you post:"But there's the thing, divorce rates are increasing world wide, which shows that the very concept of marriage is a sham. "
Yes, because women want to share life and do duty for social as same as men.we can find the meaning of marriage from family education science.first,marriage is a licence for a man to have steady sex with a woman.second it is mainly for children to be care best.
with respect to our women, one is best happy if she has at least a kid,a steady lover and she can raise the life of both her and her kid.Somehow marriage an experience in a life, so you can marry a man who you love and want to live together ,esp you want to have a kid with him.

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share your life with me as we are different:)