Summer sighed a little, because, hoo boy, this was going to be a whole thing. This had been a whole thing that once lead to her telling a student not too long ago (a student who had completely disappeared not long after that, but whatever, that wasn't troublesome at all or anything!) that nothing really mattered because we all died, anyway, so she might as well just kick back and get comfortable before going into it.
Luckily, she had a nice comfy Radchaai pillow to help with that.
Well, not that comfy. Tisarwat, you lanky af.
"The idea of it is, like, totally seeped in romance," Summer offered, "but it wasn't always. It was, honestly, sort of a business transaction for a really long time until people started to put more value in the idea of romantic love over practical marriage. And that's when the idea of a marriage became less about building your family and empire and lineage and more about spending the rest of your life attached to someone you love more than anything else in the whole wide world. And that, I totally kind of get, because weddings these days are basically just a big giant party where you declare how much you're into this other person, and a lot of people are more blinded by that aspect of it like it's some sort of acheivement without really thinking about everything else that goes with it. Don't get me wrong, there are totally people out there who can pull it off, because they genuinely do love the other person and want to dedicate themselves to being essentially BFFs together forever but more, but, statistically, they're way in the minority, and that's why divorce exists, because people fucking make mistakes, but even then, you have people like my parents who only got married because I came along and spent the last twenty years being absolutely miserable with each other and even when they did get divorced, they just went right back to each other because they're....I don't know, weak or something, or they just can't let go of idea that if they fail in marriage, they fail at life, because that's how pervasive it is in our culture.
"Like," she said, remembering that she could take breaths, "if you find that super confusing and that it doesn't make a lot of sense, congratulations, that's about as far as most people understand it, you just have the benefit of not having these ideals basically ingrained in your brain since the moment you were born. It's like..."
Maybe Summer just thought of this metaphor because of a certain hand brushing down her arm just then.
"You guys and gloves. Your culture has always said that you need to wear gloves, and so you wear gloves. And a lot of our cultures say you need to get married, and so people do. It's just marriages are way more complicated than putting on a pair of gloves. But it's nice to think that someday you might find one that's, you know, the perfect fit..."
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Luckily, she had a nice comfy Radchaai pillow to help with that.
Well, not that comfy. Tisarwat, you lanky af.
"The idea of it is, like, totally seeped in romance," Summer offered, "but it wasn't always. It was, honestly, sort of a business transaction for a really long time until people started to put more value in the idea of romantic love over practical marriage. And that's when the idea of a marriage became less about building your family and empire and lineage and more about spending the rest of your life attached to someone you love more than anything else in the whole wide world. And that, I totally kind of get, because weddings these days are basically just a big giant party where you declare how much you're into this other person, and a lot of people are more blinded by that aspect of it like it's some sort of acheivement without really thinking about everything else that goes with it. Don't get me wrong, there are totally people out there who can pull it off, because they genuinely do love the other person and want to dedicate themselves to being essentially BFFs together forever but more, but, statistically, they're way in the minority, and that's why divorce exists, because people fucking make mistakes, but even then, you have people like my parents who only got married because I came along and spent the last twenty years being absolutely miserable with each other and even when they did get divorced, they just went right back to each other because they're....I don't know, weak or something, or they just can't let go of idea that if they fail in marriage, they fail at life, because that's how pervasive it is in our culture.
"Like," she said, remembering that she could take breaths, "if you find that super confusing and that it doesn't make a lot of sense, congratulations, that's about as far as most people understand it, you just have the benefit of not having these ideals basically ingrained in your brain since the moment you were born. It's like..."
Maybe Summer just thought of this metaphor because of a certain hand brushing down her arm just then.
"You guys and gloves. Your culture has always said that you need to wear gloves, and so you wear gloves. And a lot of our cultures say you need to get married, and so people do. It's just marriages are way more complicated than putting on a pair of gloves. But it's nice to think that someday you might find one that's, you know, the perfect fit..."