14 DAY TRIAL // In these times, an increasing number of men and women tend to be single for long periods of time, or simply wait for a lot longer time before they get married. While society doesn't seem to mind this when it comes to males, females are very likely to still experience the effects of the “spinster” stigma. The term refers to women who have not married within the socially-accepted age range for this, or who are still single and prefer to remain that way. Researchers found in a new study that the stigma isn't letting up regardless of the large number of people who remain outside couples or marriage.
Statistics from the US Census Bureau (USCB) show that, for 2009, more than 40 percent of adults in the United States were single for most of the time. A large part of the group was represented by women of middle-class, aged over 30, who had never married. As part of the recent investigation, experts spoke to 32 of these individuals, to learn about the issues they are facing. The team found that these females feel “attacked” from two sides. They believe that their social status makes them visible and invisible in equal measure, and some of them report not knowing how to deal with this.
“We found that never-married women's social environments are characterized by pressure to conform to the conventional life pathway. Heightened visibility came from feelings of exposure, and invisibility came from assumptions made by others,” says University of Missouri Human Development and Family co-chair Larry Ganong, quoted by LiveScience. He adds that some of the women in the group interviewed reported resenting having to be placed in situations in which they needed to explain the reasons for them being single.
Additionally, the women explained, they felt highly-visible in situations such as bouquet tossing at weddings, where many individuals would come up to ask them directly about their social status. Conversely, in social events, they said that most people simply assume they are married on account of their age, and that they already have children. In this sense, the test participants indicated, they feel invisible. They add that people appear to prefer ignoring the reality of single women. Details of the new investigations will appear in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Family Issues.
A mark can be identified in the age of 25, the researchers said. Before women reach that age, it is more socially-acceptable of them not to marry. But, as this “threshold” is reached, they begin to come under increased amounts of pressure from family and friends, as well as other people. Those around them suddenly become very inquisitive as to why they are single, and what their plans for the future are. “Mainstream media also enforce these ideas. For example, shows […] which portray female protagonists who are hyper-focused on finding men, and end with the majority of those characters getting married, are popular,” says Ganong.