Pressuring Women To Marry After Completing Their Education, Defeats The Notion Of Empowerment

Forcing women to marry, after completing their education, is unfair. Women must be given a fair chance to explore and decide what they desire in life.

I would say, I come from a progressive Indian family. All the girls in my family are well-educated, working, raised with much affection, freedom and in equality with boys. There has been a special emphasis on education and I can proudly declare that all my female cousins are doctors, engineers, architects, MBAs and so on.

But one thing is common among all of us– the moment we completed our education in diverse fields, whether it is a master’s degree or chartered accountancy, we’ve been told- “Now that the education is over, it is time to get married.” The arranged marriage search begins and soon we would be settled.

Is this pressure to marry on time helping anybody? Is it enough to allow girls to get an education? Should they not be given time to figure out, what they want to do with their lives?  Maybe a passion undiscovered, a travel yet to unfold, a start-up that has always been her dream.

By the time, the higher education gets over, a woman is easily 23-24 years and she is made to feel that if she doesn’t get married soon, she would end up alone and childless, and therefore miserable! The whole arranged marriage set-up leaves no time for women to search for themselves and date men.

Because of societal interference, disapproval from parents and excess focus to excel in academics, a lot of women in India may be inexperienced when it comes to relationships with the opposite gender. Should they not be given some time to meet people, figure out what men they find interesting, and then only marry someone who is probably like-minded? Why do we find it objectionable to give her a few more years to discover herself? Is it a crime to be unmarried in your 30s?

Medical advancement has transcended barriers to the extent, that motherhood can be attained at an older age. Irrespective of this, having children is not the sole purpose of a woman. Is it not unfair that we educate women, speak about equality and financial independence, yet our biggest fear still is that she should not remain unmarried?

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Education is part of the journey, a building block to an enriched future. It is certainly not the last stop to the final destination called marriage!

There is only one life. And there are more purposes to it, than marriage. Fulfillment and happiness comes from within, not from a relationship or from another human being. I am not against marriage. Marriage is a natural step, that two people may choose to take if they want to share the rest of their lives together. But some may not have found that person yet. Some may not be ready.

Do we have any right to tell someone that they may never find that person so better ‘arrange’ their life before it is too late?

When would we stop treating life as a race with marriage and children, being the milestones?

Image Source: Pixabay

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