I haven't read every single post, so I don't know whether this has been brought up or not.

There was a study that was done that does show a trend of men taking on fewer domestic responsibilities once married. I can't provide the link or anything, but it's out there. The study showed that couples in common-law arrangements had a more equitable division of domestic responsibilities. The caveat to those results is that these common-law couples tended to be younger than the married demographic. It also followed the couples as they went from common-law to married, and the division of domestic labour became less equitable on the man's part within two years of the wedding.

It's pretty deeply ingrained in culture that, once married, the man brings home the bacon and the woman takes care of the home. The only problem is that our lifestyle dictates that both partners work, so a 70/30 split of domestic labour on top of a 8+hour workday, is pure and simple unfair. Never mind when children come into the picture... Does anyone wonder why women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men these days?

Someone early in the thread mentioned that the married men in his office tell him to never get married. I would be that woman in the office telling the girls that the fairy-tale wedding they're planning is a disgusting waste of resources that could be put to better use- like an asset of some sort- and it is also totally setting the wrong expectation for what marriage is about.

Maybe one day I'll get married, but I would have to be convinced by my partner that I wouldn't be regulated to a drudge in the partnership. But do I want a spineless man in the end? Hell, no.

Love relationships aren't what they used to be. Men can take care of themselves domestically, although they tend to have shorter lifespans than their married peers. Women don't need men to subsidize them financially anymore and the lack of a marriage doesn't seem to have the same damaging health effects as it does men.

So, it would seem that joining in marriage has more to do with self-actualization and a desire to share and express love. Marriage is a very old institution, maybe it would just be better to give it a miss these days.