Perspectives on Marriage

The marriages of my grandparents and my parents are very similar to the marriage to which I aspire, because each couple had a strong emotional aspect to its relationship which helped it stay strong and grow throughout the years. However, there are some key differences between these marriages which began during the twentieth century, and the marriage I desire for myself, which will begin during the twenty-first century. For example, back when my grandmother became married, and even my mother became married, women were expected to perform stereotypical “feminine” household chores, while the men was tasked with providing for the family monetarily. I want my marriage with my husband someday to be a partnership in which we share as many tasks as possible equally, because I think I will want to work outside the home, at least before I have kids. My grandparents became married relatively soon after they first met, and I think my marriage will be different because my husband and I, like many other modern couples, will wait longer to become married, because of college and job commitments.

Many stories in Israel’s history emphasize the need to produce offspring, and I disagree with those stories because I think that marriages in which there are no children involved can be very successful, as some couples just do not want to or cannot have children.  I believe that there should be love between a couple before the talk of marriage ever comes into the picture. In Israel’s Wisdom literature, men are asked to pick a wife who is capable in things such as planting crops or speaking wisdom, and I agree with this practice. Although I do not think that one should only pick a partner based on how skilled they are at these things, I think these stories show that these men realized that a woman was able to do something besides just bear children and be a housewife. Both the man and the woman should contribute equally to the marriage, with whatever their skills are.