Question 1
The societal trend cite ambivalent attitude that pertains marriage. Cohabitation and premarital sex has gained acceptance in this decade. The young adults perceive cohabitation as an option to marriage. The current society looks for a leeway to long-term commitment. The society has stopped stigmatizing the practice of cohabitation and it is a common living arrangement (Schoen and Vladimir 749). The increase in unmarried union is due to individual freedom to begin and end relationships. Many young adults do not support that marriage is the only option for intimacy. Premarital cohabitation occurs due to parental conflict and divorce cases. The society has shifted its values towards acceptance of premarital sexual activity. There is an intergenerational transmission of attitude about sex and family issues. Women in this century compete with the men in the professional jobs and higher wages. The professional women have few children to allocate time for work and other duties. The society experiences the rise of single parenthood where the mother jungles between work and her children. Most females take their children to day care services to permit them enough time to work. In this case, the children suffer mental agony moral weakness. The 21st century woman practices promiscuity that reaches unprecedented heights. The woman can give birth outside wedlock.
Question 2
Recently there has been debate as regards homosexuality. Some children are born and raised by homosexual parents. There is ethical debate about adoption, artificial reproduction in the ongoing same-sex marriage. Family organization cites that children do better when raised by a biological father and mother. The advocates for homosexual parents offer that there is no difference between heterosexual and homosexual parenting (Meezan and Jonathan 100). The ones that support gay marriages argue that love offers enough grounds for marriage regardless of sexual orientation. The proponents of same sex marriage propose that the practice subverts the aim of human sexuality in producing children. The gay marriage debate involves the religious beliefs. Some religious groups deny their association with same sex couples. The Christians that advocate for same sex marriage offer that people with different sexual orientation have the same rights with the rest of the people since all have one creator. The Muslims reject same sex marriage.
Recently, the same sex marriage gains legitimacy and gradually rises (Meezan and Jonathan 97). Some of the countries in the world permit same-sex union and puts legislation to support the practice. Some states in America legally recognize same-sex marriage and declare the practice constitutional. The society embraces this practice and supports it in this decade. According to the pollsters, a majority of American declare their support for civility in the same-sex marriage. The American president declares support to legalize same sex marriage and some cities legalized the practice using the method of popular vote. The states have the capacity to determine marriage law other than the federal law. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) does not prevent the individual states to define marriage in their own way (Meezan and Jonathan 102). The Government Accountability Office makes a declaration to confer rights and protect the citizens of America upon marriage. Some of the areas touch on the health benefits, retirement and pension benefits, visit to the hospitals, and leave. The critics of same sex marriage work around the clock to challenge the practice of same sex marriage. Most opponents cite that the constitution declares marriage as a union of a man and a woman.
Question 3
In the past, the United States of America adopted the one-drop rule where a formal union between a black and a white was illegal. The whites fared racial intermarriage due to social standing issues in the society. The whites thought that the blacks could inherit property from the whites and dethrone them. Some theorists suggested that blacks and whites could not reproduce. During the Second World War, the Nazi discredited the ideas of white superiority to justify anti intermarriage laws that ensured discrimination.The existence of the blacks and the white has witnessed mixing of the races in the contemporary world. The anti-miscegenation laws cease in the 20th century and permit marriages between different races (Schoen and Vladimir 755). Prior to the ban, any child born black by a white experienced banishment from the society since the laws prohibited the mix of the races that could threaten the white culture purity. This was due to the illegality of the interracial marriage that work to ensure the offspring of a black and white is still illegal. The inclusion of the white race prevented the black race to intermarry. The migration of the blacks from the south region to the north region witnesses the interracial marriages. The anti-miscegenation laws work to ensure the white society that dominates most of the region. The colonial Americans persecuted the blacks due to racial ancestry. With the violation of the fourteenth amendment, both blacks and whites are equal and can marry regardless of racial differences.
Works Cited
Meezan, William, and Jonathan Rauch. "Gay Marriage, Same-Sex Parenting, And America's Children." The Future of Children 15.2 (2005): 97-113. Print.
Schoen, Robert, and Vladimir Canudas-Romo. "Timing Effects on Divorce: 20th Century Experience In The United States." Journal of Marriage and Family 68.3 (2006): 749-758. Print.
