I think responsibility

Punishment for life's mistakes.

Lol. U sounds like u r married

Nope.

And, wise enough to never do it
again.

Haha.. Whats the secret of life u want to tell me?

Here is the answer:

To what?
To them? The "marriage?" Children?
Which responsibility outweighs the other and/or when?
Is that all marriage means? Responsibility? Not love, trust, acceptance, communication, pair bonding, purpose, goals, security, unity, or anything else?
Or are all things secondary?
Do some cancel each other out? Such as responsibility and loyalty?

Why do you think responsibility is the meaning of marriage?


I use the dictionary.
Otherwise, it's subjective to the people in the marriage.

meaning?......................................................there isn't any.

Marriage to me is finding your best friend and building a life, creating memories and a strong bond. Weathering the good times and bad.
Neither is perfect, so forgiveness daily is important.
Of course it is so much more...

This is what it should be... perfect definition.

A huge investment with diminishing returns

Inviting religion and beauracracy and lawyers into your bedroom.

Only important if you are going to have children together.

It makes me sad that so many have a negative view of marriage.
Of course, I am biased..I had a good one (am a widow now)...

But, my first marriage was a waste of time..*and* was divorced, but..that didn't keep me from wanting to be married again..because I knew it was *him*, not me...and not all men were like that..

Nonsense!

As a widower I agree.
People complain about sour grapes because they themselves never had a successful marriage.

Most marriages are not successful!! Congratulations if you were one of the lucky ones!!

So? Does that render it evil or something?
I agree with Bluegrass, it's a shame so many have a negative view and feeling about it.

So? Does that render it evil or something?
I agree with Bluegrass, it's a shame so many have a negative view and feeling about it.

The meaning of marriage has shifted tremendous.
In the past people had little choice, once in you were in for life, even if it got seriously bad.
In those days its meaning was mostly societal and religiously based.
Now... we have free choice!
And with that comes a learning curve since we have not had that free choice and free will for thousands of years. So it's in its infancy, we are in 'relationship & marriage infancy'. It means we now have to find out how we want relationships and marriage to be, and we can shape that now without church & societal pressure.
Great! And sad most don't see or understand just how great that is. We are free, but it's almost like most prefer the be back in the shackles because then they think they have more security and control.
What we can have now is LOVE. Choosing to stay with someone every single day because we love them and choose to be with them.
Basically with this we can go back to pre-Christian and pre-patriarchal times and make bonds and connections from love and respect and free choice.
Now we have to learn to keep and make it great since we can no longer lean on the church and societal pillar of 'no way out' and thus not having to give a chit. If someone now bleeps up, it will fall apart.

So... to me marriage would be making a commitment from deep love and desire to spend my life with the man. And not because I have to but because I'd want to and choose to. Because I'd have this deep intense desire to be someone's wife and partner in every sense of the word, including being officially his wife.