I just commented on an article in the New York Times called Other People’s Divorces by Judith Newman.
I would really appreciate your input. Please email me with your opinions or make a comment here.
People like to be privy to the drama of other people’s marriages and breakups. For that reason we know why soap operas have lasted so long with such loyal followings. You are right when you say that divorce or the thought of divorce at one time or another includes every married couple on the planet.
When I first saw the Huffington Post’s new section, I thought it was a great idea to share people’s experiences with divorce in an effort to help the readers avoid some of the devastation that many divorced couples understand only too well. Every one of us who has experienced divorce has something or many things to say on the subject.
My chief issue with the section is the tag line and the reason for using it. The women behind the Huffington Post’s new section on divorce are making an inappropriate and insensitive statement with the tag line. “Marriage comes and goes, but divorce is forever.”
How can an agonizing experience like divorce be described in lighthearted terms? Even if the statics show the high rate of divorce, how tactless is it to suggest that divorce is a rite of passage? Sure, years after divorce, when the scars begin to heal, levity might be appropriate but certainly not during the process.
I deal with women on a daily basis who are living through the pain, anguish, fear, loneliness, guilt, loss and feelings of failure as they make their way through the divorce process.
Believe me when I say that in eight years, not one woman has mentioned anything in lighthearted terms! If I gave support in a lighthearted way, I would have no clients.
The tag line might be catchy. It ends there. I am really disappointed in the choices that the women behind the section have made.
Photo by The Andrea
Claudia Broome
