Spinsters Rejoice! Singles are more accepted than ever.
Marriage can be a wonderful arrangement between two compatible people who approach it in a sensible way. But fewer people are feeling pressure to marry for the wrong reasons, such as “everyone is doing it,” like in previous generations.
According to an article in Christian Science Monitor, for the first time, in 2014 the number of unmarried American adults exceeded people who are married.
“And the number of American adults who have never been married is at a historic high, around 20 percent.”
“Meanwhile, only 30 percent of Millennials say that having a successful marriage is ‘one of the most important things’ in life, according to the Pew Research Center, down from even the 47 percent of Generation X who said the same thing in 1997. Four in 10 Americans went ever further, telling Pew researchers in 2010 that marriage was becoming obsolete.”
The article quotes University of California, Santa Barbara professor Bella DePaulo about, “…comfort in the easy ‘marriage story.'” “It sounds so simple,” says DePaulo, “You just find the one person, you get married, and your whole life path is figured out.”
For most people, as Depaulo points out, it’s not that simple.
Fortunately, spinsters, singles, bachelorettes, and bachelors are more accepted than ever.
Sure, married relatives and friends will still ask when you’re going to find a nice mate and settle down (as if it’s always the best solution for everyone at all times), but for the most part, being single is now no big deal.
“As an unmarried woman, I was thought to be a danger.” Grace Kelly
“When I was growing up, I always read horror books, while my sister read romance novels. My sister became unmarried and pregnant during high school, and she kept saying, ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen! Why is this happening to me?’ Someone should have given her another book to read.” Dorothy Allison
Related Articles:
Still Single? 7 Possible Reasons
4 Reasons to Ignore “Best Cities for Singles” Studies
Copyright © 2015 Stephen Petullo
