I got married so that my wife could apply for a leave of absence. I guess by essence it feels scammy and I think it could be. But I would call it playing with the rules of the game. By telling the truth the leave of absence would have been denied. I have been told it could lower taxes, although I didn't check. It can be convenient for health insurance to share a status I believe, although it applies only for those who get medicine from State approved doctors anyway (not for me). I see marriage as a social construct that can be useful to exploit as long as you get something beneficial. Marriage feels to me like the age of majority. Suddenly you are an adult but why not decide an adult is 19.5yo to instead of 20yo? Or 19.999yo and count in lunar years instead of solar years? So marriage to me is a pure social and arbitrary construct that I used to my advantage. It feels scammy but society believes it is not, this is what matters. Like fiat money, what matters is people think it has value. Marriage may lose its value and feel like it is a scam if many people feel it is abused with laws like those which approve gay marriage. Like fiat money, abusing a social construct from its original meaning (value derived from gold back currency) makes it questionable.