So the song goes, “If you liked it, then you should’ve put a ring on it.” The “Single Ladies” anthem seems to be more than just a pop culture catch phrase, echoing melodiously from Beyoncé Knowles. Now if you’ve seen the video you would be distracted by the calisthenics and gyrations, yet there is a message amidst the madness. If I asked the single ladies across America to raise their hands, 51% of the women would acknowledge their unmarried status.
There was a popular saying in the 1990s, “You go, girl!” which was used as a term of endearment and encouragement. These days the saying can be arguably rephrased to, “You go girl…and get married.” A recent Yale study indicates that fewer women are walking down the aisle, as 23 percent of white women and 42 percent of AfricanAmerican women have yet to be married. The wise saying in Proverbs 18:22 declares, “He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor from the Lord”. So, are men not looking or are they not finding?
According to Time Magazine’s November 2010 issue “Who Needs Marriage?” in the year of 1960, nearly 70% of American adults were married; now only about half are. Back then, two-thirds of 20-somethings were married; in 2008 just 26% were.
Is marriage becoming obsolete? Well, according to the Pew Research Center Survey, 4 in 10 say, “Yes.” It is no secret that approximately 60% of marriages end in divorce. The troubled state of our unions indicate that marriage is becoming less popular in America. Why are 60% of marriages ending in divorce? For a myriad of reasons as we
have heard on talk shows like Dr. Phil, Oprah, and a host of other programs.
Did Tyler Perry get the question correct in his 2007 film asking, “Why Did I Get Married?” The question now days is not “Why Did I Get Married?”, but America is asking why would I get married? As 60% of marriages end in divorce, 40% of the people feel there is no need for marriage. Our country is at a crossroads. What has brought our nation to this point? Is the institution of marriage under attack and in the crosshairs within our country?
If we turn the hands of time back 50 years, it’s amazing to see how popular culture mirrors society. We have transitioned from the wholesome households of The Cleavers (“Leave it to Beaver”) to “The Brady Bunch”, and “The Cosby’s”. Now we’re in a false sense of Reality TV age, with a “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” style of living and
marriage.
Going back 50 years some women had a degree in domestic engineering. Now it’s the norm for women to specialize in fatherless home child rearing, in which Mothers are told “Happy Father’s Day Mom” from 80% of black children, who grow up in single parent homes.
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