The Effects of Time
...munity tolerance, and professional help for children that make marriage unnecessary” (Wilson 376). With the rising percentages of divorce, marriage does not seem to be a well chosen or thought out process. In the past, it was greatly viewed that living with a significant other was immoral and wrong, however, with the passing of time it is now not so uncommon. Cohabitation is viewed as a safer alternative because by leading somewhat separate lives, there is no need to invest in the union known as marriage, which makes it easier to break it off with no legal complications. “Marriage is a way of making such investments plausible by telling each party that they are unified forever, and if they wish to dissolve this union that they will have to go through an elaborate and possibly costly legal ritual called divorce” (Wilson 374). People do not need to worry about marriage and divorce since cohabitation is so commonplace today and is viewed as a societal norm. With the passing of time, gay and lesbian parents and families have grown in numbers and are now being acknowledged, or for the most part less head-turning.. “Moreover, there are millions of lesbian and gay parents and families. I find it difficult to imagine that they or their successors will acquiesce in a return to the closet or to family purgatory” (Stacey 393). With gays and lesbians now being viewed more as an alternative lifestyle, homosexuals now able to feel more at ease with their sexuality “On the contrary, one of the few progressive arenas of family reform that I feel comfortable predicting during this reactionary era will be the gradual realization of same-sex marriage and of gay and lesbian custody rights” (Stacey 393). With the expanding concept of same-sex marriages, protecting their rights and others may soon be in the future. While anything but a nuclear family was once looked upon as not normal and often scorned upon, is now customary. Not only are single parent families being acknowledged, but are also opening eyes to new horizons. “Single-parent families were in many respects the pioneers of family diversity, paving the way for the recognition of other families” (Erera 354). Parents raising children alone have also set unpopular trends on other alternative families. “The growing acceptance of divorce, single-parent families facilitated the emergence of yet another form of single parenthood: that resulting not from divorce but from women electing to give birth while single...