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Brianna Ordenes

November 24, 2014


ENC 3315
Lindee Owens
Commonplace Book

These articles, blog posts, and journals alike are put together here as
evidence for and against delayed marriage. I came across many different
viewpoints on this topic and found statistical evidence that seems to prove
not only that a delay in marriage has happened, but also why it has. Some
blame it on the parents, others on society, some say its an issue that does not
just stem from marriage itself, but goes down deeper into the world of dating.
While I do not believe in the necessity of holding off until a set age to
get married, some do and their views and evidence they provide are what I
use to assert my claim of this delay being an issue. I use the stories of people
who have gotten married young, along with statistical evidence from the
references below to further assert the idea that holding off on marriage is not
the best idea. Waiting does not mean that people are holding off on
parenthood, and cohabitation does not have the same benefits that marriage
doesnot for the partners and not for the child. Women are trying and
failing to ignore the clock that begs to be heard and without marriage,
children are growing up in unstable homes and this could be detrimental to
their emotional growth.

A, Rachel. "A Generation Failing to Commit." Love Fidelity Network. 2012. Web.
<http://www.loveandfidelity.org/online_journal/a-generation-failing-tocommit-by-rachel-a/>.
Rachel A., in her 2012 journal published on the Love Fidelity Network,
A Generation Failing to Commit argues the many fears that go into the lack
of commitment that todays generation has. She goes into detail with each
fear, first explaining the culture that she is analyzing, and arguing that
although these fears are reasonable (fear of rejection, responsibility, and
mistakes), they are cause for concern. Her purpose is to make her readers
realize that these fears need to be overcome in order to be able to date and
eventually get married. She establishes an authoritative presence with her
audience of young adults looking to learn more about the world of love and
fidelity.
Cummings, Jozen. "You Don't Need a Winter Romance: The Case Against Cuffing
Season." Gawker. 16 Oct. 2014. Web. <http://gawker.com/you-dont-need-awinter-romance-the-case-against-cuffin-1646765759>.
Jozen Cummings, in his 2014 Gawker article, You Dont Need a Winter
Romance: The Case Against Cuffing Season argues against the idea that
relationships formed when the temperature outside is below 70 are only
meant to last until mid-February. Through anecdotes and references to other
articles, Cummings further argues his point that this concept of CST (Cuffing
Season Tendencies) has gotten out of hand. He writes as though speaking to
his peers, the twentysomethings that find themselves calling girlfriends the

fresh-out-the-box boo, and referencing Drake lyrics. He does this in order to


try and form a connection between himself and his audience and change the
way they view the concept of cuffing season (end of October to midFebruary).
Hackett, Kara. "The Best Age to Get Married." Http://www.journalgazette.net/. Ed.
Craig Klugman. 13 Feb. 2014. Web.
<http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140213/BLOGS20/140219727>.
Kara Hackett, in her 2014 article in The Journal Gazette, The Best Age
to Get Married asserts that we should not place an expiration date on getting
married, nor should we swear it off until a certain age. In an analysis of Time
Magazines app that came out just in time for Valentines Day, Hackett writes
that there is no time stamp on love. She furthers her assertion by stating that
we, as the young adults/twentysomethings of the world, have begun to view
marriage as a death sentence of sortshanding out statistical evidence of
this delay in marriage and our thoughts on it. Her purpose is to get people to
understand that just because Jay-Z says 30s the new 20, doesnt mean we
should wait until our 30s to get married and do what was typically done in
our 20s in order to get this generation to realize that getting married young
isnt as bad as we make it out to be.
Hymowitz, Kay S. Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America.
Charlottesville, VA: [National Marriage Project at the U of Virginia], 2013.
Print.
Kay Hymowitz and some of her colleagues put together a study titled

Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America in 2013. In
this study, they create a very detailed analysis of the effects of delayed
marriage. Through graphs, statistical evidence, and admitting pop culture
influences, this team was able to argue the difficulties delayed marriage
places on societycreating more and more single moms as people choose to
have children while cohabitating and end up breaking up, not having
marriage as a means to keep them together. Their purpose is to raise
awareness for delayed marriage and the consequences it may bring in order
to make the twentysomething men, women, and families realize what is
happening around them and try to fix it. They establish a sort of teacherstudent relationship as they go through the effects cohabitation has on
children and on society, speaking to the twentysomethings that are finding
themselves in the relationships they describe.
Marcotte, Amanda. "The Case Against Marrying Young." Slate Magazine. 2 Apr. 2013.
Web.
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/04/02/a_reply_to_julia_shaw
_women_marry_later_because_they_don_t_want_to_get_divorced.html>.
Amanda Marcotte, in her 2013 blog post on Slate which was written in
response to Julia Shaws article (also published on Slate), The Case Against
Marrying Young suggests that although marrying young worked out for
Shaw, Marcotte advocated against it. Marcotte quotes Shaw, and in
disagreeing with her, explains where she is coming fromhaving grown up
in a red state where the person you married young was not called your

soul mate, but rather your first husband. Her purpose is to get the young
adults to realize that when you marry older, your chances of divorce go down
and you make more money. She does this in order to settle the minds of the
young people she writes to and get them to see that they dont need to find a
soul mate or rush to find true love and get married, but rather that they can
wait some time before they settle down and that it is actually beneficial to do
so.
Matthews, Dylan. "People Who Marry Young Are Happier, but Those Who Marry
Later Earn More." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2013. Web.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/04/peop
le-who-marry-young-are-happier-but-those-who-marry-later-earn-more/>.
Dylan Matthews, in his 2013 blog post on Wonkblog published to The
Washington Post, People Who Marry Young Are Happier, but Those Who
Marry Later Earn More asserts that there is a premium that women get
when they wait until theyre 30 to get married. He compares the earnings of
men and women and provides statistical evidence and references articles to
further assert that when you wait, you earn more. This claim does not
particularly apply to men, though. His purpose was to write a blog post in
response to both Julia Shaw and Amanda Marcotte and provide more data on
the subject of delayed marriage in order to allow the young adults he writes
to, see the cold hard facts instead of just the banter of two women on the
topic of marriage. Matthews establishes himself as a voice of reason, saying
that if youve already found someonethats amazing, but many people

havent found that someone and thats okay and might even be a good thing.
Miller, Korin. "The Best Age to Get Married." Cosmopolitan. 9 Jan. 2012. Web.
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/news/a3764/marri
age-age/>.
Korin Miller, in her 2012 article for Cosmopolitan, The Best Age to Get
Married claims that the magic number (age) that you should get married
after is 25. By talking about the then new marriage of Justin Timberlake and
Jessica Biel, and using them as an example of a couple who waited past the
magic age and are bound to work out (so far, so good). Her purpose for
writing this article was to let the twentysomethings of America who read the
fashion magazine and keep up with celebrity gossip, know that we should
wait to get married. She says this in order to get us to realize that we should
wait until 25. By then, we can probably support ourselves and will have a
degree or two under our belts. And after finding our independence, we can
learn to be dependent on another persona person who isnt exactly like
you, but isnt too different either.
Ray, Barbara. "Could 20-Somethings Parents Be Behind the Slower Path to
Marriage?" Twentysomething Marriage. Knot Yet, 26 Apr. 2014. Web.
<http://twentysomethingmarriage.org/could-20-somethings-parents-bebehind-the-slower-path-to-marriage/>.
Barbara Ray, in her article on Twentysomething Marriage with Knot
Yet, Could 20-Somethings Parents Be Behind the Slower Path to Marriage?"
suggests that maybe its not just the kids who are putting off marriage, but

maybe its the parents. Through anecdotesboth personal and notRay


was able to express her point, that parents started getting married at the
height of divorce and the experience has scarred them and are deterring
their children from making the same choices they did, getting married
younger. Her purpose was to shed some light on the subject on who exactly is
causing this delay in marriage in order to figure out what we can do about it,
if there is anything we can do about it. She establishes a sort of motherly tone
throughout her article, explaining how she has been in the position that we
are in now, trying to figure out who to marry or if we even want to get
married, and she assures us that although no one is guaranteed a partner
that will be there through everything, if we start a bit earlier, and didnt hold
marriage on as high of a pedestal, wed all be better off.
Regenerus, Mark. "Freedom to Marry Young." Washington Post. The Washington
Post, 26 Apr. 2009. Web. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042402122.html>.
Mark Regenerus, in his 2009 article on The Washington Post,
Freedom to Marry Young suggests that although there are many factors
contributing to delayed marriage, they arent exactly true. Through anecdotal
evidence of some of his students, and inserting common sense where people
seem to leave it out, Regenerus pushes through and his suggestion that
young marriage can work, pulls through. His purpose is to get the
twentysomethings of today to realize that the young marriages that experts
say fail, are in reference to teen marriages, not so much marriages that begin

in your early 20s. He does in order to relieve some of the stress and erase the
idea of young marriage being taboo. He writes as a professor to the
twentysomethings that see young marriage as a rebellion against their
parents, but he opens up and feels like a father, with his use of the word
twittering in reference to using the social media site, Twitter.
Regenerus, Mark. "The Case for Early Marriage." ChristianityToday.com. 31 July
2009. Web.
<http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/august/16.22.html>.
Mark Regenerus, in his 2009 article for Christianity Today, The Case
for Early Marriage argues that there are many contributing factors to this
delay in marriage that weve realized has occurred but that we should try to
move past them and get married at an earlier age to have someone to go
through life with. He writes about how even the parents of Christian young
adults are asking their children to wait for a spouse who displays real
godliness and how twentysomethings are focusing less on building mature
relationships and more on all the fun we could be having. He lists each of the
factors and describes them and how they affect marriage in todays world by
quoting the bible and illustrating what he has seen happen in his church and
in the churches around him. His purpose is to raise awareness to what is
happening now with marriage and what the church is called to do in order to
get the twentysomethings in the church to see where they are lacking and
keep them from marrying for reasons other than love. He establishes himself
as an authority figure, as a sort of professor but also as a father who is

looking out for the twentysomethings of the church.


Shaw, Julia. "Marry Young." Slate Magazine. 1 Apr. 2013. Web.
<http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/04/i_married_you
ng_what_are_the_rest_of_you_waiting_for.html>.
Julia Shaw, in her 2013 article on Slate, Marry Young suggests that if
you marry young, things will turn out great because you have a partner to go
through life with and who is always there to support you. She gives us her
story about her marriage and what she went through in life and how her
spouse was right beside her through it all. Her purpose is to prove to the
twentysomethings who find themselves too young to get married that they
really arent in order to relieve some of the stress they may be having in
terms of what it really means to get married. She writes to us as a friend who
has been there before and is explaining to us what shes been through and
letting us know that its not all that bad.
Walton, Alice. "The Marriage Problem: Why Many Are Choosing Cohabitation
Instead." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 7 Feb. 2012. Web.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/the-marriageproblem-why-many-are-choosing-cohabitationinstead/252505/?single_page=true>.
Alice Walton, in her 2012 article on The Atlantic, The Marriage
Problem: Why Many Are Choosing Cohabitation Instead suggests that many
young couples who are choosing cohabitation over marriage are doing so
because they are afraid of marriage not working out and ending in divorce.

She provides pop culture examples and refers to other articles to further her
suggestion and allow young adults to understand where she is coming from.
Her purpose is to change the way young adults view marriage in order to
make them less afraid of whats to come. She establishes the identity of a
friend to the young adults who read The Atlantic; those who know how long
Kim Kardashians wedding lasted and fear that theirs might end up the same
way.

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