You’ve always considered yourself on the right path. You’re well educated, have constantly maintained good social standing, paid your dues with a couple of entry-level jobs and now, you’ve finally gotten the promotion you deserve. You’re also sufficient enough to have your own place despite the obvious disapproval of your extended family. But there is an entire society out there that’s keen on constantly reminding you of that one thing that is noticeably lacking in your life- that one thing that would complete you- that one thing that without- you would fail.
That’s right, for years old wives tales have cautioned little girls about the horrors of spinsterhood, an extraterrestrial pandemic that could hit women as they approach a certain age, where god forbid they remain unmarried! And the Middle East is not immune to this phenomenon; in fact we’ve collectively managed to take preventative measures by decreasing the “conventional” age for marriage from 30 to an astonishing 25 years!
Our misguided lies have also led us to occasionally repeat common myths like “you have to get babies before you’re 30, it’s healthier!” Carla Bruni who is 44 just had a baby by the way. Is it because she’s Italian/ French? Has she been artificially inseminated? PLEASE!
But get a load of this crap: apparently the more successful you become, the pickier you are with your men. Better yet, men are more interested in the good looking perky secretary-type girls; as successful women tend to intimidate them. What’s worse, higher paid women scare men away, perhaps that’s why most employers in the Middle East reportedly pay women less than they do men.
I don’t buy any of it. Yes, of course there exists a breed of insecure men out there that can’t handle an equal, or imagine women as their viable competition; men like that are only able to lure women with money. But for the rest of the over-achieving successful single ladies out there that have been bombarded with this rubbish- don’t succumb to the pressure, the only reason you should ever consider marriage is for love. *sigh*
