First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.
Some people go to college to because they are forced, or they want to have a good time
and maybe even learn something and others to get an MRS degree. The MRS degree is
not a myth; thousands (probably millions) of young girls go to college for the sole
purpose of finding a husband. Maybe they do not go just to find a husband, but that is
definitely a driving factor. Not every girl wants to get married right out of college, but
every girl is thinking about marriage in some form.
In high school the only time anyone ever thought about weddings was while
watching “Say Yes to the Dress.” Put three girls in the same room in college and they
won’t stop talking about weddings. Walk past a playground and someone is bound to
proclaim that they want three boys by the time they are 32 or they really do not want kids
or they want to adopt one and then have twins. Anyone with a Pinterest account has
probably already chosen the centerpieces for their wedding. And heaven forbid staying in
one night during the weekend; you could be meeting your future husband! Okay, so I’m
exaggerating a little bit…but not that much.
Marriage started out as contract, sort of like a business deal, arranged, no love
involved. Today, straight men and women have the freedom to marry who they want,
when they want, how they want and for however long they want. Unfortunately, society
is still pretty medieval when it comes to gay, interracial and interfaith marriages. The
point is, even though times have changed, women still feel pressured by society to be
married with kids by the time they are 30. Today, fewer women are married more than
ever. However, college women cannot seem to stop thinking about the big day.
To be fair, women are not the only ones with marriage on the brain. An
anonymous male source claims that guys talk about marriage with their friends. A guy
talking about marriage with his girlfriend if they are serious is no secret, especially if
they are serious. Marriage and/or companionship are something that both men and
women desire. Basically, guys just are not as open about their marriage obsession, for
lack of a better word. The difference is that it is less attractive to be an older single
woman than it is to be an older single man. At least that is the traditional thought, but
more women are becoming independent and it is not seen as a faux pas. Some men prefer
to get married later than women. Our male source claims, “Guys don’t want to get
married at all until they’re like 40.” The marriage game goes both ways, but what about
the outliers?
Maybe the outliers are not really that different. Although college students do talk
about marriage frequently, that does not necessarily mean that they will get married
immediately after graduating college. Women are more interested in the fantasy of
marriage and particularly a wedding. The reason college girls are auditioning their
bridesmaids is because that is how it has always been. Our parents got married in their
mid to early twenties, and before that our grandparents. College students talk about
marriage because that is how it has always been.