Drifterwood
Superior Member
Actually the divorce rate is just a little bit lower than 50% in the U.S.
FASTSTATS - Marriage and Divorce
The 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that about 46% of all marriages end in divorce.
In the UK, the stats are now that more than 50% of marriages end within five years, and more interestingly perhaps, that more than 50% of couples aren't actually married anyway. The economy always has a part to play, so I am not sure what will have been happening through this recession.
Drifter, just because it's culturally tolerated doesn't mean we have to like it.
Cultures aren't tolerated, Helga, they are the culture. If the majority don't like aspects of their inherited culture, then it changes. Our Western culture has clearly changed considerably with regard to long term relationships.
I would say that their culture tolerates human nature and works with it, whilst our/your culture has attempted to control it, but is failing increasingly. I don't side with the lynch mob mentality that wishes to enforce and damn those who do not adhere to your cultural expectations, because I do not think that it can work if we are to allow people freedom to be who and what they are. Some people are clearly happy with the enforced monogamy, they have my very best wishes, but they are not the majority.
Some anthropologists would argue that women use pragmatic monogamy and men genetic monogamy. When these purposes have been served (and btw they do not guarantee any level of physical sexual fulfillment), relationships will change. I am of course only talking about relationships that may have the desire for reproduction. When people are cheating and why, depends very much IMO on which part of the relationship cycle they are in, before formal commitment, before children, during children and after children. The European attitude that you described and the other culture that I described relate to non sexual monogamy after children. This is very different to cheating and accepting it or not during the other phases IMO.
There are of course also people whose sex drives can not be controlled with moral and cultural monogamy at any stage of a relationship.
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