I would say that I fit in the category of progressives advocating for the dismantling of traditional forms. Most of my life I think that I would have more aligned with the liberal prospective, but I feel like with time and continuing to educate myself I came to learn how harmful some of these “traditional forms” are. I would consider myself a progressive and not really aligning with any conservative beliefs, but I do understand the conservative perspective of why marriage may actually decrease social inequality in some instance.
If everyone engaged in a certain lifestyle or tradition it could lead to less differences between groups and in some cases higher income, hence less inequality. With that being said, I do agree more with the progressive view more. The progressive view shows how before marriage even occurs there is still an inequality present to even become married. For example, it can be very costly to get married due to the fees associated or the expenses of weddings. Also, a lot of the money that our government puts into preserving the tradition form of marriage could be put to a different and better use, such as social programs or healthcare, ect.
In terms of the traditional family form, I agree that it should be dismantled. I think that with time many people have proven that they can live very happy and successful lives without needing or wanting the traditional “husband and wife and a few children” lifestyle. From personal experience, I’ve even seen how this idea to subscribe to the traditional family, because of conservative tradition or region, can be very toxic to individuals who were not able to live in the family dynamic that they wanted too.
This idea has cohered people to have to stay with someone who they did not have a healthy relationship with, to not marry the person they loved due to homophobia or racism or pressured women to have kids even at the expense of their health, career or wellbeing. In the future I hope to have a lifelong partner, but honestly marriage isn’t a big deal to me like how it is to a lot of people. I think that I could not get married and still be as happy and content if I didn’t. For me, it’s up to what my partner feels strongly about and what we come to a consensus too.
