“Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection.”
Jane Austen
In the culture where I was born, women were thought only to be marriage material. Some were educated, and most were not, they just get married off.
A few years later, a generation of working women emerged; those who are both workers, wives and mothers and handle both personal and professional life effectively.
Today; advocacy for Girl child education and gender equality, has made people aware of the ills and disadvantages of early marriage.
But my question remains; is being financially independent complete freedom?
I ask this question because no matter how financially independent, a married woman is expected to be a super woman that effectively balances both home and offices work and affairs without question and at the same time having to cope with emotional difficulties which of course reduce her productivity in the workplace.
I am a girl who wants to one day be the CEO of a global company; I am not that girl who dreams of wearing a bundle of jewelry dreaming about her “handsome husband’ because once married; the dreams cease, and everything comes to a grinding halt. No more ambitions no more dreams to pursue. I am the kind of Girl who dream dreams, pursue them, dream some more and pursue those as well. I never stop dreaming and my dreams get bigger with each passing day until I find the man who fits into my dreams.
People must not only be educated, but both the girl and also a boy should have the choice of whether to marry or not.
Marrying is not all there is to life after all.
I believe in the institution of marriage because it may actually turn out to be a very good and worthwhile experience.
But I am just saying; it should not be made mandatory to everyone because there are actually some people who do not want to get married. And they should be pushed by anyone or the society to marry simply because others do.
To each his own.
Salma Usman
Writes from Baze University
Abuja
