If someone never marries are they weird?

1. 75

   tsmogposted 9 years ago

   If someone never marries are they weird?

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2. 69

   Tusitala Tomposted 9 years ago

   I don't know what the percentage of married people compared with those who do not marry, but I'm pretty sure it would be quite a large one.  Marriage might not occur though a man or woman might have had a sexual relationship and lived together for years.  And, of course, many people are involved in a number of such relationships over their adult lives.  So if 'marriage' is a criterion for 'weirdness' we live in a very weird world indeed.
   
   The Pope isn't married.  Neither is the Dalai Lama.  I don't see these two as weird in the least.  They seem very well adjusted.   Also, I've known and been a friend of married people and 'singles' (that is past the so-called age of 'being in the market' to wed and still looking)
   
   Quite frankly, I think you put that question out there to get some sort of conflict going among the Hubbers. Maybe to boost your rating, eh?

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      Venkatachari Mposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      But do you approve or accept live-in- relationships morally? One can live single but I never think of accepting living together before marriage

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3. 72

   dashingscorpioposted 9 years ago

   I wouldn't consider them to be weird.
   Percentage wise it would be unusual. Having said that I have two brothers in their mid 50s who have never gotten married. Getting married today is a choice and not an expectation.
   Some people are content with dating or cohabitating and even simply avoiding all of it.

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4. 60

   kj forceposted 9 years ago

   Whether someone marries or doesn't marry.. should have no bearing on being " termed /labeled " weird or not. Marriage is a personal choice and an option, many people live together without the
   " commitment ".  In  todays world, it is pretty much accepted, although there are still those who think choosing to stay single is not " normal "...Personally I feel we only live once and if we feel and chose to remain single...so be it..
   I commend anyone who makes a choice and abides by it..just my thoughts and opinion..

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   1. 72

      dashingscorpioposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you. However I suspect there are many would be women daters after a certain age who'd be suspicious of a man in his 50s who has never been married. In their eyes if he has never "committed" before odds are he won't do it with them!

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5. 58

   palanorjposted 9 years ago

   In my heart, there is an idealized notion of "love." In there lies a young man who desperately wishes to find the one person he loves more than anything. Like you see in the movies. I'm so lonely without her, whoever she is. Wherever she is.
   
   But in reality, human beings are flawed and cruel. I discovered this first-hand when I was cheated on three times in a row, in three different relationships. Of course, I am the common factor in those romances, so I am partially at fault for their failure. But when it comes down to it, adultery is the adulterer's responsibility. And neither my heart nor my psyche can withstand the deconstruction of the soul that results from being cheated on by one you love.
   
   All I see is sadness and pain. People being abandoned by their lovers because they are too poor, too ugly, not ambitious enough, not successful enough. Human coupling is a brutal, unforgiving game. Some win. Some lose. I decide not to play.
   
   So for the rest of my life, I'll alternate between whoring it up and being a hermit. I'll continue to engage in "strictly-physical" relationships that hollow my soul. And then I'll complain about my quandary to complete strangers on the Internet, hoping for that one glimmer of hope, that pure, kind, genuine streak of humanity that led me to believe in love in the first place.
   
   And when it comes, I'll run like hell. Because I believed the lie that people were good once before. And it ate my heart.

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6. 91

   Venkatachari Mposted 9 years ago

   Until 1980s, I never thought of people living without marrying. But, gradually people began delaying marriages till their crossing 30 years, and then I came across people even unmarried at 40. Now, my own children are not married even crossing 35 years. Elder one is not interested at all. Younger one is worried about elder one and so lingering to marry.
   But, I can never digest people living without marriage but maintaining live-in-relationships. How does this habit started to come into being, I still wonder and can't dream of such things.

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      dashingscorpioposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      In the U.S. cohabitating got it's push in the late 60s and early 70s. Better birth control methods, & better career opportunities for women made marriage a "lifestyle choice" not their "goal". Many men welcomed this change!

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      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Dashingscorpio, excellent answer as usual.  With more liberalization of roles and better contraceptive methods, marriage is just another option, not an obligatory route to take.

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7. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   
   
   Not at all.  They are smart and discerning.  There are some people who are not meant to be married.  Some people realize this and act accordingly.  They know this and create a life of blissful singlehood.  They are happy in their lifestyle choice.  They may be celibate or have a series of relationships.  Marriage is not for everyone as evidenced by the high divorce rates.
   
   Many people get married because of familial, parental, religious, and/or societal expectations.  They get married to belong to their particular social group.  They use marriage as a façade.  They marry and act the same if they are single.  They really view marriage as a tolerable purgatory to be merely endured at best.   Many people who are married really DO NOT want to be married but were not brave enough to stand up to societal convention but instead caved in to societal pressure all for the worse.

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