As you have noted - our opinions are probably based on our own experiences and those of friends and family members. There’s a lot of anguish out there.
IME; When men & women expect their own marriages to duplicate their parents’ experience - if it was a good one, they are going to be disappointed.
There was a reason for long engagements - to test compatibility and shared values. *Strangers in the Night* is a great song - but a lousy way to pick a partner for life.
Today - having children and raising a family is way low on the list of reasons to marry. Children are almost like designer accessories for the home.
In our present society, men AND women are equally and competitively promiscuous. Sex is a recreational sport of conquests and combinations.
Old men & tight butt teeny boppers.
Cougars and boy toys.
Money and morons.
Celebrities and the sluts that love them.
Pity the progeny from these partnerships.
“Today - having children and raising a family is way low on the list of reasons to marry. Children are almost like designer accessories for the home.”
So true.
It really comes down to what people really think “marriage” is all about.
Somewhere along the line the message has become -sex,sex, sex! Status. Fun! Image.
Trying to shape the spouse into something that will make “ME” happy instead of contemplating what “I” can do to make my spouse happy.
Yes - it used to be all about kids, family. Passing on values to the next generation.