The social stigma associated with being single or unmarried is known as the “marriage stigma.” These are some suggestions for overcoming the stigma associated with marriage:
Remember to concentrate on your own objectives: Each person has a unique life schedule and set of priorities. Don’t let society norms or stigmas influence your choices; instead, concentrate on your own objectives and dreams.
Find a community that supports you: Surround yourself with people who agree with you and your decisions, whether they be family, friends, or other people who share your viewpoints. In the face of societal pressure, this can give a person a sense of support and belonging.
Learn about the reasons why marriage is stigmatised, and when you come across unfavourable preconceptions or assumptions, dispute them.
Why did I mention India? Because here maybe we are too stuck in a culture without thinking if it’s making anybody happy. Not at all suggesting that other foreign cultures are better than ours but then ours does come with a rule book of maybe thousands of points to be considered even with the most open-minded people at some point.
Taking care of oneself is crucial since dealing with societal stigma can be emotionally taxing. Exercise, meditation, and spending time with loved ones are examples of this.
Keep in mind that being single does not define your value as a person. Regardless of your marital situation, focus on creating a satisfying and meaningful life by reminding yourself of your successes, good characteristics, and strengths.
In conclusion, overcoming the stigma associated with marriage might be difficult, but you can do so by putting your attention on your own objectives, seeking out a supportive group, educating yourself, engaging in self-care, and recognising your value.
Problems with Existing Mentality
It is hard to find a man/woman to marry in an “arranged” situation. Today is nothing like yesterday. Today girls and boys want to meet each other and spend some time together to understand why they should live their lives married to each other? That’s strange to some but acceptable to some as well. I can write a whole book on each term that I mentioned here but let’s not dive into the literal sense of the problem here because the problem is quite obvious; “we expect a lot from the other person on the basis of how our families and society expected us to expect from others.”
How the Mentality should be Changed
By bringing into consideration the mental growth war we are in, we have a good number to represent the open-minded people. By open-minded, I mean “somebody who doesn’t objectify relationships if it’s not marriage”. It feels strange that it is equally hard for a man and for a woman to find the right match for themselves not because of their expectations but mostly because of expectations of the people surrounding them. Which is important I admit, but not as important as their self values, self consideration, long term commitment, and self-realisation. Now, this is confusing for sure. But let’s think a little bit about what are the things you will look like in a man or a woman before choosing? I met a person a couple of weeks ago who told me that she is open-minded and a lot of progressive people looking for a similar taste in men. Which I agree should be the case for everybody. But what are the questions you ask when you meet people of the opposite gender to clarify your doubts? We are too concerned about whether or not we will be able to wear dresses of our choice, eat food that we love, hang out with friends together, or maybe fun trips. If you being a man or a woman ask these questions then you are right. I don’t understand when people make me believe that there are some changes you need to make or some compromises you need to make or some adjustments you need to bring into your life after marriage. I ask, why?
What’s different in this whole marriage situation? I state ” a pair of people we call parents”. We do have a pair back at home and now a new pair in a new home. I state “a different house”. It is going to be different if you expect women to move from one house to another. This has been a debate for centuries asking why men don’t move? And that’s a whole different issue. But let’s stay focussed. I state “family responsibility”. That we had when we
were unmarried. I mean making yourself food three times, paying your bills, putting some amount in your parent’s name, helping your siblings, and taking good care of yourself. We have dealt with this before and dealing with it afterwards doesn’t make any difference. I state that the only difference people have created out of this is MARRIAGE. That it is a marriage and people need to change to keep it growing. How inappropriate is that to ask people? They say you can party but with your spouse, you can visit Thailand but with your spouse, there should not be girls/ boys night out, you should wear decent clothes, and whatever.
Conclusion
People have created a different dictionary for marriage with words like- limitations, boundaries, decency and many more. They say marriage asks for compromises but I say marriage or any relationship asks for understanding and that too from both sides. And if “change” is the outcome of the “understanding” then voila, that’s that. I call it “mutual understanding”.
