I've always hated when furries used the word mate. It is like they are sugar coating a relationship they are unsure about.
i like it. i dont think its sugar coating, and 'mate' is part of my vocabulary.
as for the topic? uhh...
well, Sean Hannity said on the air once that he thinks the point of marriage is to 'focus all of your desires on your spouse', which i take to mean, you might feel like you want to date someone else, but you dont, and you commit. so, i guess 'mate' doesn't really get to that level.. um, but then again you're comparing a concept thats been around for basically forever to things that aren't really exactly solidified concepts, so ..
the main difference between all this other stuff and marriage is that if you're married to someone, you can go around and say, 'person X and myself are basically the same person' and that will be accepted, and, i guess respected? but if you want to have some kind of other relationship, well, you're going to get a different level of respect or acceptance on, uh, a, um, case-by-case basis :3c lol