This was my impression too marc.
girllover1985, I am deeply concerned about some of the views you seem to have about the Biblical role of women. There are two groups I know of who agree with you though: Mormons and Muslims. They're ok with young wives too.

What you don't understand is that in the Biblical description of the role of women, the woman controls the household. She is not powerless; obedient yes but not subservient. In fact Jewish society was partially matriarchal: the woman led family prayers, and in order to be considered a Jew, your *mother* had to have been a Jew (lineage is through the mother, not the father). Woman was made to be man's companion, his lover, his mate, not his property. It is wrong and unnatural to think of her as such.

As to young wives, yes, 2000 years ago this was normal because it served a few purposes of the society. The desires of the men was one reason, but more importantly was that in that time women needed protecting. This is no longer true. Our society is not based on manual labor as much as intellectual skill now, and women are equal to that task, and so no longer need to be dependant on men for income.

There's one more thing: having a person who is subservient to you is not as nice as you think it would be. At first it is exactly like you see it: she is nice, caring, does what you ask because she loves you. But over time, you lose respect for her, because she is not an equal in your eyes. And she feels the loss of respect. Even if it never leads to overt abuse, she feels less than your wife and instead feels like property, like an animal: less than human. And she believes it. This is what happened with my parents. It leads to only one thing: divorce. At least in the spirit, you will no longer be husband and wife, but master and slave, and I would suggest that you avoid that sin so that her brothers don't decide to do things to you that you would regret.

Prayerfully,