I was originally very opposed to marriage because all the married women I know were pretty much home slaves and many were abused. I somehow thought there was something special about the legal marriage contract that caused that, or at least made it difficult for the women to leave (I'm from a conservative country, divorces were discouraged).

Now I realize the problem isn't marriage, but LVM. And marriage is actually a reasonable legal contract to protect women who have children, especially since it tents to hurt their career and income. Plus has a built in mechanism on dealing with a breakup - sorting out child custody, splitting belongings, etc.

However, is there much point to it to women who don't want to have children? I still see it as something with a lot of historical baggage, where the "ownership" of the woman was transferred from her father to the husband. It has its advantages, for example it gives you visiting rights in the hospital, sorts out visas, common property, etc. But couldn't these things be solved by other legal arrangements?

I can understand that a lot of women see it as proof of commitment, or simply want to have a wedding, and they have every right to it. But does marriage make sense for a childfree woman who doesn't care about those things?