Most of the times, the views that developed around the sacred institution of marriage and family were coloured by the biases that people had towards gender expectations and individual desires. As women continued to stay on the lower rung as compared to men during a major phase of social history, certain opinions and notions were developed towards their role and plight in instances of marital discord.

Divorce being a relatively recent social phenomenon has gathered a number of opinions and beliefs around it that have over the years given way to many myths. This article intends to analyze some of the myths related to divorce.

1)Women Suffer more Emotional Damage from Divorce than Men

Though things have changed a lot, still people prefer to harbour certain arcane notions that women are more like sitting ducks whose sense of well being is greatly jeopardized by a divorce. It is generally held that women are more severely hurt so far as their emotional health is concerned, in a situation of divorce. If we go by the authentic facts and data, then this notion certainly does not stands to be true. Infact not only do the divorced women tend to be much happy as compared to divorced men, but they tend to score much better, as far as their emotional well being is concerned.

A series of studies over the years have proven beyond doubt that women often fare much better as compared to men in various psychological tests conducted to assess emotional health and well being after divorce. Various factors are responsible for this post divorce emotional stability of the fairer sex. Women often happen to have a much better social support system comprising of friends and relatives to help them get over the pain of divorce. Men on the contrary mostly fail to nurture sensitive and close relationships that can help them get over the post divorce trauma. Hence they suffer more.

2)Ex-spouses are always Hostile and Angry with Each Other and Cannot Get Along Well

As bitterly contested divorces tend to grab more of public attention and interest, it is often held that ex-spouses often happen to be vehemently hostile towards each other and often fail to get along well. Practically speaking, there exists a great deal of variation so far as the civility of interaction between divorced couples is concerned. Still, the available statistical data tends to prove that more then half of the divorced men and women often define their relationship with their ex-spouses to be friendly and cooperative.

This sense of friendliness and cooperation is more pronounced in case of divorced spouses who happen to have children from their marriage. A practical working relationship between the divorced parents not only ensures better co-parenting, but is more conducive to the well being and stability of children.

People often manage to get over the anger and frustration accompanying their divorce and mostly succeed in developing a more balanced and realistic view towards their marriage and ex-spouses. Hence, most of the times people prefer to be reasonable and generous, so far as their interaction with their ex-spouse is concerned.

3)After Divorce, Men are Eager to Remarry while Women are not so Keen

It is very much true that a divorce often turns out to be more emotionally catastrophic for men as compared to women. Men often get a strong sense of identity from their marriage and family and are emotionally stuck in case of post divorce turmoil. Women on the contrary tend to be much comfortable and happy after a divorce and are more prone to retain their single status as compared to men. In this context, it is certainly true that women are less keen to remarry after a divorce as compared to men.

Still the ground reality is that a large proportion of both the divorced men and women do remarry after a divorce. Evidence tends to prove that almost 80 percent of divorced men and 75 percent of divorced women prefer to tie the nuptial bonds and that too within the first three years of their divorce. Whether it is men or women, in general people do not hesitate to go for a second marriage, even if they happen to have children from their first marriage.