The Growing Movement Against Marriage

Lately it seems that the movement against marriage--Oprah, Susan Sarandon, Maria Bello, and Angelina Jolie are proud members-- is gaining momentum. Here a writer for The Guardian explains why she remains obstinately opposed to the institution:

Forced to unpack my antipathy, I would cite four po-faced motives: atheism; feminism; a loathing of state and/or public intervention in matters I deem private; and something more oddball regarding the close-down of narrative possibility. One reason would be enough to quash any Doris Day ambition; the four together topple into each other like spinsterish dominos.

My stance may be at the more neurotic, proposing-as-a-dumping-offence extreme, but I am by no means alone in my disinclination towards getting hitched. Rates of marriage in Britain - 283,730 in 2005 - are at their lowest since 1896. Given the ebb and flow of population, this is the most paltry scoring since records began almost 150 years ago. Divorce statistics may have fallen (there being fewer candidates), yet, still, 40 per cent of first marriages and 70 per cent of second shots end in divorce.

Keep reading.

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Read blogger Bella DePaulo's post on famous women who are happily unmarried.

What do you think? In your personal experience, is marriage falling out of fashion?