However as the rate of divorced spiralled to new heights with every passing decade and single parent families also began to be a more common scenario, there was a shift in the public perception of divorce.

People cited the pain of having to live in an unsatisfying marital association as a valid reason for divorce. They wanted more individuality and greater freedom than what marriage had to offer. To large sections of society, marriage seemed to be a suffocating bond.

Women’s liberation movements also stepped in to do their bit. They wanted to unshackle their comrade women from the menial jobs of the kitchen and the household in general. These movements wanted greater freedom for women.

Instances of physical and emotional abuse faced by some people were shown to be the negatives of marriage, which incidentally, they are, as and where they are applied. All sorts of opinions were voiced to make it easier for a couple to disentangle themselves from their spouses.

As a result of several streams of thought such as individualism, feminism, advocacy for a more open society etc, the laws were steadily but surely relaxed to make the attainment of divorce an easier process for the public at large.

This gave rise to what some people refer to as the divorce revolution. The divorce revolution led to an ever increasing number of divorces in the society. The word divorce no longer had the same stigma attached to it as was the case in the past.

Rather than be looked down upon, divorce began to be accepted as a natural part of life. It became a phenomenon that raised few eyebrows and some people even began to cite it as a panacea for the ills afflicting the married people in general.

Nowadays, it is being spoken in favour of by one and all. People give examples of those who’d suffered in marriage but were now liberated on account of divorce. Divorce is clearly seen as a common occurrence.

Unfortunately, in life, many things reveal their impact on people only after a long time has lapsed. This is perhaps more true of divorce than any other incident associated with one’s life.

Though it cannot be and must not be denied that in numerous cases, divorce has liberated a large number of people from the shackles of a failed marriage, yet it is not an answer for every problem or disagreement that one is faced with in the course of married life.

It is, and should rightly be considered as a viable and necessary option where one partner is physically or emotionally abusive. Or if the partner is a substance abuser whose lifestyle is destroying the family structure from within.

Yet in numerous cases it is also a simple thing of people developing disagreements due to lack of communication, or simply because either one or both the partners has failed to give up their individualistic streak in favour of the commitment required by marriage.

An increase in divorce rates has led to the break up of innumerable families. It has brought to the fore the plight of children who are unable to relate to marriage as an institution because they themselves never witnessed its ups and downs in their own family.

Owing to divorce, many people, who were previously happy looking after the home and the kids, have been forced to step out of the house in search of jobs in order to sustain themselves and others who are dependent upon them.

Divorce leaves emotional scars that even the great healer, time, may not be able to heal. Not only that, it brings down the materialistic standards of life as enjoyed by intact families. In some instances, the amount of money that was utilised to support a single home has to be now divided in order to support two different homes.

Its impact on children is massive and they are unable to escape the given effects of divorce on them. Children from divorced families have been found to be less trusting towards others and less capable of falling in love as compared to children from other families. On account of all of the above one can easily say that the divorce revolution has failed.





James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you would like more information on how to get a quickie Divorce see http://www.quickie-divorce.com