Hmmm...I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say that #8 could be accomplished through partnership instead of marriage. #8 is about the divorce rates of second marriages, so it's daring to be willing to take the risk of having a second marriage despite the odds...do partnerships have some sort of high rate of failure, so it's daring to be willing to be in a partnership because being in a partnership is something many naysayers would predict won't last?
I realize that #5 'looks' like a woman defining self-worth through marriage. But when you look, it also includes me, a woman, complimenting a man by saying "You are worth the hassle." So I don't think it's just a woman defining herself through marriage. It's two people paying each other the compliment that the other person is worth the trouble. If I was starting a new business, and you said "You're great, Lee! I believe in you! You can do it!", that's certainly a compliment. But if you said, "Lee, you're great, and I believe in you so much that I'm willing to invest $50k in your business tho I risk losing it," that's a higher form of compliment (to me). Regardless, it's all up to individual preferences and perceptions. When a woman introduces a fella as her partner instead of her husband, I wouldn't assume anything, that 'she wasn't willing to commit to him'. I can only say that for me the title partner isn't as symbolic to me as spouse.
Maybe...it's because I was in mortuary in the military. We never notified partners or significant others or boyfriends/girlfriends. We only notified spouses.
Regardless of the reasons why marriage is some sort of institution--religious or social norms--I'm a sucker for the perceived beauty of that form of relationship:(
#4...I guess it depends on the nature of the partnership. If it's one that the people are hugely inter-dependent, then it would likely be as hard to walk away from as a marriage. But if it's like some partnerships I've seen, where the long-term partners pretty much maintain separate homes/lives, then the partnership could be as vulnerable to easy dissolution as dating vis a vis marriage where at least some effort has to be made for the formal dissolution. Clearly that effort isn't much of a deterrence in preventing many divorces, but to me, there's a better chance of getting someone to think "Maybe I'll at least make a stab at repairing this before going through the hassle of a divorce" rather than just stopping seeing someone as could happen in the latter form of partnership.
Regardless...what I'm seeing is...this may not be something that can be so easily resolved through logical discussions. It really is about the 'feeling', so if a woman--or man--is looking for the 'feeling' that marriage gives them, and doesn't feel that partnership will yield the feeling they're looking for...I don't think 'logic' can be used to change their mind or wish. Maybe it's good for us to be with someone who is on the same page about this rather than trying to logically convince the other person to agree to be in the form of relationship we ourselves prefer:)
