Federal Pro-Marriage Campaign Targets "Generation Why?"
Federal Pro-Marriage Campaign Targets "Generation Why?"
reluctant 18-30 year olds pushed to get hitched
Like a modern day version of the Monroe Bomb from WWII, the Federal government is launching a $5 million media assault on marriage-ripe-but-motivationally-retarded 18 to 30-year-olds for the purpose of extolling the virtues of marriage.
The campaign, which our tax dollars are funding, is being spearheaded by the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC), part of the Bush administration’s Healthy Marriage Initiative. Their media blitz will include radio spots, magazine and public transit ads, and websites that young people populate, such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube (where they better use monkeys, groin injuries, and/or some form of humiliation).
In short, nowhere is safe. The message will be everywhere. Creeeeeepy…
According to Paul Amato, Pennsylvania State University sociologist, advisor to the NHMRC, and overall marriage enthusiast, "We're not telling people, 'Get married,' but 'Don’t underestimate the benefits of marriage'."
As the Chicago Sun Times reports, research suggests benefits for those who marry include: better health, greater wealth, more happiness and improved well-being for kids.
Another part of this grand effort is a new website called twoofus.org. Hoping for more useful information, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the site is short on actual information, and feels kinda like Captain Obvious and Sergeant No Longer Relevant decided to start up a website on relationships. (detract claws)
For example, if you want to know if you should live with your bf or gf before marriage, the site tells you "no!" And why? Because "studies show that cohabiting relationships differ significantly from marriages. For one, they are much shorter lived. Half of them end within a year due to marriage or break up."
Uhm, so I shouldn’t move in with my boyfriend, because in a year it might end in — gasp! — marriage?! I must be on the 9-year plan…
Personally, I think you could learn more about relationships from watching two dogs sniff each other in a park, but that said, it is a nascent site and perhaps it will get better. I absolutely support marriage and all who walk down the aisle. But I did not gain any greater appreciation for marriage after perusing the site, and will continue on my doomed, sickly, financially-challenged, sad, sad path of blissful cohabitation.
I do have to wonder, however: If marriage is so beneficial, why won’t the government give it to those who want it? After all, this campaign is only intended for people who are young and straight. Citizens between the ages of 18-30 who are gay and eager to marry, avert your eyes.
(but thank you for the tax dollars to fund this effort. Yours truly — UnK L. Sam)
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