合约婚姻：婚姻以外的选择

福柯说过，我们现在拥有的人际关系形式，如婚姻关系、家庭关系等，是少得多么可怜啊。从世界各国人民的生活实践来看，在婚姻关系之外做出新的选择已经成为一个新的趋势。     

拥抱婚姻还是拒绝婚姻？——婚姻是男人成功的砝码

曾经热播一时的电视剧《中国式离婚》让我们看到了婚姻的另一个面目。有时候一场婚姻的破裂并不需要额外的感情介入，它完全可以被生活的琐屑打败。婚姻作为一项古老的制度被赋予了过多的意义，掺杂了过多的欲望。当结婚变得不那么纯粹时，我们开始犹豫观望，举棋不定……其实，“围在城里的人想逃出去，城外的人想冲进来，婚姻也罢，职业也罢，人生的愿望大都如此”，钱钟书先生早已经说过了。     

婚姻的朴素

捷克小说大师博·赫拉巴尔的妻子艾丽什卡是个普通劳动妇女,有一段时间,赫拉巴尔在家写作,无名无钱,他有时会嘟囔一句:真累啊!他妻子就怒目圆睁,咆哮道:你累从何来?是的,一个天不亮就急着出门卖烧鸡赚钱的女人,最有资格教训一下丈夫的。     

婚姻的风骨

偶尔能看到这样的夫妻：彼此间的言行举止，渗着深厚的爱，不事张扬，恬淡如湖，却透着一种分量很足的魅力，让人心生羡慕。这是爱情在开花结果后很难得的一种境界。这样的两个人，是懂得婚姻的经营之道的，询问、观察后，发现他们会有下面的这些共悟。     

没意思的婚姻

我的男朋友是个死心眼，我们在一起四年了，动不动就会吵架。有时候想想，我自己就会忍不住哭呢。我早就跟他说过不要和别的女人发短信，可两个月前我偶尔看电话，发现有好几个晚上10点以后都是一个女人发来的短信。其实我也知道不会有什么越轨的大事。但我很生气，很想离开他，但是又不能为这种事就毁了四年的感情吧。所以，     

婚姻的未来

任何关于婚姻未来的严肃讨论都需要清晰地了解婚姻的历史，以及造成它最近一些变化的原因。许多希望“重新制度化”婚姻的人错误地把婚姻曾经具有的稳定性当做让它在管理社会生活方面发挥更大作用的理由。     

婚姻的期待

你对婚姻的期望值到底处在什么位置，有没有过头？这种期望将对你的婚姻带来什么样的影响？也许你能在下面这组简单的测试题中找到若干答案，对每个提问，只需回答“是”或“否”即可。（测试仅供参考）     

婚姻的眼睛

不知从什么时候开始,我有了一种习惯,走在路上,喜欢抬起头来扫视别人家的阳台,因为妻说,阳台是家的眼睛,春光明媚的阳台后面,是一个幸福的家.     

婚姻的幸福感

幸福婚姻的秘诀是什么？每个周年纪念日的钻戒和皮衣？奢华的出国旅游？也许没人能回答这些问题，也许每个人都在内心深处知道这个问题的答案，我们对婚姻的期待变得比以往任何时候都更加多样化，小夫妻，中年夫妻和老夫老妻有不同的需求，他们眼中的幸福也不尽相同，本期特别策划为您探求不同年龄阶段的夫妻的幸福秘诀。     

Same-Sex Marriage

Abstract

In this commentary, the legal ramifications and implications of the recent ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowing same-sex marriages to occur in that state are examined. The author then suggests a hypothetical scenario for what the future might look like assuming that the Massachusetts decision is not overturned by adoption of a state constitutional amendment.     

Marriage and Offending: Examining the Significance of Marriage among the Children of Immigrants

Although research shows that involvement in crime varies across immigrant generations, less is known about why this is so. Using 13 waves of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data, we examine the influence of marriage—a key correlate of desistance from crime—to understand more fully patterns of offending across immigrant generations during the transition to adulthood. Results indicate a lower prevalence of offending among first‐generation immigrants compared with their second‐generation and third‐plus‐generation peers; however, among active offenders, rates of offending are similar across groups. Notably, marriage exerts a significantly stronger effect on offending for second‐generation immigrants, suggesting that, while assimilation may be associated with more offending, it is also associated with a greater potency of marriage in promoting desistance from crime.     

Childbearing and Marriage: Investigating the Importance of Context for Meaning-Making of First-Time Marriage

Previous research reveals that the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage can have an impact on the meaning of first-time marriage. This article aims to obtain a deeper understanding of meaning-making of first-time marriage in relation to childbearing. Narrative interviews with 16 brides and grooms in 8 couples in Sweden were conducted. The material was analyzed in relation to the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage. The study reveals that the construction of meaning of marriage does not only relate to the temporal context. Social factors such as social class or family formation might also be relevant for how meaning is constructed. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of meaning-making as a relational process constructed within particular contexts.     

Early Marriage in the United States

Despite drastic changes in the American family, a significant minority of Americans marry early. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N= 14,165), this study evaluates the prevalence and antecedents of early marriage in the United States. The results indicate 25% of women and 16% of men marry before age 23, and early marriage varies widely across a number of characteristics. Individuals who marry earlier are more likely to be from disadvantaged families, from conservative Protestant or Mormon families, to value their religious faith more highly, to have a high‐school diploma but a lower educational trajectory, and to cohabit before marriage. Scholars and policymakers interested in marriage should pay adequate attention to understanding and supporting these individuals’ marriages.     

Step-Families and the Marriage Counsellor*

Marital breakdown and the threat of it affects all members of the family. When a stepfamily is involved more people are affected. Marriage counsellors will now encounter more clients who are in stepfamilies. Stepfamily formation is different from nuclear family formation. These differences and their relevance to marriage counselling are discussed. Utilising family system, small group learning and organisational development concepts a number of tasks for the marriage counsellor and others dealing with stepfamilies are discussed.     

Attitudes Toward Gay Marriage in States Undergoing Marriage Law Transformation

This study examines attitudes toward gay marriage within the context of concern over the weakening of heterosexual marriage. We use data from a three‐state survey conducted in 1998 – 2000 and designed to explore attitudes toward marriage and divorce reform (N = 976). We find that women, Whites, and younger persons are more approving of gay marriage than men, Blacks, and older persons. Nonparents with cohabitation experience are most approving, whereas parents with no cohabitation experience are most opposed. Heterosexual marriage preservation attitudes are key predictors, net of religiosity and political conservativism. We interpret these findings with theories about vested interest in upholding marriage as an institution and ambivalence resulting from conflicting core values of the sanctity of marriage versus the valorization of individualism.     

Debatable Marriages: Marriage and Child Marriage in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

This article examines marriage and the constitution of familial relationships in Saudi Arabia, with a specific focus on one form of marriage that has recently become an issue of public, political, and religious discussion, that of “child marriage.” The situation within Saudi Arabia is compared with gendered relationships in other countries, most notably those in Western Europe, with specific attention given to the United Kingdom. It is argued that policy developments in Saudi Arabia need to be seen in the context of wider Saudi culture, Sharia law, and religious interpretations of the Koran.     

Learning About Marriage from the Divorced

Questionnaire and interview data from 138 men and women who experienced divorce in the middle years give insight into the process of coming apart. It was found that conflict was not an important variable because there often was no communication whatsoever occurring between the couple. For the majority of the divorced couples, time spent together in pleasurable pursuits diminished with the years; the marriage was not examined nor found lacking until some crisis occurred in the middle years-usually the husband developing a relationship outside the marriage that provided the companionship, sharing and intimacy lacking in the marriage. Recommendations for young couples entering marriage today which can serve to enhance the relationship are drawn from the research.     

青年婚恋观现状透析

当前,“80后”正值婚恋高峰期。在改革开放和多元时代下成长起来的“80后”在恋爱观、择偶观、性观念和婚姻观上有着自己独特鲜明的看法。他们直白朴素的恋爱观、多元务实的择偶观、热情与保守相交织的性观念以及“个人主义”的婚姻观,不仅直接影响着个体对未来婚姻、家庭的责任和义务的承担,而且还间接影响着整个社会的主流婚恋价值观趋势。对“80后”婚恋观现状及其原因的探讨,有利于“80后”树立起正确的婚恋观,实现婚姻家庭幸福;有利于社会稳定及和谐社会的构建：更有利于实现中华民族的伟大复兴。