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Women have now attained self-awareness and independence by becoming more career minded. This has been gradually happening over time and then in the last few years it has taken wings and soared. The old fashioned idea that the women had to be taken care of by their husbands has passed. Speaking from a woman's point of view; people don't marry anymore because most marriages usually don't last. All too often we hear of indiscretions of both partners and that leads to mistrust; and then you are expected to overlook them and accept them. After a while you can't overlook it any longer and the marriage ends.

Cohabitation is great because there are no strings attached. You can be together but not be legally bound to each other. Being in love no longer means being married. You can buy a house and furniture and still have the freedom of a separate lifestyle without having to ask someone if it's OK. You can buy whatever you want if it's within your budget and never worry about your partner getting angry at you for spending money. Those days have are gone.

What are the differences between being married or living with someone? I have no idea other than a piece of paper with a notary seal on it and your name on the insurance policy. Now days you can still have your name on that policy, and anything else for that matter. It's not the Mrs. title any longer because the Mrs. was changed to Ms. years ago when women wanted their own individual recognition. Up until that time she was always referred to as the "wife". Most women now use the Ms. as their titles plus more and more women if they do marry, are keeping their maiden names and hyphenating them with their married name. So what is the difference?

I have thought about this a great deal in trying to determine what the significance is of being married or cohabiting. Often you hear of a couple who have actually had a wonderful married life together; and that is a rarity because statistics show that marriages do not last that long any more. And then you hear about couples who have stayed together in an awful existence for the sake of marriage are miserable. I don't believe we have to live like that any longer. Society tends to put the blame on the woman for the changes in how we look at marriage and they are probably right because we got tired of our choices and decisions being made for us. I'm not saying that marriage is a bad thing; I'm just saying it's not for everyone.

Learn more about this author, Janet Dunn.
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