Conflicted with the idea of Marriage (and monogamy?)

[ZZZZ]

I just wanted to hear about other people's thoughts on marriage, and maybe some other cultural/societal norms such as monogamy.

 

I grew up in a separated home as a kid, and then watched my Dad divorce his second wife of a decade while I was in college. This obviously has affected my view of marriage and intimate relationships in general. My grandpa was never married to his final partner on paper, although they lived as if they were for many years.  That seems like a fairly logical route to take, and makes even more sense if they will be earning significantly more than their spouse and do not want to risk losing large sums of money in a potential divorce. 

I guess if I fall in love with someone and I know it will mean a lot to them, then I don't see myself fighting the status quo. Although I just think it is kind of a silly and archaic concept overall, and don't like blindly following traditions like that. 

And a short leap from this line of thought brings me to the idea of monogamy. Obviously this has been deeply entrenched in our culture for various reasons, and you could probably even argue for biological reasons... But from what I understand, there are actually some very happy/functional polygamous groups in the US and elsewhere. That almost seems a little too taboo for me to be able to explore properly (for professional reasons and otherwise). I just don't think I would be able to live authentically that way given my current circumstances, although I could potentially see myself happy in the proper poly relationship. 

What are your thoughts on these?

[universe]

To me marriage doesnt mean anything. But I think its a good thing it exists and it can be a nice thing for couples.

I see it more related to legal issues (visa) and taxes. In my country it was used as a tool to give benefits to families which are valued by the state.

 

Monogamy and polygamy can both be beautiful and I try not to judge them.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by universe

[ZZZZ]

1 hour ago, universe said:

To me marriage doesnt mean anything. But I think its a good thing it exists and it can be a nice thing for couples.

I see it more related to legal issues (visa) and taxes. In my country it was used as a tool to give benefits to families which are valued by the state.

 

Monogamy and polygamy can both be beautiful and I try not to judge them.

 

 

I was going to mention that the legal benefits would be one of my only extrinsic draws towards it, but then I just realized you could probably obtain most of those same rights in a domestic partnership with the proper contracts etc. Just seems like quite a bit of headache.