img @ api.ning.com

When you’re young (I’m thinking, 15 or 16) and you start dating, it’s quite possibly one of the most exciting times of your life. Not only do you fall in love at the drop of a hat, but you often forget all about the very real potential that this person, your first love, isn’t your only love.

However, resisting the desire to up and get married the second you think you’re in love is the smartest thing you can do. A recent article in The Daily Beast by Anneli Rufus discusses many statistics about the likelihood of divorce, and what is one of the leading causes of divorce? Marrying too young. She says in the article,

If you’re a woman who got married before the age of eighteen, your marriage faces a 48 percent likelihood of divorce within ten years.

Age matters. Study after study shows that the younger the married couple, the riskier the bond. The risk drops to 40 percent for women who married at age eighteen or nineteen, drops further to 29 percent for women who married at age 20 to 24, and drops even further to 24 percent for women who married at age 25 or older.

So slow it down, young ones. This first intense love you’re feeling may feel great, but trust us when we say it won’t be the last!

img @ gossilicious

Let’s be honest, people of 2010. Facebook is good for like, 3 things. Connecting with old friends, admiring/hating on people via their photo albums, and keeping an eye on your exes. Although we may pretend to love Facebook as a social networking tool, in general, it’s good for one thing — checkin’ out other peeps.

Perhaps an acquaintance from a party friends you, and you realize they’re actually way cuter than you remember. Or an ex drops you a message and you notice WOW, they’ve gotten quite a bit cuter these days.

Either way, being in a relationship often doesn’t stop our flirting. The only difference between flirting at a bar versus flirting online is that often your transgressions are logged and saved and can be brought up later. Which is why it’s no surprise that Facebook infidelity has been listed in 1 in 5 divorce proceedings as evidence of an affair or just over-the-line flirting.

From sexual chats, to inappropriate private messages to one woman even claiming she found out her husband was divorcing her via Facebook, it seems that Facebook is the new culprit behind American divorce cases.

What to do? If you’re married, stop looking for trouble. If you’re dating, log out of your account! And if you’re single — stay that way; this world is getting too hard to be married in.

Read more at ONTD

Pro football star Tiki Barber is the most recent American celebrity to be caught with his pants down- this time while his wife was 8 months pregnant with twins. Rumors also say that although the two had an “agreement,” Tiki’s wife Ginny has decided to file for divorce immediately.

While we obviously don’t condone the cheating that seems to be spreading  through the celebrity male population like wildfire, the rampant reports do prove someone else to have blame… the gossip media. Our unwavering attention to all things celebrity these days has made it almost a game to see who we can catch next.

When a private matter as sad and disheartening for relationships as cheating is occurring, we as a public should turn an uninterested eye to it. Perhaps some day in the future, couples, no matter how high-profile, will be able to deal with their demons in private, instead of in front of the entire nation.

Img and story at TMZ.com

img @ people

After numerous rumors that Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and her husband were having marital problems, reports have surfaced that he has been having an affair for quite some time with a tattoo model named “Bombshell McGee.”

Just days after the award show where she tearfully smiled at her husband from the podium, it’s disturbingly sad to see such a private matter of infidelity go so public.

Strangely, Bullock isn’t the first woman to be publicly cheated on after winning an Oscar. From Susan Sarandon to Reese Witherspoon and Kate Winslet, it seem that some less-successful husbands resort to cheating to retain the manliness they feel they’ve lost. Pretty pathetic, don’t you think?

img @ arturovasquez.wordpress

Perhaps you were snooping where you shouldn’t have, or maybe it was just in plain site… but you came across a suspicious looking receipt from a store that only sells engagement rings. The thirty seconds you spend staring at it feels more like a year, and your brain and heart are pounding at a mile a minute. This is the point where you start to wonder…. should I be getting married? There are, of course, a few tell tale signs that you aren’t: if you throw up, like Carrie on Sex and the City, if you immediately want to sleep with every guy in sight, or if you have the sudden unshakable urge to get a plane flight to Bali…. you probably aren’t ready.

There was a day and age where marriage was 100% expected. It was the way life worked, and to go against it was to be subversive, and often times shunned by family and friends. In 2010, however, couples can date for years and never get married or even choose never to have children. Sometimes, though, there comes a point in a relationship where the topic of marriage comes up. If you’re really considering it, there are still a few questions you should ask yourself.

Here are DatePro’s tips to gauge whether or not you really want to tie the knot.

1. Can you see yourself with this person in 10, 20, 50 years?

The fact of the matter is over 50% of marriages end in divorce. And while it is an option, you shouldn’t assume that you can just back out of the marriage if it doesn’t work. If you really believe that you will still love your partner forever, then go for it. If you’re even the slightest bit questionable about it, you should probably say no.

2. Are you ready to share everything?

Once you get married, you’re going to have to move in together, share a bedroom, finances, and more. If you like your privacy at times or aren’t sure about sharing a bank account, marriage probably shouldn’t be in your future. You can easily stay a couple, with your own separate lives, without getting married.

3. Are you going to be faithful?

After being together for years, a stagnant sex life is almost inevitable. Do you trust that both you and your partner will be willing to work on your relationship to keep it passionate for years to come? Or do you think you, or your partner, will stray? One of the main reasons for divorce is infidelity, so if you think it might happen, don’t set yourself up for failure, and a major dent in your bank account.

Before you even consider getting married, these questions should be asked. Perhaps you’re only getting married because you feel pressured by parents or friends. There is no shame in staying single, as long as you like. You aren’t in the minority, in fact there are millions of singles on sites like OnlineBootyCall who realize that being single and casually dating is fun, and that you shouldn’t have to promise marriage just to get a date. Remember: it’s 2010, not 1810… Singlehood is the new marriage!

img @ perezhilton

It’s been almost a month since the Christmas Day domestic dispute between actor Charlie Sheen and his wife, Brooke Mueller. Since then, allegations of cocaine abuse, alcoholism, physical threats, bribery, and more have been all over the gossip pages. Reports are now saying that the two plan to reunite and try to salvage their marriage. Some say this is due to the lack of a pre-nuptial agreement, but this has not been confirmed.

Considering the couple admit to drunkenly screaming at each other most of Christmas Eve, and since Mueller claims that Sheen threatened her with strangulation and with a knife, you’d think they’d go ahead and call it quits. Especially since the two have children together, as well as Sheen’s two daughters from a previous marriage with actress Denise Richards.

For the sake of their kids, I’d it’s time to move on, don’t you think?

It’s another tale of catch and release. We see it all the time: a relationship gets to a point where the next step is marriage… and if one party isn’t ready, the relationship is doomed. Reese Witherspoon and beau Jake Gyllenhaal seem to have reached these crossroads, and unfortunately, the choice for them was to end their two-year relationship.

After being married to actor Ryan Phillipe for seven years, and then divorcing citing “irreconcilable differences,” it seems possible that Reese just wasn’t ready to commit again. While Jake and Reese always seemed to have a very healthy relationship, both intimately and with Reese’s children, Ava and Deacon, reports say that Jake wanted more, specifically, a marriage.

Although it is sad to see a healthy, blossoming relationship get cut short, it seems as though the concept of “marriage” is frequently at fault for such break-ups. Why is marriage so necessary? Our society places an unreasonable amount of pressure on couples to wed and have children, but perhaps there is more to love then a legal document!

In fact, as of Monday the couple has made the decision to solidify their separation and file for divorce.  While this decision will end their 10 year marriage, it apparently will not put an end to the filming of their show on TLC, Jon & Kate Plus Eight.  The ex-couple have agreed to continue filming the show as they go through their divorce, but just do so on an individual basis.  Kate will film separately from Jon and visa verse.

Personally, this decision seems a bit selfish and invasive, especially when their 8 adorable children are involved.  Divorce is a very private and sensitive matter and in choosing to broadcast it for the world to critique and analyze, they are only asking for even more drama and problems to surface. Sadly, i do have to admit that it will make for great television and I wouldn’t be surprised if the shows ratings skyrocket.

If any of you ladies out there are interested in being a home wrecker and dating a married man (just like Jon)…be sure to check out Ashley Madison. This dating site is stock full of married men and women looking for their next sizzling affair. Who knows…maybe your next affair will make reality television headlines?!