Nearly 73 million single women in India have a social media presence today, while this might sound cool, real life for these ladies might be much more complicated than we think. Yes, being single in India means you need to first answer the question – “Log kya Khayege” (what the society will say), as they are the ones who are most uncomfortable with this fact. Well, it’s just not the Indian society that is proclaimed to be bigoted towards single ladies; women are thought to be the second fiddle to men in many other developed nations too.
People strongly believe every woman needs a man in her life and if she doesn’t have one she needs to search for one, that too on high priority. Being single is not an independent choice for single ladies, but a curse. Most people in our society, including both men and women, strongly believe that there is nothing inferior to a single lady who has touched her 30s. It is this very retrograde attitude makes the life of a single woman challenging.
Being a single lady brings its own share of feelings and challenges. Sometimes, you might feel a bit lonely without a partner by your side. People’s expectations about relationships can also make things tough. Making decisions all on your own, big or small, can feel overwhelming. But through it all, there’s a strength that grows within you, helping you find your own path and learn to enjoy your own company.
Single Women In India, The Numbers Are Rising
Unlike the yesteryears where most of the adult Indian woman were seen wearing a saree, mangalsurta, and sindoor, nowadays fewer ladies bear external signs that they are in a committed relationship. Why this change? because today a substantial portion of women in loyal relationships, no longer feel it’s essential to announce it through their attire that they are not single.
And then comes the second reason, the population of single ladies in India which is rapidly increasing. There were over 71 million single women in India in 2015. Over the last decade, there has been a 39 percent rise in single women in India. These numbers included women who were above the age of 20, yet-to-be-married, divorced, widowed, separated and abandoned by their partners.
Living As A Single Women In India
While marriage comes with its own set of benefits and problems, being single also has its own set of pros and cons. Particularly for a country like ours, which is by far very punitive to single women, our women population face more evils and challenges than the women in other countries. Gender equality is still in its embryonic stages and is just not budding. The trials Indian single ladies face are multifarious.
Only Single Ladies Can Relate To These Problems
1. Safety Questions
Irrespective of the country, women are not safe when they are on their own. Coming to India, the last 2 decades have seen a significant increase in crimes rates. Every single day, single women from all walks of life are being violated, molested and assaulted. The streets, public spaces, and transport have become the terrain of woman hunters. Woman fight every single day, while some choose to remain silent some fight their way to lead a basic life with pride.
2. Men Trying To Hit On & Flirt Continually
One of the most annoying problem single woman face is that men think she is available, hence they constantly try hitting on her and flirt continually. Single women are observed as a chance, and older the women higher the chances of the wrong kind of men bugging her. Men even go ahead and think she is older and single, hence she would not mind having a one-night stand. Specifically, for a woman in her 30s, it’s hard to find people who don’t doubt her independence.
3. Constant Pressure To Get Married
In India, Marriage is regarded as a woman’s ultimate goal in life and if a woman is single she is bound to be stigmatised. Single women face constant pressure from their parents, obliging them to get married. Parents pressure isn’t all, the society gets ahead by considering never married women have ‘defects’.
4. No Kids After 30
Getting married is one big pressure and having babies is another. The pressure is like to find a mate before 30 or give up the dream to have kids – A Ticking Clock you see. Considering other options like adoption or sperm donation is still quite questionable in India.
5. Explaining People – “Being Single Is My Choice”
Clearing up people that being single is a choice is tough, people might start feeling sorry for the lady or even go forward and assume something is wrong with her or nobody actually wants her. This is definitely something awful, explaining to them that being single is perfectly ok and that there is nothing wrong with it is just an effort that unfortunately comes without any success.
Closing Views
India is still sensitive to the woman, wherever you in the country you will meet ‘n’ number of Indians with this voracious thirst to know why you are single and not married. It’s time to push the pins on things that matter to you and not to them, own up to yourself, stand by your wishes and dreams, tall and proud, courageous and unfazed.
