I Like it, but Should I Put a Ring On It? ♥

“Gay people have the right to be just as miserable as everybody else” --Chris Rock.

So I’m watching this Chris Rock comedy set a couple hours ago, and part of his routine talked about gay marriage (of course) and that’s where I got this quote. I thought it was brilliant lol. I mean, really. Half the people who are already married either hate it, are bored, wish they weren’t, or were suckered into it, trapped into it, threatened into it…the list goes on.
During this portion of the routine, he also mentioned the supposed “sanctity” that marriage is expected to hold in our nation, and how this is contradicted by the fact that we as Americans continuously watch and support TV shows such as “The Bachelor”, “The Bachelorette”, and such. You mean to tell me that these shows that clearly make a mockery of the “sacred” union of marriage are all the rave, but a gay couple who’s in real-life love can’t get married??? I’m sorry. I don’t believe you. You need more people.
I’m not clear on the statistics of married couples, gay or straight, in this country. I don’t think I feel like looking them up, either. They’re probably pretty depressing. I do know that the marriage rate is undoubtedly not as high as it was a few decades ago in this country, and as a product of Generation Whatever-People-Call-Us, I can see plainly and clearly that marriage appears to be nothing more than a running joke in today’s society. If everyone makes a joke out of marriage, who’s left to take it seriously? People talk about unhappy marriages in movies, TV shows, music, comedy shows, interviews, etc. It’s all fun and games, but guess what? Half the people who repeatedly see and hear how awful marriage is, or how your life is over once you make those vows, are probably less likely to actually get married at some point in life. The odds that they’ll stay married if they do end up walking down someone’s aisle or courthouse stairs are probably even lower. Drastically lower. Divorce is more common in today’s world than Arab-owned stores in the hood. I’m waiting for a drive-thru Marriage/Divorce/DNA/Check-Cashing place to pop up somewhere. I’d like a number 7 with a side of irreconcilable differences and a 2-dollar money order. Thanks. But seriously, what makes a "good marriage"? Is it the love, the friendship, the compatibility, the respect, the fidelity, aesthetics, the sex, the communication, the trust? A combination of all the above? I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be believable when I stand in front of God and a whole bunch of ugly people I don't even like, and say that I’m gonna love this man and stick by him. I want to say “through sickness and health, ‘til death do us ‘part”, not “through sickness and health, or until I get sick of your ass”. Whether it’s a generation thing, or a societal thing, I don’t think marriage stands for the same thing that it used to. At least, not in general. Now, on a personal level, I’ve always wanted to complete school, work and become stable, THEN get married, THEN have children. That‘s what I want for myself…I’ve stuck to that blueprint thus far. Some people don’t want to ever get married, for whatever reason. I respect that. As I’ve said before, I see marriage as a legal matter, so I believe that anyone should have the right to either choose to incorporate marriage into their lifestyle, or not to. However, I know people who are younger than me who are married with children. Their lives appear to be in shambles every other day. Drama like you wouldn’t believe. I know people who are my age and are more cohesive and stable than married couples. The only thing missing is a marriage license. So if an unmarried couple can be happy, healthy, and enjoy life together, and a married couple can be at each other’s throats day in and day out…one may wonder, what’s the point? What comes with this piece of paper affectionately known as a marriage license? What’s in the fine print? Does it really change anything? Is it just to prove a point? Is it all about marking one's territory? Or is there a deeper meaning of what a marriage license represents? Because judging by today's examples of marriage, I can see why those statistics keep changing so drastically…
x0x0♥