EDIT: sorry, realized after posting how much I wrote...don't mean to lecture, I just have a really hard time condensing what I say. Anyways.... To be fair, I think a lot of those points depend on where you live... For example, in my country, many regions will consider you common law once you have lived together for 2+ years. This means (in many areas) you get the same tax benefits as married couples, but it also means that if you separate things WILL be more complicated (ie: splitting of possessions) so separation becomes roughly as difficult as if you were married (especially if you have both signed a mortgage/lease, have kids, etc...). In other regions, you will NEVER be considered common law (no matter how many years, though some exceptions if you have children together) which means no tax benefits and less say in case of spousal death/illness, but easier time splitting up. So while I'd agree the unfair tax benefits are reason to criticize marriage policies there, I can certainly understand why some people would marry for those reasons (while waiting for things to change). And of course there are other practical reasons to marriage (ie: immigration). As for marriage being used to oppress women...I think that certainly has a lot of truth in it (both in the past, and in the present in certain areas as you have said). But I think whether that makes marriage "wrong" forever, is just a matter of views. In the past (and even presently in certain cases) things like pseudo-science has been used to "prove" the inferiority of women, and evolution was used to "justify" racist beliefs. And there are countless similar analogies that could be mentioned...I think the oppression of women via marriage (similar to via science, business, war, etc...) speaks more of the culture/belief of those societies, than of the thing itself. If you live in a more progressive country, many of those old laws and beliefs no longer apply (ie: where I live, it is more common to meet women who have kept their family names than those who have not) so I suppose whether you feel marriage would support sexist beliefs in your country is up to debate. As for the religious take on marriage...if people add a symbolic meaning to their marriage (ie: representation of humanity and god, or eternal marriage, or whatever) then I don't see why that's wrong...as long as the beliefs don't harm anyone, I have no prob. with them. Anyways, I believe that marriage is just up to personal beliefs and goals. I don't think that an unmarried couple loves each other less than a married one (or vice versa), and if someone personally feels that marriage=supporting sexism then I would not want them to do something which makes them feel wrong...but I feel irritated when people look down on married people as "stupid sheep who are stuck in the system" or whatever because many people have in fact reflected on it and simply come to a different view/conclusion. NOT saying that you were implying that (your comment seemed perfectly friendly), just thought I'd illustrate how the pros and cons to marriage largely depend on personal views and local laws.

Yeah.. no one expected me to give up my last name or any of my rights. My fiancé loves my independence and has told me to just always keep being myself. He would have been fine with us keeping our own last names or even taking mine. Some people need to set the people in their life straight.

@98: One of the best posts I read about this subject in years...