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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
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
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
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.