Summary

There has been a change in the societal views of marriage over time. However, each researched topic has changed the institution of marriage in different ways.

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, significant changes have occurred in American society that have challenged and changed traditional norms about marriage. Through changes seen in the improvement in the status of members of the LGBT+ community, increased rights for women, changes in immigration laws, the abolishing of anti-miscegenation laws, and the gradual removal of the stigmas surrounding cohabitation, the fundamental character of marriage changed to reflect the changes in American society.

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After significant research into the plights and activism of the LGBT+ community in the mid-to-late 1900s and the 2000s, we find that decades of activism combined with a general trend of social liberalization heavily benefitted their community. Despite being labeled as “degenerative towards society” and “deviant,” the community fought back against discrimination and lobbied for basic rights and protections. Though progress was slow and piecemeal, the 21st century brought significant progress that allowed homosexuals to marry. As a result of their progress, marriage is now no-longer legally regarded as a union between only a man and a woman, but it can now be seen as a union between two people regardless of their respective genders. 

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The rise in women’s rights also fundamentally changed the status of marriage. Though women’s rights movements in America have historically traced their roots to the mid-19th century and the Suffrage Movement of the early 20th century, significant progress was made in the mid-to-late 20th century to close the gap between the genders in both education and the labor force. The passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 dramatically improved the legal rights of women through banning pay differences based solely on gender, banning discrimination in all public accomodations based on gender, and prohibiting discrimination in educational instituions based on gender, respectively. As a result of these protections combined with an increased attitude of social freedoms for women, they have been able to dramatically close the gaps in labor force participation and the proportion of college-educated persons. Because of these improvements in their standing in American society, the institution of marriage has changed so that women are no longer expected to be treated as second-class. Women are also expected to pursue their own education and careers. Women are no longer expected to marry in their late teens or early twenties or to have an abundance of children. These stereotypes of marriage have been widely-rendered as obsolete in the push for better social equality and increased freedoms. 

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After learning about anti-interracial marriage laws as well as immigration laws that excluded or extremely limited particular nationalities from becoming US citizens, we find that laws have a large impact on how we perceive interracial marriages. Anti-miscegenation or anti-interracial laws were legal in at least some parts of the US over the course of three centuries. While it is difficult to shift paradigms of a concept that appeared legally and socially acceptable as anti-interracial laws were for such a long time, it is equally important that we think about how our history and laws have influenced us. Simply because a rule has lasted for so long does not necessarily make it fair or just. This was particularly true from Fryer’s research that analyzed the differences between the rates of interracial marriage based on whether a state had anti-interracial laws, decided to end that law on their own, or never had it to begin with. Ending unjust and unequal laws is only one of the earlier steps in increased equality for those of different ethnicities, races, and/or nationalities, as the majority of people’s mindsets often take even longer to change than the laws themselves.

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In addition, we learned that there are more complex issues that can arise from the US immigration system that interferes with couples from being together or marrying each other. More individual, personal, and emotional aspects of people that are affected by policies and laws should be taken more into account. There are many causes for fear, anxiety, and confusion for these couples, and their voices are often not heard. The laws that enforce equality in the US do not always result in the equality that they suggest. Since laws not only set rules for our safety but also provide us our rights and freedoms, this is the framework that is used to determine how many freedoms we and the people around us deserve. Thus, laws can reflect the mindset of a nation, especially those in government positions, more than we initially considered. Marriage laws concerning international and/or interracial couples are one significant way to understand this.

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Rising divorce rates and cohabitation present substantial challenges to the stability and prestige of marriage. Love and companionship remains the top reasons why people get married. But, as cohabitation comes onto the scene, marriage has less economical appeal than before. With the same purpose of love and companionship, cohabitation gains an edge in its freedom and fluidity. Many people fear the “life-long” commitment and financial bind that looms over marriage and are opting for more flexible relationships plans instead.

Cohabitation currently has few practical benefits to offer as it still has not achieved equal social and legal status as marriage. But as more and more Americans welcome cohabitation as an acceptable alternative to marriage, the laws and social notions surrounding cohabitation will likely change as well. Marriage is increasingly losing its luster as the pinnacle of romantic love and lagging behind the freedom of casual, less-committal relationships. As individuals seek more social liberty in regards to one’s personal life, traditional institutions such as marriage no longer offer the thrill and independence that unconventional approaches offer. 

As a result of changes in American society in the 20th and 21st centuries, interracial couples, the LGBT+ community, women, and cohabiting couples have all seen improvements in social standing and acceptance. Marriage prior to these changes typically saw the husband as the patriarch of the family where the wife was expected not to have a college education or a job. Marriages in some states were relegated to people of the same race. Marriage typically occurred with younger couples and they expected to be married relatively quickly. Now, marriage is an institution that is color-blind, as well as without regard to the gender of each member of the couple. Both partners are expected to split responsibilities equally, and if they choose not to formally marry, that too is accepted. The institution of marriage has undergone many changes in the last several decades, and as society changes, it is expected to evolve. 

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However, we also find it important to note that we had difficulty with finding research on the intersection of our topics. Our ablility to find resources on trends over time concerning cohabitation and gender roles, cohabitation and LGBT+ matters, cohabitation and interracial/intenational relationships, LBGT+ matters and interracial/international relationships, as well as all three of our topics combined (cohabitation, LGBT+/gender, and interracial/international relationship concerns), were lacking. This is in part due to a lack of scholarship in which these areas intersect, and we hope that this will improve in the future. This project has at least allowed us to realize that more stories of nuanced and intersecting experiences of people will provide us a better understanding of how impactful the institution of marriage is in the US.