Source: CNN
(CNN) — Some revolutions happen in a single day; others over decades. The rise of the voluntarily single woman has been happening in Western societies slowly, over time, concomitant with well-paying jobs, legal protection from economic or physical abuse, reliable birth control and the possibility of fulfilling careers and adventures.
Women are marrying at a later age these days, cohabiting with their partners or going in and out of short-term relationships without ever walking down the aisle.
Currently, 53% of women over 18 are in the singles column. Put another way, women now have choices that allow them to customize the arc of their lives and some of them find that it is best for them to put marriage aside.
Categories: Europe and Australia
Good for them!
A thought provoking article. There are many factors mentioned which cause a woman to remain single and not marry.
The negative effects of broken families, single parent families and having children outside of marriage have been well documented.
Maintaining the family has become the biggest challenge of our times. The responsibility primarily falls on religions. This is the prime area of their expertise. They are failing as evidenced by numbers. Singles or broken families drift away from their religions too.
The individuals have to be trained from the very beginning by their religions to have a mindset of marriage. Men and women both have to grow up with an attitude of responsibility and commitment. This can be achieved by religions if the religions can be reformed. If religions can change their focus from efforts to increase their following and getting more money from their followers to producing better individuals and better families, everyone can be a winner.
Lutf – But some women (and men) simply don’t want to get married and/or have kids, that’s all. Being single isn’t inferior to being married – religions need to let people live their own lives without trying to coerce them in to a life they simply don’t want.
One of the main factors which is a big hurdle in not establishing the family system is free intermixing of male and female in this western society . Islam laid great emphasis on segregation of sex and veiling of woman because Islam want to protect the family system . If we look in detail and with depth this non-segregation is real cause of not maintaing the trust between a wife and a husband and than lead to broken homes or broken marragies or even have a feeling of not getting married.
It is true that women like to gain education and be financially secure before they step into the married life. But most women now-a-days are more frightened of getting married than anything. Fear of a broken marriage, of getting your heart broken, a wide range of family issues, etc. These all contribute to this ‘fear mentality’.
@AL: Lutf – But some women (and men) simply don’t want to get married and/or have kids, that’s all. Being single isn’t inferior to being married
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There must be good reasons for not getting married, such as poverty or fear of divorce/break up of marriage or nobody sending a message for marriage. Not willing to be married is un-natural. It cannot be accepted as something normal.
Men and women have some natural desires and not getting married cannot be such a desire.
Christians have a taboo against marriage, even mating of husband and wife. We have the story of Mary (The mother) who (while in the synagogue) had no hope of getting married yet had some desire for the marriage. God Almighty arranged her marriage and selected her husband (Joseph the Carpenter) for her. He was selected through divine will (by lots). And Mary was happily married to her husband for about 14 years. They used to close their doors like husband and wife for 14 years.
The factors which cause the women to decide against marriage are clearly pointed out in the article. I think the nature of the society is changing. Financial dependence of women was a large factor in favor of them getting married and accept men who they would otherwise never accept. Now with financial security, and equal opportunity, women have more power. They are deciding to stay single rather than living with a man who is intellectually and financially inferior to them.
@Imrana Aziz: Veiling is not a core requirement for a moral and strong family. In the Holy Quran there is only one verse which mentions veiling of women and the meaning of that verse are still subject of debate. The women in the West have more security and independence than in Pakistan or Afghanistan. The definition of veil changes with time and place. Context is very important. Veil has not protected the women in Islamic countries from anything. The difficulty for women to find suitable men for marriage is no secret in Islamic countries. Domestic violence, divorce, and abuse of women within marriage is worse in Pakistan and other Muslim countries. Veil hardly provides any protection to the woman but effective law enforcement does.
@ Ghulam Sarwar: “Not willing to be married is un-natural. It cannot be accepted as something normal.
Men and women have some natural desires and not getting married cannot be such a desire.”
With respect, who are you to tell other people what is normal in the way they choose to live THEIR lives? It’s none of your business. Your comment shows you to be intolerant …