Marriage is not only a private choice of two individuals. Defined and regulated by religious and political authorities, marriage is an institution that guarantees the right to a domain of privacy, but this right is itself defined by public policy. Regulation of marriage involves questions of religious and political authority and includes limitations of age and gender and boundaries between classes, ethnic, and religious groups . Consequently, the roles played by religious institutions and by the modern state in regulating marriage not only are prime movers for control and legitimization but also, on occasion, become an incentive for political debates and struggles within society and between the state and its citizens. In recent years, however, marriage as an institution has been challenged by different forces, creating new opportunities and choices. This paper proposes a framework to understand marriage and the changes this institution has been subjected to.
