Preview

Divorce Bill

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1497 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Divorce Bill
Divorce has become a major issue in our society, and many causes have been attributed to the incline in divorce rates. Divorce rates have spiked during the past few decades and no on really knows why, but several theories have been formed in an attempt to explain this recent phenomena. Feminist theory, Individualism, and dual income theories will be discussed and analyzed to determine if they apply to the recent rise in divorce rates in North America. These theories do not act alone, that is, a not one of the above theories can be labeled as a definite cause of divorce, but when all three are examined together, a formula for divorce can be seen. The rise in divorce can not be, and should not be, attributed to a single theory, but rather the rise in divorce rates can be linked to all three, and one can see that these theories act collectively, as opposed to individually to cause the dramatic spike in divorce rates.

In recent years, Feminist theory has become pushed its way through traditional theory to become recognized. This theory directly applies divorce rates, as it taught women to stand up for their rights, and that they could do anything they wanted. This included activities that were previously occupied by men only. Feminist theory taught women that they did not need to depend on men for emotional support, financial support, or even to give them status in society, rather, feminist theory taught independence. Some forms of feminist theory has established that women do not need men to survive; a quote to back this up is one from Gloria Steinem, and she says “ A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” This backs up the idea that women do not need men to function, and this can be seen as a cause for a higher divorce rate. Some feminist theories are seen as extreme and Eva Figes displays the radical feminist theory when she says, “Either one goes on gradually liberating the divorce laws, until marriage stands exposed as a hollow sham in which no one

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    By the 1920s, there was evidence of an increased divorce rate. In today’s world, we have the highest divorce rate of all time, rising over 50%. According to surveys of the college students in the 1920s, the young believed that marriage should end in divorce if their marital relationship did not fulfill their expectations. Today’s society has a throw away marriage concept, with the majority of children being raised between two sets of parents or single parent households.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    If a person traveled back in time and observed a couple, he might see a women sitting at home cooking a large meal for her ten children and husband to arrive home to. In today’s era, both parents in a relationship are working. This economic change leads to both partners feeling financially independent and stabile. When marriage arises, generally both partners’ income is combined. Between two people, two incomes, they become even more financially stable, as opposed to one income each. If two were to divorce, then situations may become sticky financially because each partner pays for a lawyer, and every possession becomes divided in half. Marriage comes with good financial perks such as, couples receive more tax benefits filling jointly, two incomes as opposed to one, and split bills. But with good comes bad, like the money spent on the wedding, first home, or in some cases divorce…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the 1960’s divorce rate began to increase dramatically but the biggest rise in divorce rate was in 1972 when it doubled and was 120,000. The divorce rate continued to rise and in 1993 reached its peak at 180,000. There has been explanations for the rise in divorce which are: secularisation, changes in law, divorce had become cheaper and also changing attitudes in society especially with women as they had begun to receive more rights. By the times divorce had become a lot more socially acceptable.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Identify and explain two reasons for the increase in divorce over the last 30 years(17).…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How is “his” divorce different from “her” divorce? How are these differences related to society’s gender expectations? In your observation, are the descriptions given in this chapter accurate assessments of divorce outcomes for men and women today?…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    References: Fagan, P.F., Rector, R. (2000, October). The Effects of Divorce on America. World and I,…

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wallerstein, J., Lewis, J., & Blakeslee, S. (2000). The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study. New York: Delacorte Press.…

    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Divorce Rates in America

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Nock, Steven L. "America 's Divorce Problem." Society 36.4 (1999): 43-52. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The number of divorces since the 1960’s has increased largely from around 40 thousand a year to 150 in 2005. Nowadays, 40% of marriages end in divorce. It is an important issue in society as it is common and affects many families. I am going to assess the reasons and explanations behind this increase.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Back in the early 1900’s divorce wasn’t looked at often. Due to religious values, cultural or even moral views, divorce was not familiar. In the late 1900’s to early 2000’s numbers of divorced women age fifteen and older went up through the years drastically until the year of 1990 when divorce rates started to decrease. According to the article by David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe, the chances of divorce may be much lower than expected. To summarize it states that with a higher income, or having a child after being married for a while, longer marriage, and religious values will decrease your chances of divorce.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Concerns of research: this paper is concerned with the effects of divorce and how it affects the society as a whole. It explains why divorce is rather negative thereby highlighting the adverse effects it has on the society.…

    • 2972 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage and Family

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How is “his” divorce different from “her” divorce? How are these differences related to society’s gender expectations? In your observation, are the descriptions given in this chapter accurate assessments of divorce outcomes for men and women today?…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Popenoe

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women are more likely than men to want a divorce, and more women are divorced than men. That is because men are more likely to remarry than women and do so at a faster rate. There has been a moderate drop in couples that have been “very happy” in their marriage in recent decades. People are more content than happy in their relationships. Since the 1970’s when the No Fault Divorce Law was put into place, there was a large spike in divorce rates because people could divorce for no reason at all, and many divorced because they were not satisfied or happy in marriage. Geographic location is a factor in divorce. For instance, the East has a far lower divorce rate than the South or West. That can be attributed for the cultural differences between the geographic areas. Popenoe and Whitehead stated there are six factors that can help lower a person’s chance at divorce, “ So if you are a reasonably well-educated person with a decent income, come from an intact family and are religious, and marry after age twenty-five without having a baby first, your chances of divorce are very low indeed,” (25). Divorce has become a common part of today’s society.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Americans do just about everything a bit more spectacularly than most other people. That includes marriage and divorce. The United States has the world's highest divorce rate and it also leads in the rate of remarriage after divorce, an occurrence that frequently boosts the statistics by leading to yet another breakup. Americans, in short, appear to be marrying more and enjoying it less. This situation distresses clergymen, sociologists and anthropologists, who rightly regard stable marriage as the foundation of society. But it is only half the tragedy of divorce in America. The real scandal is not that so many Americans resort to divorce. It is that so many of the laws of the land are sadly out of step with the growing…

    • 2659 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the United States, more than seventy five percent of American citizens have been married at least once. Of that seventy five percent, American citizens divorce rate is twenty five percent. (Barna) Over the past couple of decades, divorce rates among U.S citizens are continuously fluctuating. Research has shown that revolutionized social changes and predetermined social status due to socio-economic hierarchy has had great influence on the changing rate. The changes in divorce rates can be easily linked to the approved social norms of ethnic groups found in the U.S. Comparing white Americans to other ethnic groups like African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics have been found to show similarities in the social stratification statistics, but differences in the social norms and likelihood of marriage. The comparison of white Americans to other ethnic groups has shown a correlation between low social status and high divorce rates. Individuals who belong to the lower class of the socio-economic hierarchy are found to be more likely to divorce at a higher rate than individuals of higher classes. (Barna) Causes of this social problem are found through the social norms of each ethnic group. Throughout all racial and ethnic groups there are particular social norms that greatly influence the actions made by individuals belonging to different levels of the socio-economic hierarchy. Analyzing factors that affect social norms among ethnic groups like religion, educational achievements, family structure, folkways of society, economic class, and political views help to present the reasoning behind social class inequality. Even though social norms create problems of inequality between social classes, having these norms can also help to find solutions to eliminate inequality and lower divorce rates among the lower class.…

    • 2101 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics