Divorce is Not Inherently Bad
How the laws around divorce have empowered generations of women.
I have heard a lot about how bad divorce is. Growing up, I had two parents who had been together since high school and showed no signs of getting tired of each other. As far as I know, they’re still doing well. I lived in an upper-middle-class neighborhood where very few parents got divorced. I knew as a teenager that divorce was common, but I had minimal experience with it.
My partner is the product of divorce in many ways. My partner’s mother divorced her second husband, my partner’s biological father, when my partner was in middle school. He was (and as far as I know, still is) an abusive piece of human garbage, and the divorce was warranted.
People divorce for many reasons, including abuse, but also less severe reasons. A disconnect between partners on religion, politics, money, or a whole host of other issues can lead to divorce. People often say that divorce is an inherently bad thing, as a marriage is being broken up. A loving couple has separated, and the world is worse for it.
Considering the abuse my partner’s father put her and her mother through, I wouldn’t say that’s a loving couple whose fantastic relationship is being broken up by petty issues. I’d say that’s a woman escaping her abuser.
