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July 16, 2007
The Outlaw of Averages
Kieran Healey summarizes Michael Rosenfeld’s The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions, and the Changing American Family:
Since around 1960, increasing numbers of young people have left home but without themselves starting families soon afterwards. Instead they go off to college by themselves, and then perhaps move to work in a city, surrounded by people much their own age and, like themselves, unmarried. This is the Age of Independence. It can last ten or fifteen years. Much as the teenager emerged as a social category and life-stage in the early post-war period, the Age of Independence becomes established as a phase in people’s lives.
This is borne out by statistics. Matthew Yglesias notes that after an unnatural dip in the 1950s, the age of first marriage is rising and the average male is about 27 when he first gets hitched. That means that half of my age cohort is married by the time I will start as a full-time associate. Take out the fundies who marry at 18 because they couldn't "save it" any more and the occasional shotgun marriage (those still happen, right?), and the number rises a bit, but I'm still in prima marriage age, albiet devoid of prospects.
This would be the point where I should start freaking out. After all, I remember those growth charts at the doctor's office and my percentile ranks on the ERBs. I have been raised, almost from day one, to keep up with my age cohort.
I can be a bit paranoid and defensive, but not that paranoid. Marriage for the sake of marriage is just dumb. I should probably tell that to Mr. Now or Never. Sitting alone in front of the TV, eating Chinese food from the delivery container on a Sunday night is depressing, but it's a lot less depressing than signing an alimony check every month.
Posted by rj3 at July 16, 2007 5:48 PM
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Comments
If you are taking a break from dating, perhaps you should just stop thinking about it. Besides, there are more important things for you to blog about, such as Andre J.
Posted by: nes at July 17, 2007 11:26 AM
