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Definition

The fundamental nature of marriage is the subject of philosophical debate: constructionists view marriage as a social construct created, institutionalized, and sometimes modified by humans; essentialists hold the dialectically opposed view that the essence of marriage is not something humans — individually or as a society — can change.

Not a prerequisite for children

Marriage has never^[21] been a prerequisite for having children.

In some cultures marriage imposes upon women the obligation to bear children. In northern Ghana, for example, payment of bridewealth signifies a woman's requirement to bear children, and women using birth control face substantial threats of physical abuse and reprisals.^[22]

Marriage and cohabitation

In the U.S., married people usually live together in the same home, often sharing the same bed,^[23] but in some other places this is not the tradition. In southwestern China, walking marriages, in which the husband and wife do not live together, have been a traditional part of the Mosuo culture.^[24] Walking marriages have also been increasingly common in modern Beijing. Guo Jianmei, director of the center for women's studies at Beijing University, told a Newsday correspondent, "Walking marriages reflect sweeping changes in Chinese society."^[25] A similar arrangement in Saudi Arabia, called misyar marriage, also involves the husband and wife living separately but getting together regularly.^[26] Marriage is not a prerequisite for cohabitation. In the U.S., Jay Teachman, a researcher at Western Washington University, has studied premarital cohabitation.^[27] Teachman’s study, "Shows that women who are committed to one relationship, who have both premarital sex and cohabit only with the man they eventually marry, have no higher incidence of divorce than women who abstain from premarital sex and cohabitation. For women in this category, premarital sex and cohabitation with their eventual husband are just two more steps in developing a committed, long-term relationship."^[28]

Census Estimates

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the age at which people first marry is rising. "In 1970, the median age at first marriage was 20.8 years for women and 23.2 years for men. By 2003, these ages had risen to 25.3 years and 27.1 years, respectively."^[29] In a working paper dated December 2006, a member of the U.S. Census Bureau staff estimated that, "Among the 224.9 million people 15 and older in the United States in 2004, 56 percent of men and 51 percent of women indicated they were currently married, 9 percent of men and 11 percent of women were divorced, and 2 percent of men and 3 percent of women were separated."^[30]

This just in

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2177982.html

Affinity

What about articles on affinal exchange systems and affinal alliances?

This article covers...

Advisability of using, "This article covers..." as in Moon landing.