No Commitments, No Problems
It’s no secret that America has fallen victim to the epidemic that is wedding mania. From the obsessive coverage of Will and Kate’s royal nuptials to countless reality shows on TV like “Say Yes to the Dress” and “Bridezillas,” it seems the average pop culture consumer can’t get enough of the shenanigans that surround weddings. Why is it then, that despite all the hype, our generation is less likely to want to take that stroll down the aisle toward happily ever after?
A nationwide survey about marriage and family trends conducted by the Pew Research Center and TIME magazine showed that in 2008, 26 percent of all twenty-somethings were married. In 1960, two-thirds (68 percent) of all twenty-somethings were married. Quite the generation gap, eh?
All utter infatuation with wedding reality shows aside, our generation isn’t in any rush to tie the knot. In fact, nearly four in ten survey respondents (39 percent) said that marriage is becoming obsolete. The reason for this? I’d chalk it up to cold feet: our generation doesn’t want to commit.
As a child of divorce and a self-diagnosed commitment-phobe, I would be a part of the 39 percent that have little faith in the sanctity and legitimacy of marriage. After dating one guy for basically the entirety of my adolescence and dealing with the emotional mindfuckery that the breakup caused, I’m not too keen on being tied down. I refuse to commit to anything serious because I don’t want to have to deal with the consequences (awkwardness, heartbreak, etc.) if the relationship ends. While that’s my excuse for avoiding commitment like the plague, generally speaking I think today’s generation of twenty-somethings are opting to avoid contracted civil union for other, less complex reasons.
On a college campus, chances are that even after 2 years you don’t know everyone. If a guy meets a girl at the bar and they hit it off, who’s to say that the next night he can’t do the same with a different (maybe even hotter) girl he has never met before? It’s my own personal belief that both males and females view their prospective mates as disposable. People do not feel the need to be monogamous when there isn’t a shortage of partners around.
On top of that, our generation doesn’t seem to think much about true love. Less than three in ten (28 percent) survey respondents agreed that there is “only one true love” for every person. Nobody is willing to commit to “the one” now if there’s a chance that another “one” is out there that could make him or her just as happy (any maybe even be better in bed).
By believing that there is no such thing as “the one,” does that make our generation more open-minded, or are we simply miserable, heartless pessimists? To each their own philosophies, but I commend our generation for not putting pressure on the need for commitment and the ties that bind. Thank you, narcissistic womanizer, for not rushing into anything serious with that broad you’ve been sleeping with every Friday for the last six months because quite frankly, there’s no need. If you both are happy with your arrangement, why fix what isn’t broken? Hats off to you.
So is our generation free-spirited or cynical? Maybe a little bit of both. But hey, I’m okay with that. I’d rather just keep on keepin’ on living my single-ish, twenty-something, commitment-phobic life, avoiding thoughts about my future wedding plans—and doing my best to keep up with Kim Kardashian’s.