Living Together Without Marriage

Posted on November 13, 2007 in Love Marriage

How different is ‘living together’ in it from marriage?

The general perception around ‘living together’ is trying out marriage without actually having done it. Have you ever heard of trying to taste your pasta without cooking? Though it is not as ridiculous as that, it is definitely a way of getting the right recipe to prepare pasta but with smaller quantities. What does that mean? Read On.

Soon after a marriage the couple go on a honeymoon, as if they have never spent their weekends at a new place earlier. And when they come back, that’s where the marriage starts. That is the reason why people want to try the normal things first and start off with the actual part later.

Well it works most of the time. Actually many successful marriages today involve couples who were in a “live-in relationship”. They fought, broke glasses and dishes, shouted and went on with their careers as well. So where does the difference between marriage and ‘living-in’ come in? The answer is ‘it depends’.

Yes, it depends on what your are thinking. Marriage is mostly a ritual and a traditional act. However what people express by saying “getting married” is that they are happy that they have chosen a partner, hoping to live with them for remaining life time. They want to express this happiness and share it with their other loved ones, friends and relative and celebrate the day.

But if you are person with a lesser number of loved ones, then ofcourse living together is the same as marriage. You need not think of celebrating it – may be because you think every moment is celebration or your economy doesn’t support it.

But in a live-in relationship you no one is called a husband or a wife. Again it depends on how both the man and a woman accept this fact. No words can change the way you feel for each other. But deep down the way our so called civilizations have conditioned us so much that you feel a pinch towards being called a husband or wife.

But in true sense it matters only legally to be called married or unmarried. If you want to fight against it, you can or if you don’t care you need not. Also you can use the ‘legal’ marriage certificates for some benefits. However what matters is what you feel for the other person and how happy you both are together (with or without marriage).

Comments

One Response to “Living Together Without Marriage”

  1. linda a. on May 13th, 2009 1:38 pm

    I don’t know where to begin—this article suggests such a limited and superficial understanding of “marriage” that to fully respond would require volumes on the subject. As I have neither the time nor the inclination to engage in such an endeavor let me address the point which appears to be at the heart of your entire premise–that being that “marriage is mostly a ritual and traditional act” . While there are rituals and traditions attached to this age old institution, marriage is actually a “union”–specifically the union of the two people into a singly recognized unit. Put simply when one enters into marriage they are formally and publicly stating that they are ONE with the other person– from that day forward what happens to one happens to both.They accept full and complete responsibility (social, financial, medical etc.) for the other. Based on this full measure of commitment–this complete union–historically couples who have entered into this union have been privy to certain limited legal privleges. Those are merely a by product of the union, not the union itself as you imply– because MARRIAGE is a FULL commitment not simply a function of address change. There is no half measure, no trial period, no testing the pasta in smaller quantities.Compared to marriage, cohabitation is “playing house”.

Leave a Reply