Marriage is “the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc,” according to Dictionary.com. There has been a lot of debate surrounding this specific social institution, including several recent articles in the Iowa State Daily.

There are many sides to the marriage debate: some are for gay marriage, others are for what they would consider to be a traditional marriage and still others are up for letting a group of unelected officials determine what is lawfully considered marriage.

While defending any one of these positions could lead to heated or healthy debate, I’m choosing a much more logical route. I say let any internet dictionary, religious zealot, sociology professor or anyone else that wants to define marriage go for it. Let it be the law of the land. Then, after marriage is defined, don’t get married.

Am I blowing your minds? I sure hope not. There are plenty of good reasons to not get married.

Firstly, the institution of marriage is outdated. While the tradition of marriage is as old as, if not older than, recorded history, it has changed and evolved over the years. For the majority of its existence, marriage has been about ownership: specifically the ownership of women by their husbands. This has changed in Western society within the last several hundred years as women have gained more and more civil rights.

Nowadays, most marriages in the United States are supposed to be based upon mutual love and respect, which is a bit of a lie. Marriage for money, marriage because you are pregnant, marriage for family ties and marriage because you’re drunk in Las Vegas are all legitimate marriages in the U.S., regardless of race, religion or gender.

Secondly, the foundation of marriage, that we are part of a society that exists with marital and non-marital monogamy, is a stretch of the imagination at best.

Reported rates of marital infidelity, as well as rates of infidelity while dating, are on the rise. A USA Today poll in 2008, showed that more than half of the respondents knew someone with an unfaithful spouse. Another USA Today study showed that 20 percent of men and 15 percent of women under the age of 35 admitted to cheating.

While this may seem like a shift is occurring in society, it seems to me the only shift occurring is in openness of instances of infidelity, rather than actual instances of them. Prostitutes and mistresses aren’t just buzz words brought up during election years, they have existed for as long as marriage has. Once societies start accepting that infidelity is a staple of relationships, the myth of monogamy is sure to fade.

Thirdly, people leaving disastrous marriages are much happier. I could try to quote some study about a 50 percent divorce rate, but I have a much more compelling example.

Tiger Woods was perfectly happy with a stay-at-home wife and a myriad of mistresses. When that stopped working, he quit playing the sport he loves and took some time off from golf. After he returned to golf, still married, he posted some of the worst performances of his career. Finally he got divorced Aug. 23. That same week, Tiger Woods shot his best round of the year at The Barclays and finished tied for 12th, his best finish in months. Tiger Woods showed you that people who aren’t married lead more successful and happy lives.

Lastly, I think that any dedicated couple should be able to cohabit for as long as they wish without need for a marriage license or religious ceremony.

I’m sure that a lot of people can find that special someone, whether it’s through a friend or a dating website or if it’s their girlfriend’s roommate, to live with for the rest of their lives. But if it doesn’t work out, try, try again.

Too much emphasis is placed on divorces as a failure of marriage. A marriage that ends in divorce is simply a relationship that didn’t work out, the same as a bad blind date or week of stalking someone until you get arrested.

There are plenty of great people out there with enough redeemable qualities you can settle for.

But for Pete’s sake, don’t get married!