I try not to be jaundiced but it's very difficult to recommend marriage nowadays. Obviously, my own experiences haven't been great but, when you weigh it up objectively, there are just too many downsides to marriage (for men). As Rich Cooper says, it's 'high risk, low gain' for most guys.
My ex-wife was/is a dreadful person but I blame myself to some extent because I rushed into the relationship too quickly and she was pregnant within the first year of us getting together. In hindsight, I was too naive and too trusting and it was all a terrible mistake.
Partly, I think that's because of my own background and experiences. On one hand, because of my former Chad status, I had little experience with LTRs. I know that sounds contradictory but I just bounced from woman to woman and it was easy, so I didn't really think too deeply about the nature of women. They just came and went, so what? Then at 40 I thought I was ready to 'settle down' and made a really bad choice. Believe me, I wish I had been a member of this forum back then.
On the other hand, I never had sisters or female cousins and I came from a stable nuclear family. My mother was a very good person who got together with my father when they were both teenagers. they got married in their early 20s and stayed together until my mum died five years ago in her 80s. So, all in all, I had never really been exposed to bad women, I wasn't aware just how nasty and spiteful they can be.
None of this excuses anything BTW, I'm just saying I should have been smarter and more aware. No doubt about that.