Suffocation Model Of Marriage

The articles primary focus was to inform the reader about the fundamental qualities of a successful and unsuccessful marriage. The authors use a mountain as a metaphor to replace the standard pyramid layout called the Suffocation Model. The suffocation model is used throughout the article as a reference to the shifts in marital qualities over time. The suffocation model demonstrates the progressions of marriages with two possible results which is one negative and one positive. The negative outcome is that, as Americans have progressively looked to their marriage to enable them to meet eccentric, self-expressive necessities, the extent of relational unions that miss the mark concerning their desires has developed, which has expanded rates of

The institutional era happened from 1776-1850; it is an era where most Americans lived in agricultural communities. Thus, they relied on marriage for food production, shelter, and protection from violence. This meant that marriages were not based on self-actualization or self-esteem, but more for primitive needs as stated before. The second era was the compassionate era which happened from 1850- 1965; were marriages made a transition from an agriculture environment to an urban environment. As a result, a shift in marriage needs occurred from basic primitive needs like loving, being loved, and even experiencing romantic passion in the form of the middle categories of the mountain. Additionally, this era played a key role in gender roles with husbands leaving home to a workforce and wives tending to the household. Lastly, the author covered the self-expressive era which commenced in 1965 and continues into today's marriages. The self-expressive era is far more complex in structure compared to the previous era in the sense of self-value in the marriage. This transition occurred because of many historical events such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, and the feminist movement. It propelled marriages to a higher sense of self-value and self-discovery. As a result, this era has shaped today's vision and goals for marriages to a higher sense of

It has thought me to value myself and my marriage. It has thought me how marriages back then would be based on better social status rather than for love. Marriages were arranged by social status between known family and friends; rather than based on the values you looked for in a person. The prompt was successful in changing my personal views on the topic of marriage because it reassured me in knowing that I got married for all the right reasons. The prompt has shown me how far we have come when it comes to marriages and the values that we hold dear