6. The idea of “marrying up” is gone.
When women were denied the right to be educated and to have careers, the concept of “marrying up” in order to “improve their lot,” as Bolick writes, was just what women did. It was keeping in line with what was socially acceptable without rocking the boat. But if you’re more educated, more successful, and the pool of men to choose from is on par with a wasteland of deteriorated good-for-nothings, why bother?
7. Women have risen and continue to rise.
Another amazing point that Bolick makes is that while women were fighting — and we still are, make no mistake — for equality and the right to have a career and live their life on their own terms, men were falling behind. Men, especially white men, had nothing to fight for and because of this, they fell behind and were surpassed by women in many ways. This trend is likely to continue, making marriage even less likely in the decades that follow.
8. Marriage isn’t necessary for women to be mothers.
First of all, 40 percent of babies are born to single moms, and there’s a very good chance that percentage will rise as the stigma of being a single mother becomes less and less. There’s also the fact that, thanks to technology, you don’t even need a man if you want to have a baby. All you need is a trip to the sperm bank. That’s a great option for women who don’t want the relationship part of motherhood.
9. Men have lost what little value they had.
As Bolick writes, when there’s an imbalance in the gender ratio, the gender with the smaller amount automatically has a higher value, which makes that gender want to work even harder to make themselves a hot commodity. But here in the U.S. where that current ratio is 50.8 percent females and 49.2 percent males, that healthy balance in the population only exacerbates a man’s disinterest in making himself better. Therefore, women, not impressed with what’s out there, continue to excel on their own, turning even further from the idea of marriage.
10. Women have essentially become the men they want to marry.
As Gloria Steinem so accurately put it, “We are becoming the men we wanted to marry,” and she’s right. We are no longer the “fairer” gender, but a badass gender that’s a perfect self-sustaining entity that can take care of itself on every level. There’s no need to marry when everything you need you can give yourself — and on a silver platter, to boot.
Via Bolde.