Absolutely agree! My grandparents used every excuse to comment on great-grandchildren, and my friends at work wonder if I'm in the closest because I have 3 cats and no husband...but hey! I enjoy my space! I come home when I want to, I eat dinner when I want to, I go on vacation when I want to, and all I need is a reservation at the kennel! I maintain that I'm still trying to figure out who I am, why do I want to commit to someone who is as equally unsure about who he is at this point in my life? I've got nothing but time to figure it out, but other people don't see it like that. I'm comforted by the fact that I've got a rather large sum of money stashed away that my peer group has squandered on their significant others--mine is growing for retirement, yours is going to be equally-divisible debt upon your divorce!

I disagree with this 100%. I have never been married, and plan never to do so. I enjoy having the freedom to do as I please, and have never regretted saying no to proposals. Some of us single women enjoy being on our own, and this is a choice we make for ourselves. My family has never given me any grief about my decision to stay single, in fact, some express envy and wish for the very freedom that I have afforded myself. I am alone, but I am not lonely. And, I am having more fun than I ever thought possible.

Yeah well I may be a spinster but.........I am one hell of a cougar!!!!!!! LOL

This is true also on the other end of the gender stick. It seems like if you haven't married and gotten somebody pregnant by the time your 30, you gotta be gay. The reality, at least for me, is that deep down I'm probably selfish as I really don't want to give up my freedom. As Ciao said above, I enjoy being able to do what I want, when I want with out having to ask permission or explain myself to somebody else. Sure I get lonely and feel a bit down, but the pain of being alone is nothing compared to the pain of being with someone who makes you miserable. And if I'm ever feeling bummed out about not having kids(more guilt for not giving mom a grandkid) I just go spend some time with a friend or family member with children, and that feeling clears up after about 20 minutes. And even if I do find the "one" I really have no interest in getting married. It just makes it that much harder to walk away from a relationship gone bad. Beside with the way males are portrayed these days in the media, I'm not interested in being with someone who thinks men are just buffoons who can't get by without the wisdom of a woman, any more than I'd want to be with a woman who thought they couldn't survive with out a man in their life.

I wish I could find an "old"spinster but my wife won't let me.

I'm single, male and I feel under the same exact pressures. The spinster stigma is just as powerful among men toward men who have no one, except that the pressure to be formally married may be less. Every guy must have a woman or the insinuation is that you are gay, which is just not the case in my case. Sometimes we single guys are just extra careful about not offending or scaring women, so we hang back from communicating with them.

I'm a single guy, been married twice, now in my 50s, I did all the touchy, feely, things they said I was supposed to do, help with the kids, cook, clean, never missed a anniverery, took them to what ever they wanted to do. But still failed to keep my marriages intact. I have just given up, I don't even want to date anymore, people always tell me, but, do you want to die alone, and I always tell them. You come into this world alone, and you will go out alone, I don't care how many people are at your bedside, at the end. You make the trip by yourself, thats a fact jack!

Tell me about it. Until I became an adult, I never realized what a horrible CRIME and OMG TRAGEDY it was to be single and not producing offspring.

Gee whiz, I don't judge folks FOR being married with children. Isn't it at all possible to be acquainted without pitying other people's way of life, or telling them "they NEED to" do this, or "it's time" for them to do that? Has anyone considered that some folks are fine with the way they are? Not everyone in the world needs to be paired off with everyone else. Certainly not every waking moment, anyway. Just as some folks are boy-crazy as young as 9, other folks don't find love until they're 50. And some just don't find it at all, whether or not they marry. So what?

This isn't the 1500s, where people have to be wed before they're out of their teens. And considering the growing overpopulation problem today, perhaps this world could stand to have a few non-breeding singles for a while. Just something to consider.

Being almost 30, I do get my own family members telling me that they would not shun me if I were to come out of the closet. WTF???!!! Just ebcause I am almost 30 and never been married I have to gay? I never wanted a relationship because I think they are too messy. I wanted to be selfish with my life and have a career. I was never obssessed with being a mom and a wife, I was obssessed with having a life. Now I have a life, a great life. I have done things and been places, and met people that I would have never done if I was married. My career is on track and for the last three years I have lived alone without roommates. And let me tell you, if being married is like having roommates, I think I will just call the male escourt service instead.

I'm 42, never married and completely happy with my life. I love the freedom I have. I do what I want, when I want. I am an only child, my parents are also only children. They have NEVER made any comment about a husband and kids to me. I see married couples and their kids out in stores, restaurants, and they look miserable half the time to me. I have always thought many people get married and have kids because it is expected of them, but is not something they actually want. I have friends, I travel, I have a very full and happy life as is!

There are no words of disapproval in my family, just silence when the subject comes up. They stopped asking me about dating when I was 30. I think I was "too old" to be married by then. My mother's world is being married and having grandchildren. She was married at 24, so had little time as a single woman. My mother doesn't get it.

I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about women (or men for that matter) being single. People often assume the person was too picky, too selfish, too undesirable, stupid and "waited too long", or gay and in the closet.

I'm single because I was too messed up during my 20's and 30's (I'm now 41) and couldn't manage a serious relationship. Personally, I did want to be married but it wasn't a possibility. Currently, I have mixed feelings about being single, but what I really love about it is freedom and having extra time. It's not complicated. There's freedom with having relationships in that I can end them if they become unhealthy, without worrying about how it would affect children. If I want to pursue a different job or career, I have the time and energy to accomplish it quicker than if I had a family to take care of.

Speaking of being invisible, was this story made into video for television? It would be a positive thing to make this story into a segment for a TV show (meaning a visible prime time show) to educate the ignorant public. Include all reasons for being single. Get positive reasons for singlehood, and stories from people who are content with being single. Also, there are positive outcomes in society as a result of having single people. Can you imagine a world where everyone is married with children?