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Why more women choose not to marry
CNN ^ | 10/16/2014 | Pepper Schwartz

Posted on 10/16/2014 9:54:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

ome 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.

Is this natural? Is this bad? Is this cause for alarm?

We have long counted on women's sacrifices and the compromises they've made to lift societies all over the world. We are worried that if women delay or forgo marriage, the all-important family unit will suffer. As much as I admire happy couples and families, I think this may be one of the few times in history when so many women could choose from such a full range of life choices without penalty or stigma. Since few people "have it all," why not choose being single if that's the best option?

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: marriage; women
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Pepper Schwartz is professor of sociology at the University of Washington and the author of many books, the latest of which is "The Normal Bar." She is the love and relationship ambassador for AARP and writes the Naked Truth column for AARP.org. She is also a senior fellow at the Council on Contemporary Families, a nonprofit organization that gathers research on American families. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
1 posted on 10/16/2014 9:54:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind; MeganC

Ping Megan Dear for your reading.


2 posted on 10/16/2014 9:59:28 AM PDT by KC_Lion (Build the America you want to live in at your address, and keep looking up.- Sarah Palin)
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To: SeekAndFind
We are worried that if women delay or forgo marriage, the all-important family unit will suffer.

The naked truth is this lady is a big part of the problem.

3 posted on 10/16/2014 9:59:28 AM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
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To: SeekAndFind

A lot of women can’t find guys to offer to marry them.


4 posted on 10/16/2014 10:01:48 AM PDT by Fido969 (What's sad is most)
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To: SeekAndFind

The reason there are so many single women is because most guys would rather not get married - for many obvious reasons.


5 posted on 10/16/2014 10:03:39 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t think it matters why people make the choices they do. The reasonably predictable consequences of the choices matters to me. What I can do to flourish in the society created by those choices matters.


6 posted on 10/16/2014 10:03:43 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Feeling fine about the end of the world!)
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To: SeekAndFind
Societal wealth provides women with the luxury of being selfish. All people are intrinsically selfish and seek to put the comforts of self first and this is what women are now doing.

Women are placing themselves first in their lives. Feminists have told, cajoled, scolded and shamed women into putting themselves first and above all else. Women put themselves first ahead of anything that might interfere with their “right” to happiness, personal fulfillment. Nothing should get in the way of this. Nothing.

Of course this doesn't apply to all women, and of course, men are afflicted with the same human trait of selfishness, but for decades now women have been told to be self centered to the exclusion of all else, and we are now seeing the fruit of this.

7 posted on 10/16/2014 10:05:07 AM PDT by Obadiah (None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)
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To: SeekAndFind

When you let someone drive your car anytime for free, why would someone want to buy it?


8 posted on 10/16/2014 10:06:19 AM PDT by struggle
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To: SeekAndFind

there is no reason to stay married to the pig when the court system will award you the bacon.


9 posted on 10/16/2014 10:08:21 AM PDT by morphing libertarian
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To: SeekAndFind
About the author:

Pepper the Aging Baby Boomer Putita

She gets paid to teach people about what fun it's been being a childless slut for the last 5 decades.

Bet there's more then a couple of abortions left out of the story.

10 posted on 10/16/2014 10:08:57 AM PDT by Regulator
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To: Fido969
A lot of women can’t find guys to offer to marry them.

I can't imagine why


11 posted on 10/16/2014 10:09:18 AM PDT by Signalman
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To: SeekAndFind

When women have been told that even the very life of an innocent unborn child should not interfere with their own selfish pursuits, then you have a problem.


12 posted on 10/16/2014 10:09:32 AM PDT by Obadiah (None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)
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To: Fido969; KC_Lion
A lot of women can’t find guys to offer to marry them.

And then the problem is finding a guy who offers to marry you AND who is worth marrying. At 18 I married someone much older because I wanted to be a wife and a mom and there just aren't any actual 'men' closer to my age. It's been five years and it's been great.

At the same time, I look at most women and wonder at the paradox of their existence in that they say they want a 'real man' but then they also want their independence, they want a career, they want professional recognition, and then, when it's convenient, then maybe they can bother being a wife and maybe even a mom.

It just doesn't work that way. At least it doesn't work well.

I committed to being a wife and mom and I'm happy! Yet I also lost all of my friends who are still in college racking up huge debts so they can work to pay off those debts and maybe have a life someday.

13 posted on 10/16/2014 10:09:37 AM PDT by MeganC (It took Democrats four hours to deport Elian Gonzalez)
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To: MeganC

Well..YOU were smart!


14 posted on 10/16/2014 10:11:15 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods)
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To: Regulator

Of course if women have only the freeper guys on these kinds of threads to choose from who can blame them for staying single. :-)


15 posted on 10/16/2014 10:12:16 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Georgia Girl 2

Marry me.


16 posted on 10/16/2014 10:13:06 AM PDT by Lazamataz (First we beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them. We have no 'news media', only a Soviet Pravda.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I don't get it.

It's MEN who should avoid marriage at all costs.

17 posted on 10/16/2014 10:13:07 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: MeganC

Marry me.


18 posted on 10/16/2014 10:13:31 AM PDT by Lazamataz (First we beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them. We have no 'news media', only a Soviet Pravda.)
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To: Tax-chick

Marry me.


19 posted on 10/16/2014 10:13:56 AM PDT by Lazamataz (First we beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them. We have no 'news media', only a Soviet Pravda.)
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To: MeganC

Yeah, that’s exactly the paradox. Good for you.

I believe women have been told “you can be god” and you must not deny yourself anything.


20 posted on 10/16/2014 10:14:02 AM PDT by Obadiah (None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)
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