GameBanshee Forums

@fable: Most?...I was under the impression that, according to censuses and polls and such, people in general (in the US) are waiting till later in life to marry.

Barring that -- the 30/35 age range may be "old" to marry, but it's certainly not old in general...At least, I haven't received my invitation to the AARP just yet

Originally posted by Der-draigen
@fable: Most?...I was under the impression that, according to censuses and polls and such, people in general (in the US) are waiting till later in life to marry.

Barring that -- the 30/35 age range may be "old" to marry, but it's certainly not old in general...At least, I haven't received my invitation to the AARP just yet

The second part wasn't implied. As to the first: I could be wrong, but I'm still under the impression that most marriages occur in people's teens and twenties. Marriages fall off steeply (especially first time marriages; we're not talking of remarriages after divorces) by the thirties, if I recall correctly.

I saw some preliminary numbers from the last census which showed that the age of first time marriages was going up in the United States, although it was still under 30 for both men and women. I want to say that the average age for men was around 28 and around 25 for women.

I think that women in particular feel a social pressure to be married before they turn 30. Sometimes this comes from themselves, but I think more often from their families (and especially their own mothers) and from their friends.

We also have a double-standard with regard to marriage; older single men are bachelors who must enjoy "playing the field" or other such nonsense, while older single women are spinsters who couldn't find anyone or are somehow deficient and undesirable.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
We also have a double-standard with regard to marriage; older single men are bachelors who must enjoy "playing the field" or other such nonsense, while older single women are spinsters who couldn't find anyone or are somehow deficient and undesirable.

And this is nonsense 'cause why?

My apologies, I meant to reply to this thread, but kept back-burnering it and eventually forgot.

I mean that we (as a society) excuse men for being single, but we question women if they choose not to take a husband. If a man is single and has a lot of sexual partners, he is stud. If a woman engages in the same behaviours, she is a whore. That is the double standard I am talking about.

I think part of it is because we allow men to be individuals, but we expect women to derive at least part of their identiy from someone else. They are so-and-so's daughter. They (generally) take their husband's name upon marriage. Women are expected to be a part of a family. If they do not do those things, we begin to suspect that they are undesirable, social aberrations or lesbians. Men are never subjected to the same scrutiny or standards.

I also believe that this puts a lot of pressure on women to have families when they may not be ready to, and to get married to someone because that is something they should do and not something they want to do.

Yayyy!!! Now I get to bump this topic - Arazon or whatever she was called wrapped my purple bumper-stickered bumpey big-bump bumper car around a tree on Boars Hill, and I managed to salvage the remains . Anyway...*giggles like a school girl* Yeah I'm in a happy relationship now...a girl I've known for two years, but our families were friends before we were born (which kinda sucks - when your girlfriend's dad remembers feeding you cocoa in the middle of the night as a toddler ). It's been a long time a-comin', but some things are worth the wait, ya know?

I will post something useful and serious later on, and when we get married, I'll tell you my opinions on that too...

Many congratulations Frogus May you and your girlfriend have a long and happy life!

posted by Frogus
which kinda sucks - when your girlfriend's dad remembers feeding you cocoa in the middle of the night as a toddler).

ROFL! When I was a teen, I was very secretive about my relationships with boys towards my parents, so I would have been extremly bothered! The reason for my unwillingness was however that my parents would have disapproved greatly, I didn't hang around with the kind of people they would have wanted me to...