FREE ESSAY ON MARRIAGE AND AGING

MARRIAGE AND AGING

Reaction Paper: Marriage and Aging
A big aspect in keeping a marriage successful is how much communication occurs between
the two people involved. For a healthy relationship there is a need for quite a bit of
communication. Communication, as stated in class, is one of the key elements to a
successful marriage. There has to be some open discussions and trust in the relationship
to make it anywhere. If you can not talk to your partner you will not be able to solve
problems in a healthy manner. You have to be able to tell your partner things to help you
learn and mature with them. You have to learn how to compromise and help each other out.
Communication has to be part of your relationship in some way. You cannot go through your
life not talking to your partner about important issues that you should be able to talk
to them about. 
Another important issue discussed in class was homosexuals and marriage. Homosexual
marriage is an important issue because it deals with a relatively large minority of the
United States. This issue is important today with respect to many different ideas. There
are so many ideas of morals, family values, and those of equality, constitutionality, and
right to privacy. The aspect with the most relevance is constantly left up to debate.
Homosexuals are 'gay' due to a combination of factors. These factors are environment and
society-the outside influences- and genetics. 
Hence, homosexuals do not decide their own sexuality, nor do heterosexuals. Therefore,
homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals, one of these rights being
marriage. This is why it is of great importance to public policy whether or not
homosexuality is predetermined. I am not homosexual and I am not writing this to defend
homosexuals. I just believe that the whole issue is unfair towards homosexuals. 
Marriage goes beyond the benefits, however. The institution of marriage is a very
respected one, and holds much sentimental value for many people. In America, all men are
to be created equally. Does this exclude homosexuals? Many think so simply because they
believe that marriage is not a right, but a privilege. This argument means that because
gays are not going to bring a child into the world naturally, they do not deserve the
privilege of marriage. That doesn't seem fair. 
Different age groups hold their own opinions with marriage issues. Some young people,
ages 18-25 are used to gays because gays have emerged in this generation. Middle aged
people may feel fine with the issue or ticked off. People with families could feel that
homosexual marriages around their community are different and unappealing. Older
individuals have gone through the aging process and have not been familiar with gay
issues until recently in the past twenty years. Since they are older, they are more old
fashioned and are used to thinking the way they thought years and years ago. This is
simply that a man and a woman fall in love, get married, have children and grow old
together. But a homosexual marriage is an issue that these older citizens need to be
faced with. Women make up majority of that older population and have a life expectancy
that is longer than men's. As a result of longer lives, women are expected to experience
chronic illnesses and disabilities. They are also more likely to live alone, be single
and become poor in their old age. Visiting a cemetery, you can notice that the majority
of the people deceased were elderly men. This concludes maybe that men were more of the
hard workers before, who gave women the opportunity to take better care of themselves and
in turn they lived longer lives. The elderly are treated differently all around the
world.
The percentage of elderly people in the United States has tripled since 1900, the
population of elderly is expected to double between now and the year 2030. Not only is
the number greater, but they are also living much longer. Even though there is a large
population of elderly people in the United States, we as a society overlook them as if
they aren't there. I think it is wonderful when I see an older couple that has been
married for a long time. This means that they have taken their marriage very seriously
and are still committed to each other. Having a successful marriage is more difficult in
today's world than fifty or sixty years ago. In the future, I believe there will be more
and more single women and men because of all the miscommunications between the two. As
stated before, marriage is something to take seriously and work hard at keeping one. By
communicating well with one another, a married couple may be happy and grow old together.