“Cardi B Says She Filed for Divorce to Teach Offset a ‘Lesson.’”

“Brad Pitt Wants ‘His Time With the Children’ Amid Ongoing Custody Battle With Angelina Jolie, Sources Say.”

If these two quotes sound familiar it’s because they are both real titles of dramatized articles about divorce published by Entertainment Tonight (ET). Those ET articles were just 2 of their 21 pieces covering celebrity divorce from this year alone.

ET is not the only publication guilty of profiting over celebrity marriages ending. If you google “celebrity divorce 2020,” 126 million results come up including articles written by sources like “People Magazine” and “Glamour.”

This realization has sparked the question in me, “Why?”

Why is it so important to the public that two people are separating?

An obvious takeaway is that drama sells — and divorce, especially celebrity divorce, is seen by the public as very dramatic.

If a 17-year-old high school girl were to say, “My boyfriend and I broke up,” it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising to a majority of people. But for some reason, if the same person were to say a few years later, “My husband and I are getting a divorce,” the reaction would be wildly different.

While getting a divorce is never an ideal outcome or the outcome one goes into a marriage expecting, it is normal.

According to a recent 2020 study by Wilkins and Finkenbinder Law Firm, almost 50% of marriages end in divorce. In America, roughly every 13 seconds there is a 
divorce.

These numbers are only rising due to new marital strain now caused by the pandemic.

But even with all the proof and statistics that show divorce as normal, people still judge and demean others for getting them.

People fall in and out of love each day, and it is not healthy to force something that is no longer there.

It is far more damaging for children to grow up in a home with constantly fighting parents than to grow up with divorced parents.

Many specialists agree children growing up in a chaotic or negative environment can learn bad parenting techniques and relationship skills, thus making it, in the long-run, better for the parents to get a divorce.

While divorce might not be the best choice for some people due to personal or religious reasons, it is especially important that we normalize it to help those where a legal separation is their only option.

Day after day, women and men are stuck in abusive marriages because they are too scared to leave. It is only through support, not judgment, that these people can feel the strength needed to get out.

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in three women and one in four men are affected by physical abuse, rape or stalking in a relationship. This statistic does not even count the large number of people who are affected by emotional abuse.

It takes a strong person to end any marriage — especially an abusive one.

It is not weak to get a divorce, and the ending of a marriage is not equivalent to quitting.