criticisms of marriage

A famous early critique of marriage can be found in Plato's Republic, which recommends of group marriage. Commentators have often been critical of individual local practices and traditions, often leading to changes. Examples include the early Catholic Church's efforts to eliminate concubinage and temporary marriage, the Protestant acceptance of divorce, the abolition in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries of laws against inter-faith and inter-race marriages in western countries, etc.

Many contemporary attitudes have developed from a feminist viewpoint and suggest that modern marriage can be particularly disadvantageous to women economically and socially. Conversely, father's rights advocates claim that there is a continuing societal bias towards women as custodial parents in the face of "no-fault" divorce laws and is unjust to men when marriages fail. Some groups, such as the Independent Women's Forum, accept this criticism, but argue that they should not be leveled against marriage itself, but dealt with independently.