Hi Ed,
You know I have a lot of respect for you, but as an individual single woman, I respectfully disagree with many of your points.
First of all, as an aside, I'm surprised that it wasn't reiterated that this video was based on South Korean culture but yet in this discussion, it is being compared (as far as I can tell) to the United States, which I don't think is a very parallel comparison because of all the different cultural norms, opportunities, and expectations between the two.
Ironically, I am a Korean woman who has lived in the US her entire life and was raised by white American parents. I (and the single women I know) do not expect to be taken care of, and when I voted during these past elections, I did not vote for people who promised easy handouts or the illusion of comfortable care.
I was raised by parents who told me that if I wanted something, I needed to get a job, and if that wouldn't pay for it, keep on adding jobs. They have raised me to be self-sufficient and to not expect anything from anyone, most especially the government, so I was raised to start working and planning from the time I was young.
Yet how many people reading this are, will be, or plan to be, dependent on Social Security someday? Does that count as part of your statement of "expecting to be cared for", if I am understanding the tone of your post correctly?
Would you then say that anyone who collects such a benefit as this is expecting to be cared for? If so, under your definition (and I am asking these things in order to make sure I understand it), are all Social Security recipients (married, widowed, etc., and not just those who are single women) looking for the government to take care of them? Again, I'm asking for the purpose of clarity, not criticism.
I am a single woman by choice (for now, at least) because I can relate to a few of the things portrayed in this video (even though again, it's based on South Korean culture and not my own home culture.) I work a lot and don't have extra time to socialize or leisurely attend events just hoping to meet someone. My family has gone through some things in recent times that were tough enough just for us-- so like one of the women in the video, I can't imagine having to balance the responsibilities of several other families (a husband and children, and then my husband's family) along with my own.
Most importantly to me, I'm single because even when I did peruse a few dating avenues, I either made great guy friends (but we weren't compatible romantically), or guys would tell me all THEIR wants ("I want a woman to watch my kids, help pay my bills, make it so that I'm never lonely again, have sex with me in such a way that it cures my porn addiction, and make me feel fantastically happy and loved every single minute of the day!") On the flip side, I'm sure men hear an endless list of "I wants" from the women they meet as well.
This, in my humble opinion, is the reason why many singles are staying single. Trying to keep up with the unrealistic demands of a Christian brother or sister who believes God "wants only the best for them, so here's a list of the very best that I want", is more than a little overwhelming. And, to be completely honest, it's quite a turnoff after you hear the same things over and over again for years without anyone ever asking you what you'd like in life.
The 2 main reasons why I've been single as long as I have and why, unless God changes that, I will chose to be single:
1. Over the past several years, God has connected me with a lot of other like-minded singles, and those friendships are a lot more fulfilling than crushing on someone who might be talking to 30 other people while telling you that you're the only one.
2. I stay single for the very reason that I know I CAN'T expect anyone to take care of me or help me achieve the goals I've set for myself after all these years.
One of the things I admire about Cinder is that she has traveled, volunteered, and lived independently in many different places and even countries. She hasn't asked or relied on anyone else to make those things happen--she worked her butt off and took those things on by herself, which is something I admire and hope to emulate someday. She is definitely not someone who is sitting around passively waiting for a white knight or Daddy Government to save her.
Contrast this with the fact that while most guys I talked to on dating sites told me all about what they wanted, but I can't think of a single one from those times who ever asked me what I want or hope for in life. I guess they figured that a "help-mate" means someone whose life dream is to serve someone else's every whim without ever asking her what her own dreams might be.
One of the things I've always thought about doing is volunteering at my original orphanage in Korea, which would take at least a 3-month commitment with both the cost of maintaining my living situation here (so that I wouldn't be homeless when I got back), and then enough to cover my costs while I was over there.
Who on earth would expect someone else to pay for them to do that? Certainly not me. And so, guess what I'm doing.
I work as much as I can, and live as responsibly and frugally as I am able to. I vote for people who will hopefully will give me the opportunities I need in order to earn my keep, meet my goals, and prayerfully reach those dreams that guys never seem to ask me about.
And I am certainly not putting this all on the guys, because I know plenty of women have made some of you guys out there feel like ATM's, which I am truly sorry for. Guys, we promise, not all women out there are like that! Don't give up!
But you can see how well I'd do in the midst of the dating scene/marriage hunt by telling guys (if they even asked me what my dreams are), "Actually... I'd like to go spend a few months in a foreign country with sick and disabled orphans..."
So instead of actively trying to pursue finding someone to marry, I decided to start trying to plan out how I could realistically pursue some of the things that have been on my heart for years instead.
Who knows what will happen? I will admit that secretly, I kind of hope that there might be someone else out there thinking the same way... Someone who is planning and saving and paying his own way too... And maybe somewhere along that path of steps that are lit by the guiding light of the Holy Spirit...
We might find ourselves planning and saving and dreaming... right on into each other's lives.