If you are, then I’d say you are in good company. It used to be that when you were over the age of 50, especially if you were female, single or widowed, you were an object of sympathy for your married friends and peers. The idea of hearing wedding bells in this demographic is slim and I know a number of these women who all say the same thing – they don’t want to get married and the question they ask is why would they want to?
Why Would They Want to Get Married?
Single men in their 50s are often portrayed as enjoying the fruits of their bachelorhood, just look at Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give. It’s not that individuals, male and female alike, don’t enjoy relationships in their 50s, they do. They enjoy dating, they enjoy an active social life and they enjoy good company.
But they are not necessarily looking for marriage and for the 50-plus woman, her romantic goals and options are a lot broader than they used to be. The term spinster is no longer applied to the unmarried woman. An unattached woman can certainly enjoy a date on a Saturday night, time with friends, family and a dozen other things. She doesn’t have to marry to be considered socially acceptable.
Marriage is Not Always the Goal
Did you know that 7.6 million of the Baby Boomers have never been married. Of those that have been married, many of them have either been divorced or widowed. If they find themselves single, they are not necessarily interested in marriage again. Some are content with having raised their children and making sacrifices of their own personal interests for the betterment of their family – now they have the unique opportunity of pursuing those dreams again.
More and more, women are financially independent. They don’t need marriage to make ends meet. They are content with spending time with their children and their grandchildren. They are enjoying a freedom that it has taken them years to achieve and of the many women I have spoken too – they enjoy dating when it means they can go out and have a good time, but then they get to go home to their house where things are done their way and they don’t have to worry about someone not hanging the towels up right or leaving crumbs on the counter.
So marriage may not be the goal, but that doesn’t stop mature individuals, both male and female, from enjoying a strong social network of contacts. So they may not be interested in commitment or marriage or blending their life with another at this stage in the game. It would also seem that many of these, including my mother and my mother-in-law are in good company. That’s not to say romance doesn’t happen and marriages don’t happen, but they are not pressured by the blush of youth to rush into anything and like a fine wine, they can enjoy their age with great comfort.
Are you over 50 and enjoying being single and dating?
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