government approved sex with someone to get hospital visitation rights or share insurance policies.

That being said, I do see the benefits of marriage. I feel that it does help with stability in society and it provides a more secure environment when people want to have children. There are a lot of good marriages out there, and I can respect that. I just believe that it should not be pressured upon people and it should not be a legal matter.

I expect it depends on the law of the country in which you live as to whether marriage is mandatory, useful or an unnecessary accessory to a relationship.

In Australia, it is perhaps more convenient to get married, but my understanding of the law is that unmarried couples have substantively equal rights and responsibilities.

In more conservative countries marriage is a must for cohabitation. Witness the atrocities in Aceh, for example.

My opinion is that marriage is unnecessary, though I am happily married.

Two people who want to live together and do behind closed doors whatever they wish, don’t need permission from church or state to do so.

That said, monogamy, with or without marriage, does have value

I have a great meme somewhere in my collection that says "All you need to know about marriage is that when someone is murdered the police investigate the spouse first... "

You're right, I believe marriage is a kind of slavery.

I tend to agree but people will keep doing it for all kinds of reasons. What's interesting to me, looking at this issue from a trend analysis view, are the various counter trends. I mean, on the other hand you got many who are cool on marriage, or feel unmotivated by it, or even negative about it. Then on the other hand you've got some who make the biggest deal out of it, spend obscene amounts of money getting married, even when they shouldn't or can't really afford it, and it's just excessive in my view. (Had one in the family last year. Grumpy uncle Dave had to attend). Then again you got many in the gay community who are desperate to get married, fight big political and legal battles to do it, and it just means so much to them when they are able publicly to do that. I don't judge negatively any of that. To each their own. What I observe though is the somewhat extremes now that apply to view of marriage. In the past people mostly got married because it was the thing that most people did. Now, it seems they either really don't want to, or they really, really, really, want to.

No. But not everyone should get married either. And that includes marriages without children.

Not me.

At my age if I meet the person I must have in my life, we'd have to come to an arrangement. From a practical point of view it makes no sense to marry after sixty, it would wreak havoc on your Social Security. I don't know if I want to live with someone. About a year after my divorce, I found that I enjoyed living single again.

Yep. Open relationships, only. Marriage (and living together) is out of the question.

Sounds like to me. You have gone mgtow.

I don't care about it one way or the other. I've been with my SO for almost a decade and while we plan on getting married that's mostly because he's Christian. As long as we have the commitment I don't care about the paper.

Long ago I read "one of life's greatest joys can be a happy marriage."

An interesting perspective about this: Esther Perel "the state of affairs - rethinking infidelity"
She maintains that the changes in marriage about years ago, and the women's rights changes, haver resulted in insane expectations from having only one significant other. Hence, the number of happily married people exploring new types of relationships.

Hell yeah, don’t sweat it.

Me too

At 65... i like being married. My wife is 61. We're both retired and its nice being married to her. Maybe if i was a player again at the age of 38 and divorced from my first wife i could make that statement. But wait.... looking back.... i was stupid and self centered and self seeking. No respect for women and it was all about me... I can see my faults now. If i was as smart back then as i am now... i would still be married to my first wife. Hmmmm.... i wish i had grown up and been more responsible back then. I think marriage is the right thing.