The Influence Of Modern Marriage

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According to the readings from our text, and our discussions in class, what do men and women expect of modern marriage?
Before Marriage
Before discussing marriage, I felt that it was important to touch upon childhood experiences, as well as relationships that lead up to marriages, and what essentially shapes our idea of marriage. From the time we are children attending school and beginning to interact with the opposite sex, we were taught that if boys were mean to you, that means he likes you. That is to say, that from day one, we are giving men this hidden power over us females (Waiting to be Asked). These experiences shape our idea of men’s actions (and how those actions are deemed acceptable) throughout relationships within our lives,
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Marriage in Our Generation Today: The Influence of Social Media
My parent’s generation had a very different idea of marriage compared to my generation’s idea of marriage today. Just one example is the location of weddings. I recall my mother saying “everyone got married in churches, even if you weren’t religious, which we aren’t, but because that was the norm, we followed this tradition.” In the realm of marriage today, marriages occur at any location you can imagine: on a beach, on a cruise, in a backyard, in a barn, the list goes on. Furthermore, it has become more and more accepted for a couple to go to city hall and obtain a marriage license, just the two of them.
From the time we, as little girls, are born, are given Barbie dolls to play with. Evidently, this has been spoken of numerous times in lecture, how gender is determined from the moment you are born, you are given toys, blankets of certain colours, and clothing, to name a few, that creates your proper gender identity. Because we as little girls are given Barbie and Ken dolls to play with, we are therefore conditioned to begin thinking about relationships and marriage from a very young age. Think back to when you got your first Barbie and Ken dolls: did you play with them, as if the two were friends? Its unlikely. Instead, we imagine the two as either dating, or we put on a marriage between the two, and play house, imitating what each role each specific gender will play later on in life.
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I, myself, have a Pinterest board full of ideas for my future marriage: dresses, rings, invitations, venues, and so much more. In fact, I don’t have a single female friend that does not have a Pinterest board dedicated to a future wedding. If you search “wedding” on Pinterest, there are thousands upon thousands of pins for each aspect: ideas, dresses, invitations, bands, decorations and hairstyles. Any minor detail you could think of that is incorporated into a wedding, I can guarantee that Pinterest has these within their website. Even Youtube has really played up the idea of marriage, as there are thousands of videos of “the perfect wedding” posted, with millions of views. Additionally, as an avid TLC watcher, I am very familiar with TV shows relating to marriage, such as Say Yes To The Dress. While watching this, women know exactly what type of wedding dress they would like, and by which designer, by the age of 18 approximately (maybe even sooner). Its also interesting to note that we, as women, who watch Romance movies, expect a lot from men. The idea of “prince charming” is put into our heads, and we certainly expect, and hope, that one day, a man will come and sweep us off our feet and give us the perfect wedding that we have been planning for our entire

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