Criticism of marriage

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Criticisms of marriage are arguments against the practical or moral value of the institution of marriage or particular forms of matrimony. These have included the effects that marriage has on individual liberty, equality between the sexes, the relationship between marriage and violence, philosophical questions about how much control can a government have over its population, the amount of control a person has over another, the financial risk when measured against alternatives and divorce, and questioning of the necessity to have a relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities.^[1]

Criticism of marriage comes from various cultural movements, including branches of feminism, anarchism, Marxism, and queer theory. Feminist activists often point to historical, legal and social inequalities of marriage, family life, and divorce in their criticism of marriage.