Four Reasons Men Are Afraid to Get Married

The general consensus is that guys are afraid to get married because they don't like commitment, and they're scared to death of sleeping with just one woman the rest of their lives. But obviously it's more complicated than that, so Cracked.com came up with a list of the real reasons guys have a negative view of marriage.

Here are the top four.

#1.) Guys Constantly Hear Jokes About How Horrible Married Life Is. You've probably seen a thousand movies and sitcoms where a guy is getting married, and his buddies have to talk him out of it.

For example, it happens during Will Ferrell's wedding scene in"Old School", and it's the whole plot of the movie "Saving Silverman".

Plus, just about every stand-up comedian who gets married ends up with an entire routine about how awful it is, from Sam Kinison and Richard Pryor, to Ron White and Chris Rock.

After decades of listening to it, guys end up thinking it's universally true.

#2). Weddings Have Become Ridiculously Expensive. The average wedding in the U.S. now costs $27,000. And it's not nearly as common for the father of the bride to pay for the whole thing anymore.

So on top of trying to decide whether he wants to commit for the rest of his life, a guy has to factor in that getting married will probably put him in debt. And throwing down tens of thousands of dollars on a single day seems ridiculous to most men.

#3.) The Thought of Divorce Is Terrifying. 50% of first marriages end in divorce. 60 to 67% of second marriages end in divorce. And 70 to 73% of third marriages don't last.

When guys hear stats like that, they end up thinking divorce is inevitable. Then they also have to consider that 97% of alimony payments are made by men. And 84% of the time, the woman ends up getting custody of the kids.

But to be fair, only 33% of men even try to get sole custody.

#4.) A Loss of Power. Not being in control is much more terrifying to men than commitment is. And this one's kind of obvious, but the thought of having to check in before you make decisions isn't very appealing.

Once you're married, a guy can't just stay out without calling, or blow half his paycheck on a TV. He has to check with his wife first, which is kind of like having to run everything by your mom when you're a kid.