"Marriage: An Effective and Sacred Bond".
Wilson and David Popenoe, both current writers, are advocates of social welfare. These two writers express their concerns about the current standards of society. However, each has his own way of devising his thoughts, as Wilson becomes critical and opinionated; on the other hand Popenoe transforms his writing into a problem-solution piece. Wilson, the writer of "Cohabitation Instead of Marriage," talks about the drawbacks of cohabitation and the significance of marriage. His writing consists of criticisms and a comparison-contrast type of technique. Conversely, Popenoe, who penned "Seven Tenets for Establishing New Marital Norms," discusses in a sequential order that has seven different steps/beliefs that discuss ideals of marital gender-role prospects and how marriages could be maintained. Both writers, though, provide strong arguments to support the meaning of marriage.
Wilson acknowledges that many people nowadays prefer the aspect of cohabitation. His writing is based on the comparison of cohabitation and marriage, yet he favors more on the marriage aspect. Cohabitation is seen to be an alternative to being single and when "the couple has no wish for children" (374). Cohabitation is a way to avoid wedlock and to live together as if a married couple. Wilson commences his piece with the usage of "If then" in the first paragraph to supposedly question the value of marriage. Then he continues to question the standards of cohabitation after his introduction. He remains to use "If then," but this time, to falsify the benefits of cohabitation. Wilson explains "If people are free to leave cohabitation then in many cases, neither the man nor the woman has any strong incentive to invest heavily in the union" (374). The notion of cohabitation is foreseen to be destructive, a promotion to less-affectionate relationships and meager trust within the two counterparts.
