The rush down the aisle

Recently I feel as though everyone around me (especially from my hometown) has been not only walking down the aisle but rushing to it. I am trying to figure out this phenomenon. Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept of marriage. I think that it has a lot of importance in a lot of peoples' lives. I especially understand if the couple is religious. However, if that is not the case, I just can't seem to understand the concept of getting married at such a young age. I just turned 24 a month ago. I have been in multiple long-term relationships and have been in love my fair share of times. I used to think that I would get married too. However, recently I have really done a lot of thinking about the institution of marriage.

First and foremost, marriage is obviously a patriarchal institution. It is legislatively set up and continues to thrive on a system in which the woman is subordinate to the man.

Second, as someone who is a supporter of the LGBT community, I can't justify taking part in an institution that actively discriminates against a large portion of the population.

Thirdly, let's be honest with ourselves. I know your love is "a love unlike any other," and all that jazz, but what is it? 50% of all marriages in the states end in divorce? Now I fully understand that relationships come and go, and if you find yourself in a situation in which you are unhappy, I am a full supporter of divorce. However, why do we put ourselves through the emotional havoc of "filing for divorce" when breaking up with someone? Why does the state even have to be involved?

Ok, so there is a small portion of my laundry list of reasons why I am not a fan of marriage, but I am still trying to figure out why everyone is running down the aisle. Like I stated before, I do think that religion is a large portion of it. "god" says that you can't have sex until you are married. Ok, I get that people want to have sex, so maybe marriage justifies that for some people. But what I have found is that the vast majority of these couples have already had sex (don't worry, they are good christians so despite the fact that they are breaking one of their god's rules, they won't go to hell because they go to church every sunday. But you damn sodomites, you're headed straight to hell regardless.). So why the rush?

Honestly it confuses me. I'm determined that it is not the professing of love to the world, because you don't need a marriage certificate to do that. I get the $ thing - sometimes it makes more sense to be legally married. But, honestly, at times I think it has a lot to do with just getting all your friends together. Now, I know that this is going to piss people off, but it's one of the possible reasons that makes sense. If you have "true, lasting" love, then it's not going anywhere.....

Thinking about marriage and the reasons for it have also made me think a lot about having children recently. Just the other day I went and saw the must-see musical Spring Awakening. First off, I wish everyone could see it. It si basically about the effects of parents not talking to their children about sex.

I was incredibly lucky in this situation. My parents were very open (sometimes too open) about sex from a very young age. I think that this definitely led me to be more educated and cautious when exploring my sexuality. I always took this for granted. After seeing this though and constantly reevaluating how I want to eventually raise my children, I can't stress the importance of treating your children as little PEOPLE! I think that the more we hide from our children and the more we shelter him, the more harm it does in the long run. Now i know I don't have kids yet and I will still have a lot of learning and evaluating to do, but, damn people, talk to your children like the free-thinking, autonomous individuals that they are.