Instagram Flooded as #DivorceSelfie Hashtag and Images Go Viral to Promote Amicable Ends to Marriages
When Shannon and Chris Neuman in stereotypical friendly Canadian fashion, posted their “divorce selfie” to Instagram, they wanted to promote their hard work and continue to be good parents to their children after 11 years of marriage. They didn’t expect the image to go viral so fast.
But it did. The ex-couple’s message about amicable divorce and focusing on co-parenting and finding lives outside of each other and their former relationship went viral and in just one week, people from all over the world are using the hashtag #divorceselfie.
“Are we smiling because the partner we chose for forever turned out to not to be the forever partner we needed? Of course not” Shannon’s Instagram post said. “We’re smiling because we have done something extraordinary (we think anyway!) We have respectfully, thoughtfully and honourably ended our marriage in a way that will allow us to go forward as parenting partners for our children, the perfect reason that this always WAS meant to be, so they will never have to choose. They’ll never have to wonder which side of the auditorium to run to after their Christmas concert or spring play, because we’ll be sitting together. They won’t have to struggle with their own wedding planning because we’ll be sitting on the same side of the aisle – THEIR side.”
The ex-spouses sport huge goofy smiles in their picture outside the Calgary courthouse – an image that goes against all stereotypes of divorce. For many, divorce comes after betrayal, heart break, or some other emotionally intense event that ends a romantic relationship. When the divorce is not amicable you may need to call on a South Carolina divorce attorney.
But that image of divorce seems to be changing. Although divorce rates in the U.S. are falling, they still remain close to half of all married couples in a given year. And since divorce rates began to shoot up in the 1970’s, the United States and many other developed nations with a similar trend have had to rethink their taboos about divorce. Thanks to the Neumans, many couples are able to talk about their amicable divorces more openly – their marriage wasn’t forever, but they want to lead happy lives, and most importantly, make sure their kids don’t feel torn between their parents.
Another woman, Heather Featherwright, reported that she even live-Tweeted her divorce. “Got a #divorce today. Live tweeted about it, too. SO modern. Forever wasn’t as long as we had anticipated but it was a beautiful trip we took. I think this is what unconditional love looks like. It didn’t work for us but we are still hopeless romantics and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
