[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2329312]So if a guy has been dating a chick a long time, why does he need to actually marry her? He does not. But her clock is ticking, and if he does not eventually marry her, then she will likely run off looking for someone who will. Hence, he will lose the pussy.
How many women have you seen running around proposing to men? How many men have you seen as a plaintiff in divorce proceedings? Because the majority of the time even if the divorce is not his fault he is still going to be paying. It is cheaper to keep her.[/QUOTE]A) In most societies, until lately, marriage was a religious dictum and requirement, so people (men and women) married. In puritan societies like the one you have in mind, men might still marry after a protracted engagement but it may have to do more with the comfort of familiarity and the desire of siring a child. In more evolved societies, like the Nordic ones, a large majority of people live without getting married and have children. In contrast, in most poor classes, across the globe, marriage was a loosely defined requirement, in the past and definitely so, in the present. I presume you are aware of it too.
By the way, men asking for the hand of a woman is also fairly recent. For millennia, the marriages were arranged by the respective families, to optimize wealth, breeding and social privileges. Of course, the poor were always out of such fancied thing.
B) In most societies, men were the bread earners (it still is that way in many parts of the world) and as a result, for historical reasons, the men are plaintiffs. Change the system, and women would be the plaintiffs. In fact the DR might be a good example where many men do nothing and women feed them, interestingly, often without even having a wedding band.
