Marriage Is Not a '24/7 Sleepover Party'

theatlantic.com

13 points·tesmar2··3 comments

This article is one of the best articles I read about marriage. It pointed out the bad side of marriage: "Anyone who's been in a marriage or observed one closely knows that these relationships can go through long periods of financial strain, sexual frustration, lethargy, and loneliness." But it also pointed out some of most valuable advantages of marriage :" It promises that marriage will make two people kinder, more patient, more forgiving, more creative, more selfless"

> Studies say that couples experience a happiness spike in their first year or two of marriage. But that euphoria is fleeting: A couple's happiness returns to its normal, pre-marital level in the years that follow.

I wonder if they control for couples who have kids versus those who don't.

Meh, its pretty accurate with me. First couple of years are the "love" emotion and it wears off. Then it's hard work and effort to keep the passion going.

However the advantages to a marriage are financial (2 providers vs 1), emotional (if I'm down or vice versa, she's got my back), sexual (no more bar hopping looking for sex), disease preventative (if we're both faithful, I don't have to worry about STDs at all, except for possibilities in hospitals), skills (she has one set of skills, I another, combined we compensate for weaknesses of the other. It hurts when we're both bad at something).

Many advantages, MARRIAGE though... idk... it made no difference to us when we got married. We knew that splitting up or divorce was equal in our eyes, the relationship was too important. Marriage gives us also legal benefits, that's all we really cared about.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com