Blissfully single! Millions of women in India prefer to remain single!

 The women in India have progressed far ahead but the society has not yet caught up with their progress. In fact, society is only regressing in its thoughts, beliefs, and thinking about the women of today. These single women are contributing a lot for the welfare of society and the weaker sections of India. But they are labeled to be of loose character or headstrong. They continue to wage a battle every day against the poor and regressive thinking of that patriarchal society. This is especially bad in the rural areas of India. 

The rising demography of single women in India

There is a rising number of women in India who have opted to remain single throughout their life. You will find many women above 30 years of age there who prefer to not marry. They reject marriage totally and are focused on their careers. This is despite the societal expectations and pressures on them to do so. They defy all and give importance to their freedom to remain single. These women are happy and blissfully so! But society is not happy to see them happy. The Indian society with its regressive ideas and notions is jealous of them and hence puts them in poor light. 

Single women in Indian amount to 71.4 million in 2011 [Source: Indiaspend]

The recent figures have put this as 21% of the total female population of that country. These are those who have not married at all, divorcees, widows, and abandoned. So that would also include Yashodaben, the current Indian PM's wife. The numbers run in millions and it is the highest recorded in history until now. In 2001, the number of single women was 51 million and in 2011, it rose to 71.4 million, as per the census data. 

Also, read here https://lifensocietyblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/who-is-independent-woman-she-is-neither.html

Single women and their lives

These women are mostly highly educated with their own great careers. They live on their own terms and do not bow down to any pressures laid down by society. They are free from family pressures and intimidation that often is observed in the cases of married women of that country. They refuse to remain trapped in abusive marriages with domestic violence. 

Yashodaben who was married to Indian PM is now single and in the abandoned category [Source: Pinterest]

Though these females have made their life decision to remain single, it does not mean that the women empowerment in that country runs parallel with their thinking. In fact, things there over the last 6-7 years have been showing backsteps. 

Single women and Indian society's reaction to them

Patricia Uberoi, a Delhi-based sociologist states that these women are contributing a lot to society. Yet out of jealousy, they are labeled as being of a loose character or picky or headstrong. Indian society is deeply patriarchal and wants to enforce gender inequality. Patricia said: 

“The idea remains that a single woman unaccompanied by a male [relative or spouse] poses a risk to herself, to family honour and to society at large. Though many women now and in the past have broken the stereotype, they have done so at their own risk.” 

Many authors have reported that single women face prejudices and social exclusion in their everyday lives. They have to face struggles daily and their uphill task is difficult. This is not because they are unable to cope with it but because Indian society tries to make it difficult for them. But despite all the negativities that society gives them, many of these single women have made it big. For instance, we have activist Kamla Bhasin and Tata Consultancy's inclusion lead Sreela Das Gupta. 

A single woman in India [Source: Feminism in India]

Some like Preeti Zachariah, a 34-year-old Chennai based educator and writer is single but in the process of getting married. But their experience in finding a match is shared by her: 

“Most men I have met want a mummy substitute, a punching bag or a trophy girlfriend,”

 She has been unable to find her Mr Right due to this reason. Her main support is her women friends and not any romantic relationship. A Bangalore-based doctor said: 

"Indian people cannot accept being single is a genuine choice”

She added: 

“[They] want to find out if I have commitment phobia or someone broke my heart in the past.”

The Journalist Kalpana Sharma said: 

“So if you are single, you are viewed either as an object of pity or as stubborn and difficult. Rarely is a woman who chooses to remain single accepted as someone capable of making such a conscious choice,”

She revealed that her study shows that most of these women had very supportive parents who encouraged them at every walk of life to make their own decisions. Another journalist, Joanna Lobo, 34 said: 

“In reality, marriage – at least in India – is all about compromise and adjustment and loss of identity for women,”

But since the majority of Indian males are against female freedom, the crimes against women are on the rise as women challenge the patriarchal society. Whether that society likes it or not, these women are there to stay! After all, it is due to the prejudices against women that have made female make this decision in their life to remain BLISSFULLY SINGLE!!!