Mediate Michigan

A modern man’s perspective on why marriage isn’t dead.

In “I Don’t,” their smart essay from next week’s print edition of NEWSWEEK, my colleagues Jessica Bennett and Jesse Ellison cite an impressive array of facts and figures to argue that “marriage is, quite simply, no longer necessary.”

Once upon a time, they write, tying the knot was “how women ensured their financial security, got the fathers of their children to stick around, and gained access to a host of legal rights.” But now women are more educated and—at least among young urbanites—better compensated than their male counterparts. Tax breaks and health-care subsidies will soon favor single people over married couples. Kids actually spend more time with their parents in Scandinavian countries, where a majority of children are born out-of-wedlock, than in America. And most spousal rights can be easily established without a marriage certificate.

As a result, my wedding-weary coworkers conclude, marriage no longer makes sense.

For the record, I completely agree. In the year 2010, anyone who denies that marriage has become impractical probably hasn’t paid much attention to the numbers. But while Bennett and Ellison get the details right, I think they miss the big picture. Or at least my big picture. For them, the irrationality of marriage is the reason why modern men and women shouldn’t get hitched. For me, it’s the reason they should.

via I Do, Too – Newsweek.