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PaperclipPerfector  2yr ago (text post)   5184 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 5, 2023

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[Epistemic status - totally conjecturing] Has anyone else noticed that women these days refers to their husbands as their "best friends"? I hear it in every wedding vow I've heard from the millennial generation. Was this the case before our generation? Is this the case in more conservative places? I guess I always felt like this is emblematic of marriage becoming less religious and less sacred (i.e. it's just a fun thing I'm doing with my best friend as opposed to a sacred vow I undertake in the eyes of God). Also women are married to the state to such a degree that they don't need men anymore, so marriage has just been relegated to "just for funsies!"

Alternatively, maybe everyone's always referred to their SO as their best friend throughout history, and I'm just wildly projecting.

I've explicitly told my wife that we are not friends. If we were in the same social circle, we probably wouldn't be very close since our interests only overlap a little. We're attracted to each other physically and romantically, and also through the camaraderie developed from building a family together.

I don't like the casualness that the word "friend" implies. I don't think husbands and wives should be as casual with each other as male friends are. I've been in relationships like that and it definitely cheapened and degraded them.

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