The status of women in society has been ever changing since the women's movement in the 1960's. The roles of women have also changed due to the opportunities available to them in the workforce as a result of education. This has served to allow the modern woman to be more independent financially and in some cases, emotionally. The availability of education, well paying jobs and the accepted social status of being single has changed the reasons why women seek husbands.
The outspoken feminist society has also contributed to the reasons why women do not place priority in finding a husband. Governmental agencies have also formed policies that hinder child rearing and marriage. An examination of these issues facing the modern woman are explored to understand current trends and the future viability of this phenomena.
The love for another person is the ideal goal of marriage. However when an educated, career driven woman chooses not to devote the time it takes to establish a relationship with a man, love seldom blossoms from weekend encounters. This is compounded when a woman may put priorities of her employment responsibilities over another person (Seattle Times 1999).
Traditionally, women primarily seek husbands for financial support of the family, social acceptance by their peers, and as a means of fulfilling their parents and societal expectations. Marrying for love is an ideal reason, but it was often seen as only one of the factors in the decision. Parents often told them that the benefits of getting married are the financial security it offers. Women now (in their 30's) were raised by parents that sent them to University that provided them with the qualifications and skills necessary to provide them with the opportunity to acquire a career that would make them financially independent. With this ability to provide for themselves without necessarily needing the help of a man, women have the ability to choose their own lifestyle.
In the past, women satisfied their motherly instinct of having children by getting married at a young age in order to achieve this goal. However a growing number of women are choosing to have children outside of a marriage and provide financial and parental support by themselves (Harpster 2000). The availability of higher level education and a satisfying well paying jobs require time and dedication. This conflicts with the social mingling that is required to meet a husband. When some women approach their late twenties, their career goals and commitment have not allowed them the time to find a husband.
The media (mainly television and women magazines) has a primary goal of increasing profits. They achieve this by having a large viewership and readership. The media accomplish this by covering topics that provide a 'shock appeal' to its readers to stimulate curiosity (Hesselberg 2000). Numerous females' rolemodels in this media are single, financially stable and are having children outside of a marriage. This is now viewed as acceptable behaviour in todays' society, which is a drastic contrast to the opinions held decades ago. Back then, a woman raising a child out of wedlock was frowned upon, and these women were faced with the challenge of providing for the family while combating this social stigmatism. The extreme feminist also contributes to the status of single woman. As the Daily Mail and many others mentions, "marriage is all about female submission"
(Koidin 2000) as one of its main arguments. The article then profiles a successful woman as being single, well employed, owning a house, taking holidays and having an occasional lover. Articles such as this illustrates how societal views of the modern woman has changed.
The single woman of today are also the children of the 'late baby boomers- 60 yrs old-' and have lived in a single family home. The high divorce rate of their parents has questioned their rational for sacrificing their education and employment in search of a husband. Married women have expressed their frustration that "they are having to give up jobs or studies because they lack support from their families" (Donovan 2000). These women express their frustration to their single women friends and this adds as another negative aspect to getting married. These factors as well as others are some reasons why marriage is not sought after as the primary goal of life. Some women now are concerned with independent financial security, and personal interests such as travelling and personal enlightment.
The government and employers also
contribute to women remaining single. The Canadian Government allows parents
to right-off daycare expenses (married or single) but a woman cannot right-off
any personal expenses (ie. Equivalent to daycare expenses) if she foregoes
daycare and stays home with the child. These women argue that they are
being classified as free labour by the government and they are also foregoing
work. Governmental agencies do institute short-term policies to help marriage
and having a child such as extended maternity leaves which is now one year
per child, however companies in the private sector often do no promote
this and usually demotes a returning mother to a lower level position.
However these policies that promote marriage and having a child provide
little benefit when it is compared to the overall monetary and social advantages
to remain single -as mentioned above-.
The Japanese woman has changed her role dramatically in the last few decades. The Japanese culture previously suppressed women by limiting their access to educational and employment opportunities that was available to their male counterparts. They now complete their University degree, find satisfying jobs and feel more in control of their life. In 1998, 94% of single women 22 years and older who have finished school are living with their parents in Japan (Washington Times 2000). These new bread of women do not want a husband to tell them what to do, when to come home and control them in other ways. Because they are able to provide their own financial needs, they demand more autonomy from a relationship. The Japanese men have not responded to this and in most cases still expect women to fit their traditional roles of dependency. The large population in Japan has also prompted governmental agencies to hinder families from having more than one child per family. Many women (and men) have expressed outrage over the Japanese Government's attempt to force their idea of family planning onto them. This has also deterred women from forming marriages because of the limitations of having only one child.
Employers from the private sector often perceive young married women as undesirable, because they think she will soon become pregnant and taking maternity a leave. If she is a mother (ie. She's in her mid-late 30's), employers sometimes also view her as having responsibilities that will hinder her from focusing on the job and ability to working overtime (Wenniger 1999). This is a difficult problem to fix because there are many subtle characteristics an employer can use to validate as the reason he/she chooses to hire a man over a pregnant woman or young married woman. Women groups and Governmental agencies are attempting to influence employers to get pregnant women in the workplace through education and absorbing a higher percentage of the maternity cost when a woman leave the workplace.
Inevitably, when a woman gets married, she acknowledges that her career will not be as lucrative as if she remained single for the reasons mentioned above. This occurs because employers are less likely to promote and hire a young married woman for fear of her taking maternity leave in the near future. Women that choose to get married and become pregnant justify this loss in income from not working as much, because they are able stay at home with the child. This occurs because the husband often works full-time while his wife works part-time and dedicates more time to raising the child.
The increasing equal treatment of women in the workplace, society and by the Government has benefited women. They are now able to decide their choices in life because of education and career opportunities available to them. The recent decline in marriages, divorces and birthrates are likely attributed to the liberation of women and the freedom it gives them. Consequently the low divorce rate, high number of marriages and a high birth rate that occurred in the past were influenced by the lack of opportunity available to them. Many long-term marriages would have ended if the woman was able to financialy support herself and the children (if she chooses to keep the children). In early 2000, women in some Middle East countries are now able to divorce their husbands. Though the developed nations are seeing a declining marriage rate; Less developed countries (ie. few jobs) still have characteristics women had in the early and mid 1900th century of the now developed countries.
As our societies become more urbanized,
monetary based and changes in social trends, the single woman will continue
to pervade throughout our society. As these women rise children and the
divorce rate increases, a rippling effect filters to subsequent generations.
Each generation will encounter constraints and rewards for a woman to have
a husband, but the level of each
constraint and reward will dictate
where our society is headed.
The limited resources of the planet to sustain an increasing population may play a greater deterrent in having children and are factors to consider when women seek a husband. Governments will continue to influence the amount of marriages in its own country. This will occur because of monetary incentives/disincentives they can implement.
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R E F E R E N C E S
THE COST OF WORKING
TOO HARD -- `I WANT MY OFFICE MOMMY!'
Seattle Times; Seattle,
Wash.; Sep 3, 1999
SINGLE MOTHERHOOD'S
HARD ROAD YWCA FILM LOOKS AT MOMS WHO ALSO HAVE TO BE DADS
Times - Picayune;
New Orleans, La.; Mar 20, 2000; Dayna Harpster Staff writer.
OLD SCAMS, NEW TRICKS
Wisconsin State
Journal; Madison; Mar 23, 2000; George Hesselberg;
WHY MARRIED WOMEN
MUST NEVER SUBMIT TO THESE RULES
Daily Mail -London;
Feb 11, 2000; Brenda Koidin.
LEARNING TO TACKLE
LIFE'S FRUSTRATIONS PRODUCTIVELY
New York Times;
New York; Feb 4, 2000; Aaron Donovan.
BIRTHRATE PLUNGE
IN JAPAN CAREER, INDEPENDENCE AMONG CAUSES
Washington Times;
Washington; Feb 28, 2000.
OFFERS INFORMATION
ABOUT INTERVIEWING FOR A NEW JOB
Women in Higher
Education; United States; Apr 1999; Wenniger Mary Dee.
20 I Want to be a
Princess: Japanese Women in the Workplace
Off Our Backs Inc.
Asian; Dec 13, 1999; Lieberman, Leanne.
22 Material girls
The Women's Review, Inc; China; Pacific Rim; Dec 1999;
Harrison, Beth.
Issues Facing Women Seeking
A Husband