Ever since I’ve graduated, my life has revolved around a series of endless endeavors to convince my mom that I am not against marriage. My mom has always been very supportive towards my career aspirations but I seriously don’t know what the heck has happened to her lately. The moment I started getting sucked into my work life, she started having weekly tantrums about me being single. She sneakily tried to set me up with a couple of guys before, acting very indifferently to the fact that I go crazy every time she does it.
It doesn’t end there! The problem is that she’s become very worried about the day I become fairly financially independent, believing that I’ll suddenly hate marriage and all it stands for. Newflash, Mom: It doesn’t work like that.
It has come to my attention that other parents are also becoming very concerned when their daughters’ careers are in progression, as if it’s a bad omen for their marriage prospects. My question is, why is being a career-driven woman and wanting to get married mutually exclusive?
I obviously want to make something good out of my life. I want to get somewhere and I want to make it big, but that doesn’t mean that I’m against marriage. Marriage is not a main life goal for me, but it could definitely be a sub-goal. Meeting your other half, falling in love in a very rom-com fashion and getting married, I mean, who would say no to that? (l’m not saying that marriage is a must for women whatsoever, it isn’t at all. I’m merely talking about myself in this situation). But under no circumstances will I ever forcefully go through it; not for my parents’ sake; not because of my society, and definitely not because of any source of social pressure – because I shouldn’t.
The idea of waiting for Prince Charming to come along and make everything right for me is slowly eating away at me. I now consider other things, bigger things, rather than just settling in a marriage that could possibly be terminated within a few years. Again, none of this makes me a misogamist. I just value my life so much and I refuse to settle and tie the knot because I feel like I’m pressured to do so. I have a lot to give to life and life seems very promising to me. So remember ladies, all good things come in due time, you never need to settle. Right, Amal Clooney?
