Radical and controversial opinion, I know. But what is Aunty Eve if not controversial? Think about it. What would life look like if marriage didn’t exist? Who does marriage really benefit? All marriages are different but there are certain features of this concept that are common to all. We bicker and we complain, but do we really do anything to fix the fundamental flaws in marriage especially in India? No. So, here’s what I think the world would look like if marriage didn’t exist.

No gender roles at home

Everyone would have to cook and clean for themselves because there would be no social arrangement to bring free help into the household. Either you pay for domestic services or do your chores yourself. All adults in a household would have to work to earn money because there would be no designated “provider” in the family.

Which brings me to my next point…

Financial dependence wouldn’t be a thing

There would be no scope for women to depend on men for money. Without marriage, everyone would have to be paid for their labour, inside or outside the home. So whether a woman works at home or outside, she would have to be paid for it.

All children would be wanted

If marriage didn’t exist, having a child would be the most intentional thing you would do because there would be no expectation of it. There would be more children who were wanted than accidents that had to be carried to term because “vansh aage badhaana hai”. Only if people really want kids would they have them.  They would think realistically about childcare instead of using grandparents as free babysitters. They would not assume that the mother will have to give up her career to look after the baby. It could very well be the father without any judgement from society. And that would make a much happier world.

An entire genre of crime would be eliminated

If there was no marriage, there would be no concept of dowry. Daughters would not be born with the morose fate of being “married off”. No one would think of daughters as burdens for whom a dowry needs to be collected. Like boys, girls too would be loved, and they would be empowered and enabled to study, work and be the masters of their own lives. The gender inequality that stems from the fear of a daughter’s dowry and deeply scars our society would be eliminated.

Women would not have to fight for their own identity

There would be no debate on surnames, women would keep the names they were born with. Children would take names of either both the parents or neither. There would be no preset norms of a child taking the father’s surname and ignoring the person who actually nurtured said child inside of her for nine months.

Related: 13 Lesser-Known Facts About Pregnancy And Childbirth That Will Blow Your Mind

No ultimatums for young girls

“Shaadi ke baad ghoomne jaana”, “Shaadi ke baad yeh sab pehen lena”, “Shaadi ke baad padhai kar lena” – the timeline of a girl’s life would change completely without marriage. There would be no “shaadi ke baad” for families to diminish a girl’s personality.

What else do you think would happen if marriage didn’t exist?

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