> And in "traditional" marriages, women absolutely do work. They just do unpaid labor (and often more than the man did, working weekends and evenings as well.) Laundry, cooking, cleaning, childcare, are all work.

Work in that context meant a job, ie paid labor

> And having kids can be emotionally fulfilling. Watching the development of ones children and experiencing the world through their eyes is powerful.

This has nothing to do with marriage

> But your attitude that marriage is somehow transactional or whatever ignores a lot of human emotional aspects.

Because it's a legal agreement, viz transactional. The emotional aspect is love. Love does not imply marriage (a legal agreement).

You love someone so much that you decide to enter into a legally binding agreement, and because of the love alone and not other factors like tradition or conformity?

This makes no sense, loving someone and entering into a legal agreement are two entirely different concepts