* Almost every human culture has had a recognisable form of marriage.* Marriages existed even before states acknowledged or regulated them.* Marriage is both a public act and a social institution.* Marriage is not just a purely private or personal arrangement.* The institution of marriage has always had two main purposes: 1) A public recognition and regulation of human sexuality between a man and a woman. 2) A socially recognised means by which children are brought into the world and cared for.*…
