Sal Quintero

FHS 2450-001

April 14, 2016

U4E2

QUESTION: Citing data from the text, what are some reasons that divorce began increasing in
our society in the 1970's and (though it decreased somewhat later) remains higher than it was
prior to the 70s? Do you feel divorce is too easy or that couples give up too soon in today's
marriages? Is it preferable for a couple to stay together "for the kids" rather than pursue divorce?
When is divorce warranted? What has been your own experience with divorce?
ANSWER: Historically, divorce has been associated with negative connotations which usually
leave the divorcees in a bind of bittersweet sensations. Sweet as in joy of no longer being
chained to a stressful relationship and bitter in the context that overall society sometimes
disagrees with the decision of the divorcees. Prior to the 1970s, divorces were a rare occurrence
in American society. Across the land, marriage was strongly viewed as a sacred institution
where the phrase till death do us part was taken very serious. Society in large frowned on
issues of divorce let alone the actual execution of a divorce. However, the liberalization of
divorce laws which took place in the 1970s (Crooks, 2014, pg. 389) has shed a new outlook on
divorce. Obtaining a divorce became a simpler, required a less expensive legal process, and as
divorces have occurred more often, the social stigma of divorce has lessened. (Crooks, 2014, pg.
389).
In the textbook Our Sexuality, Crooks does an excellent job in stating many of the
reasons why people go through divorce. In traditional times, financial dependency could largely
be attributed as the reason why many woman remained in unsatisfactory marriages. A woman
during the years of World War II, existed in a world where there was persistent and systematic
discrimination against women workers which also include bars to married women working in
most states. (Women in the United States, 2015). However, for various reasons, WWII actually
caused a shift in financial independency for women. The jobs that women undertook as a result
of WWII allowed women to have a means to acquire money and become less dependent on their

husbands. The weakening of wife-to-husband dependency gave women a higher capacity of

leaving unsatisfactory marriages.
Another reason for divorce that Crooks mentions was levels of education. There appears
to be an inverse relationship between levels of education and divorce rate; that is, the lower the
education level, the higher the divorce rate. (Crooks, 2014, pg. 389) Although Crooks doesnt
specify age, gender, or if both individuals have low education or only if one does, he does go on
to state that individuals who marry in their teens are twice as likely to divorce as those who
marry in their 20s. Teens, who theoretically would be considered to have a low education, are
still in some transitory age of adolescence (i.e. early, middle, or late). During adolescence, teens
are continuously forming more complex systems of reasoning. Lower levels of reasoning and an
unfinished education can potentially enable an individual to quit a marriage because he or she is
unable to reconcile present situations given the limited knowledge he or she possess.
Although Crooks states on page 389 of Our Sexuality that infidelity and poor general
quality of the relationship are the primary reasons that people choose divorce, I believe those
factors cover up the underlying issue. The main issue is that most people do not recognize who
they are psychologically or what they actually bring to a marriage. Lack of self-realization
pushes people to think in a certain fashion which can cause marital turbulence. Although we
have made great strides in technology and human advancement, we have seldom made progress
in the psychological, or the conscience, aspect of man. Therefore, we make decisions based on
false perceptions that we have regarding ourselves and our partners. And with that, it is difficult
to state that divorce is simply someone who gave up on a marriage. Because as easy as it is to
make that claim, it is just as easy to state that someone developed more self-realization and left a
marriage they knew they it ultimately would never succeed.

Works Cited
Crooks, R., & Baur, K. (2014). Our sexuality (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Women in the United States Labor Force from 1945-1950. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22, July 2004. Web. 27 Apr 2015. https://en.wikimedia.org/Wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Labor_Force_from_1945_to_1950