Is marriage an out-of-date notion?

A friend’s friend is moving in with her boyfriend of three years. My friend wonders why he hasn’t proposed to her yet.

Then I wonder, is marriage necessary in this day and age? Legally, a defacto relationship in Western Australia has the same standing as a marriage. And a marriage can be dissolved almost just as easily as a defacto relationship.

So why get married? Just to have another huge party?

To me, the answer is quite glaring. At heart we are traditional creatures. Many smart strong independent women out there will never admit this to themselves. We want to get married because society dictates that we should get married. Societal norms have been ingrained too deeply within our brains. No matter how much we try, It’ll probably take decades to de-claw our brains.

My friend told me she wants to have kids. And she wants to be married before she has her kids.

That’s a great traditional answer.