The article’s purpose is to pinpoint specific cultural traits that cause problems in modern relationships. It dives into the history of marriage to illustrate that our modern views on marriage and love are new and specific to the twentieth century. Cultural shifts in our individualistic tendencies are responsible for some of the problems marriages face today. The article poses the underlying idea that perhaps society’s individualistic nature is too self-centered to the point that we push out other’s needs, feelings, and happiness.
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The first key part studies the cultural influences on marriage, starting with our societies plethora of options. The overabundance of everyday choices leads people to constantly assess their decisions and
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People tend to concentrate on the negative aspects of life and relationships because society pressures us to always be working towards or on something. The author best summarized our societal standards by stating “the never-ending search for perfection” is the reason people have become dissatisfied with their love life (Marano Estroff, Hara, 2010). Another cultural phenomenon is the value of autonomy. We use our independence as a measurement of how fulfilling our life is based on the number of choices available. Lots of choices raise our expectations and perceptions of …show more content…
I realized that it was a time of major change in our relationship. The past months I believed that I had been pulling all the weight by taking on a second job, taking over bills, errands, the household and my husband’s medical care, yet I was wrong. I had completely neglected my husband’s emotional needs. I started putting away work for an hour when I got home and I went out of my way to do small important things for him, which was a huge sacrifice of time for me. His attitude dramatically changed in response to my efforts and I finally saw how truly depressed he had been. We were both absorbed in our own misery. It was a wonderful reminder that life sucks for everyone, but we are in this sucky life