Single Ladies Put Your Hands Up
I’m not really sure what my plan is for the next three years or so, but I’m pretty sure getting married is not on the list. Yes, I do eventually, someday, want to get married, but not before I have the chance to live on my own and learn a little bit more about myself as an individual. At least in this country I have that option. Others aren’t so lucky
I recently read a New York Times article about single women in Iran pretending to be married just so real estate agents would sell them an apartment in the city to live in while they were going to school. While American women are struggling internally with the thought of being single, Iranian women have many more outside forces applying to pressure to marry off and make babies.
“In the not-so-distant past [in Iran], single women had to endure severe social stigmatization, suspected of having loose morals or dismissed as spinsters who were failing to fulfill their role in life.” Well, I’m a single woman, and I don’t think I fit any of those categories. I’m certainly no spinster.
These young women who are trying to make a life for themselves before they marry off are facing cultural blowback and it is frankly disappointing to hear about in the 21st century. In the article, the Iranian woman interviewed is quoted saying, “when my mother was young, finding a husband and having children was the only measurement of success.”
I feel that while getting married and having children is still important in this country, there are many other measures of success that are looked at before ones marital and childbearing status. I commend these brave single women in Iran who are doing whatever it takes to focus on what’s important to them rather than what’s important to their culture despite the disparity between them. It’s called personal priorities and I think everyone would do well to respect each other’s.
Image from http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/right-hand-ring-overshadow-engagement-ring
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