when your partner is a heterosexual man, there is very little guarantee for any of that in the first place and you just don't know until you know and sometimes, not even then. so the least a woman could do is to protect herself legally. which a smart marriage would do. now, i know you're probably going to say "but isn't the best way for a woman to protect herself legally is to remain unbound to a man"? and to that i say, absolutely. which is why the idea of living with a man and sharing bills and household chores with him for years and years while unmarried is absolutely revolting to me.

a marriage contract doesn't just potentially protect a woman from a man doing her wrong financially but it also protects their assets together in medical emergencies. if that man falls into a coma or dies, his next of kin is kind of anybody but that woman. depending on some important details, she may have absolutely no rights to anything they've built together and she won't have any rights to decide his medical care. and she's at the mercy of his family to treat her nicely and take her feelings into account.