
What I am arguing is the newly adopted social norms have been damaging to the longevity of marriage and the outcome of the children raised in those settings.  In fact, according to the CDC (National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends), in 2014, there were 2,140,272 marriages.  813,862 of them ended either in divorce or annulment.   These topics include interracial marriage, same sex marriage and its effect on the children raised in the home, later marriages, and others.  These social norms cover many different aspects and topics in the world.  

These progressive social norms I speak of include some that I support.  These include interracial marriage, later marriages, and the independence of women in the workforce.  There are also some of these norms that I disagree with like same sex marriage, same sex marriage's effect on the children raised in the home, and pre-marital children.  These social norms cover many different aspects and always create controversy. 

Though there seem to be more benefits than disadvantages of traditional social norms of previous decades, there still are people that say that some of the new social norms are positive or have no effect on marriage rates and/or it's longevity.  They also believe that the current social norms will not hinder the child's potential of being an all-around successful individual.  Thus, there are some disadvantages of traditional social norms.  This group of people also point out the benefits of these newly developed social norms. Also, they make some reasonable points of why traditional norms should be done away with.  For example, there was a study done, according to Laura Geggel, that stated that having children before marriage does not raise divorce rates anymore.  This has been established because of the minute amount of pressure coming from people older than the individual like parents or fellow religious members.  This website article shines a light on how the growingly accepted normal of children born out of wedlock does not affect whether the divorce rate of the couple if they decide to get married.  This acceptance could be much more abundant than it used to be because of the fact that a reoccurring phenomenon that many young people and even older people take on.  

 For people that are in favor of current social norms, they also could make the point that some of the more traditional social norms should no longer be accepted.  For example, there is an article that speaks about how the female gender tends to stop their employment if their male counterpart has a successful and well-paying job.  There also is another article that directly relates to the previous one.  According to an article by Susi Keefe shows the different mindsets of Swahili women in Coastal Tanzania. The women there do not want to be divorced because they do not want to be on their own.  The bias in this article lies in the fact that this study was done only on Swahili women; yet, these are people that are not usually taken into account of hearing their views.  However, these two articles are instances where the social norms of today show retention to time of the past.  And some people see this as a huge problem.  

People who disagree with a social norm as such are most likely considered feminists. Feminists are people that believe that women should be seen as a human being and of equal importance as men.  These feminists could also be someone of the male sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual.  Many people think of this instance of women not being seen as the same as men as unacceptable.  Therefore, people that are in favor of establishing new social norms see this as an opportunity to create one that gets rid of the sexist factor that was so prominent in the past.  Making a new norm as such is one of the many benefits that they bring.  

The benefits of establishing new social norms has a strong stance, as it points out how the movement in a "forward" direction is what we as a people need.  In turn, these benefits show the disadvantages that are present if the traditional norms were implemented again.  At the forefront of these supporters are people that are considered feminists, homosexuals, or just liberals in general.  These liberals make good points of how women are stuck in a mindset of the past that they have to be dependent on a man in order to survive in this world.  They also can make the point that if something is repeated by a generation enough, it will no longer be scrutinized to the degree of being shunned.  This problem is seen in out-of-wedlock children, and I am sure this potential strategy could be used in getting the rest of the world to fully accept powerful women and those of the LGBT community.

If we bring the traditional and the progressive views together, you have people that have mixed feelings about new social norms. The change in social norms, including marrying at an older age, the growing independence of women in a family household, interracial marriage, and same sex marriage, have increased separation and divorce rates opposed to years prior.  However, of course, there are individuals that choose to ignore the statistics and get married to whom, when, and how they choose.  There also could be people that say that some of the new social norms are positive or have no effect on marriage rates and/or it's longevity.

There is an argument that could be made saying that the new social norms have no effect on marriage rates and/ or it's longevity are people who see both the benefits and the disadvantages.  The same applies to the argument that has the stance saying that the new social norms of today do have effect on marriage.  I am one of those people.   I agree with some of the social norms of the past and a few ones of the present.  In regard of the social norms I disapprove of, I believe same-sex marriage is wrong and it is even worse to raise a child in that environment.  According to articles by Godlogicscience and Sutherlandinstitute, some of these children raised in that setting wish they hadn't have had to go through that.  Also, according to an article by Kail, Lennox, and Acosta, and Wright, the health of married couples of the same sex are lower.  These could adversely have an effect on the children raised in that setting I also believe that, regardless of how widely accepted it has become, children born in wedlock is not acceptable.  However, I believe in the social norms of interracial dating and marriage and feminism.  According to an article by Stackman, the overwhelming majority of black women that attend an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), are in disapproval of interracial dating and marriage.  On the contrary, a little over half of black men in the same environment approve of interracial dating and marriage.  Lastly, when it comes to age when married, I have no stance or preference.  Most of these topics have reasons and exceptions to them and because of the term "social norms" being such broad of a term, this leaves many people straddling the fence as they remain in this section, the middle. 

Same-sex marriage is approved and disapproved across the nation.  The number of approvals has grown immensely in recent years.  I am not one of those numbers.  This is a topic that no one can change my mind about.  There are many people in the world that have the same point of view.  Not only is same-sex marriage against my religion of Christianity, but so is the practice of homosexuality.  I have no resentment or anything negative to say about people who choose to join that lifestyle.  I just know what is wrong from right.  People like me in the world do not like the direction that this world is heading.  Because of the words that God said in His Bible that he does not like homosexual people or practices, the Christian people do not appreciate when something is trying to be forced upon people.  If you take religion out of the equation, there are people who compare the LBGT movement to that of the Civil Rights movement.  People of different races, genders, and even sexual orientations that are a part of the LGBT community disagree with those comparisons.  Besides the point that there are homosexuals that disagree with this unfair comparison, this possibly could turn people away from supporting this movement.  Something else that could turn people away from supporting that argument could be those who did research and found that children raised by parents of the same gender typically were not as successful in different aspects of life as those raised in a home with both the biological mother and father. 

The social norms that have gained my approval are those of feminism and interracial marriage.  When it comes to feminism, the visual image that appears in an individual's mind is often a woman that is single and is quick to point out anything that may be considered the slightest sexist.  This visualization is very common to the generation around the ages of high school teenagers and young adults.  However, this is not the only version of feminist.  I, myself, am one.  I am not one to the degree as most people, but I do believe that women are humans as well as men are.  Considering both are humans, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, or disability, they should both be seen as equal.  Of course, not everyone is the same.  Men tend to have different needs than women.  Whether physical, mental, emotional, or whatever the case may be.  The same applies for those with disabilities.  They need special attention and treatment that a healthy human being may not need.  Despite the extra attention and time someone with a disability may need, that does not negate the fact the they are equal to healthy individuals.  Everyone should initially be given the same amount of respect.  That level of respect can increase or decrease depending on the actions that person makes that affect you.  This same idea applies to those of the different races.  That is why I see no problem with interracial dating and marriage.  This does not affect me unless I am taking part in the action.  It is silly to look down upon this phenomenon for one simple reason.  It is ridiculous for shunning of a particular race to the point of them not wanting to mix races together or just for disapproval of them. How can people dislike a particular race just because their skin has a different amount of pigment in it than theirs? Or because their hair is more straight or kinkier? As long as the two people are happy with each other, I am happy for them.  Some people may bring up the point that the same can be said about gay couples.  Yes, I agree, you could.  But, I cannot because there is nothing unto my knowledge that says anything about God disliking certain races.  He does say He does not approve of homosexuality.

For age of marriage, I have no preference.  I believe it is always better to commit whenever the individual is ready, not when a parent or society says it is time.  However, as mentioned earlier, there are potential problems that could arise when marriage is done at a later age.  Some people may feel that they have made progress in life without a spouse.  Why should they need one now?  Or they may even be so consumed in their own career and life, that they never gave any thought of watching the beauty of the growth of an investment in a person.  I mainly have no preference because you certainly do not want to marry someone when you are not ready.  Yet, you might not want to wait too long because it could possibly build complications when the only things that should be built are an unbreakable bond and life together.

The group that is beneficial in terms of reverting back to traditional social norms are of the most abundance and is the group that has the most legitimate points to make.  According to an article done by Diane Crispell called "Martial Bust" evaluated the change in the way of both men and women getting married later and how it affects divorce rates.  The data from this article talks about how studies dating back to the early 1900s are completely different from what they are in the mid-1990s.  

The average age for women to have their first marriage was 24.4 years in 1992, much higher than the mid-1950s, where the average was 20 years old. For men, marriage is taking place later in life also. The average age for men to have their first marriage in 1992 was 26.5 years old, as it was 22.5 years in the mid-1950s.  The projections of marriage in 2010 were 50.3% of men in the age range of 24-35 would have never been married, up from 38.6% in 1992.  For women, the projections said that 33.1% would have never been married, also up from 25.6% in 1992.  According to this segment of a book, all different aspects that go into marriage rose significantly.  This includes the age of marriage, to age at which divorced, and the rate of divorce.  According to another article by Uecker, the same result of marriages not lasting until fatality.  

According to another article by Greg Hundley called "Male/Female Earnings Differences in Self-Employment: The Effects of Marriage, Children, and the Household Division of Labor", is about how the differences in income effects marriage, children, and household division of labor with my focus being on marriage.  Based on different studies, employed married women tend to earn less income when her immediate family's size increases while men tend to do the opposite.  Those studies also show that self-employed men and women tend to share the burdens of household responsibilities and income more equally. According to an article by M. Jacob and C. Kleinert, women in Germany bring their days in the workforce to a halt early when they have a husband to provide for them and their family.  They suggest that the marital partners that are self-employed have a happier and/ or more functional household than those who are not self-employed.  They propose this because their responsibilities of partners and parents are usually evenly distributed.  

From these two articles, it is shown the down side of accepting these new social norms and the up side to reverting to the more traditional social norms. As far as later weddings, it seems as if people prefer to get married after they are established as individuals.  People seem to want to settle down after their adjustment to an independent life has settled down.  This situation in itself has its benefits and disadvantages.  The benefit of it is that the individual avoids some stress and can get their career and/ or life on track before they allow a serious time and emotional commitment to enter their life as well.  The down side that seems to outweigh the up side is that a later marriage robs people of having the ability really build success with a significant other anymore.  This newer social norm could be contributing to the divorce rate becoming so high, as it hovers around the 50% mark.    

People can either have a committed and long term relationship, married or unmarried, through the years where they are trying to adjust their adult life in the way they want it, or they could do it on their own.  Now, for the people that were in the serious relationships, they most likely shared thoughts and ideas with their partner.  They also most likely had support, whether mental, emotional, physical, or financial.  As they do this for each other, they are building towards a desired state.  Whenever that process is complete, the partners can look back and appreciate it more knowing that their significant other played a significant role in helping them.  On the other hand, if an individual build toward their desired goal primarily alone, they could easily get rid of their partner if they start to become too much of a problem.  In layman terms, it is hard to build with a significant other without a foundation or if the building seems to already be complete.  However, this is a theory that could possibly play a role into why the divorce rates of later marriages are higher than those of earlier marriages.

In conclusion, there are multiple stances and points of views that people could make regarding these new social norms.  And each one of them have strong points to make as well.  As one of the people that are divided in their decision, I believe that everyone should be in this category.  I believe this because when deciphering whether the social norms that were just talked about are right or wrong, it is not right to say that all of them are wrong or all of them are right.  I also understand that I do not have the ability to change everyone's opinion to conform to mine.  Given the statistics shown, the people some social norms can offend, and the downside to some of the social advancement, there are some people that still want to ignore those factors.  And this is why social norms should be carefully adapted after approval from the vast majority of the people in the world.  

