What makes a man want to get married?

I hadn't thought about that, but there may be something to that. Like I'm giving you this name that was given to me by my father and his father before him and the like. It didn't matter to me. My wife could have kept her maiden name if she wanted to. What about from a woman's point of view? Is there something, a sense of belonging perhaps, in taking a man's name?

I'll have to admit, it is something that has been important to me, and it has only been the past few years when I've realized it. There IS something special in it for me, because a lot of my life (not trying to feed anyone sob stories) the men in my life didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. My brothers were a lot older and resented me and my father either worked at night or drove a truck for weeks at a time. And so I always struggled with issues of men accepting me - so to me for a long time, having a man bestow his name on me, so to speak, was the ultimate honor, because I always wondered if I'd be "worthy" enough of that honor. Now, although my view of changing my name hasn't really changed, I do realize that my worth and value aren't in what a man thinks of me - and it was only then that I met the guy I've been dating - and we plan on getting married in the distant future. So I think it has personal implications...because I know women who have been badly abused by men either physically or verbally, and they don't want to have anything to do with taking on a man's name.

So there is something about saying something to the public. Do you think there's an importance in "giving her your name" so to speak? Without sounding too barbaric, is there something in your make up as a man that is rewarding about letting the world know that this is the person I'm giving my name to?

I've always felt that way, too...that if a man loved you enough, eventually he want to make you his wife and stuff, too. My current boyfriend and I will have dated for a year in January (I'm 29 and he's 27). I know that he has witnessed some extremely bad marriages in his own family, and I wonder if that's part of the reason he doesn't want to get married yet? I would never push him...don't want to push him, but I constantly wonder what makes that switch in a man's mind? Thanks for the comments :). SB

*grin* Sometimes I DO wonder if there's as point! Just out of curiosity, don't you get penalized in your taxes when you first get married? Seems like my brother went through that when he and his wife first got hitched...