Yesterday boyfriend had a longish conversation with one of his female friends who also happens to be his best friend's girlfriend. She told him that she expected his best friend to marry her within a year from now. Flabbergasted, he asked her why she wanted to marry so young (she's 22) and why she insisted on getting married despite the fact that her significant other didn't want to rush things. Or the fact that they aren't even living together.
Her answer: everyone's getting married. Boyfriend, as reasonable as he could be, said surely this can't be true. Then he named a young woman they both know as a proof. To his extreme shock she replied that this particular woman is getting married in Autumn and that she has already chosen her wedding dress.
Now. Am I weird for not feeling the need to get married young? Am I weird for wanting to see how boyfriend and I deal with living together? Am I weird for not fantasizing about wedding dresses or because whenever I see a wedding dress I don't see myself wearing it?
Surely the fact that my parents aren't married has a lot to do with my perception of marriage. To me it is but a paper (plus the party, but you may recall I'm not a party-goer). In our relationship I'm the one who doesn't feel the need to get married, while boyfriend said he would like to marry, but more for the party and celebration (of the relationship) than for the paper and the ring.
So, my reason telling me all these things, why would a woman want to marry? Especially so young? Are there some advantages my bohemian anti-marriage soul doesn't see? What's your opinion on the subject?
Update: upon asking boyfriend whether I represented his views correctly, he said that I did, but with a minor flaw. Boyfriend claims that he in fact would want to marry for the ring, because - lo and behold - by wearing his ring he wants to tell other women that he's already chosen his woman and is thus not on the market anymore. For a moment I thought he's just saying it to make me happy, but a tiny voice in my head told me he isn't like that - and wouldn't say it just to flatter me - especially not on such a serious subject. (Aren't I the luckiest?)
Oh! and another thing - I mean to keep my surname even after I marry, so getting married just to swap surnames isn't what I'm after. What do you think about keeping your maiden surname after marriage? (Not just adding another surname, but keeping it as it was before.)
Labels: life, random ramblings