"Committed": Why again is she doing this?
In a new book called "Committed," Elizabeth Gilbert, best-selling author of "Eat, Pray, Love," reveals her attitude toward making even small sacrifices for the sake of a relationship with a man. A review appearing in The Wall Street Journal, written by Meghan Cox Gurdon, describes the experience of Gilbert:
'She interviews her mother and friends about married life and learns that both husbands and wives need to make small personal sacrifices if the union is to succeed. This insight would seem stunningly self-evident to anyone who has ever tried to get along with anyone else, but it frightens Ms. Gilbert.
...
The spectacle of a celebrity author publicly working herself around to a position that she has already taken may seem a trifle sophomoric and more than a little self-indulgent. But here Elizabeth Gilbert is, a re-married woman. It would be churlish not to wish her and "Felipe" every happiness.'
It is surprising that Gilbert, a woman who has previously been married, makes such a big deal about this matter. Or is her fussing about this instead a reflection of a message from radical feminists, who claim that "women can have it all?" Have modern American women, inspired by radical feminist doctrine, come to expect that they never need to compromise? Have we indulged, pampered, and coddled these women for so long, that they cannot stomach the notion of compromise? If so, what does this imply about the future divorce rate [assuming some men would want to marry such women]?
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"Wedded Abyss" blog
One of the commenters to the article has a blog called Wedded Abyss. Clearly the author of it has gotten burned pretty badly and my heart goes out to him.
Honestly I really have little-to-no idea why people still make such a huge deal of this thing called marriage. It is really very simple. Unless you *know* your prospective marriage-mate, through actual experience, is 200% trustworthy and that the relationship can and will stand the test of time and troubles, do not even consider doing it. And do not let anyone succeed at coercing you in any way, shape, or form into doing it.
Marriage at one time was not an institution. Then it became one via the force of religious imperatives and, some have argued, necessity, after the Black Death in Europe. But fast-forward in any case to today and it should be obvious to anyone paying attention. Marriage, if done at all, should only be done by people who are absolutely sure they want to do it and are ready to do it and that their prospective mates are pretty much perfect for them -- and vice versa. Otherwise, one simply doe snot do it. It's as simple as that.
As redwoodwriter pointed out, why someone like Ms. Gilbert, with her "Help, stop me as I march into the mouth of Hell!" take on it, even ever considered it, much less did it (and then write about it), is beyond me.