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Goin’ to the Chapel

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Arizona chapter.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Some people go to college to because they are forced, or they want to have a good time

and maybe even learn something and others to get an MRS degree. The MRS degree is

not a myth; thousands (probably millions) of young girls go to college for the sole

purpose of finding a husband. Maybe they do not go just to find a husband, but that is

definitely a driving factor. Not every girl wants to get married right out of college, but

every girl is thinking about marriage in some form.

In high school the only time anyone ever thought about weddings was while

watching “Say Yes to the Dress.” Put three girls in the same room in college and they

won’t stop talking about weddings. Walk past a playground and someone is bound to

proclaim that they want three boys by the time they are 32 or they really do not want kids

or they want to adopt one and then have twins. Anyone with a Pinterest account has

probably already chosen the centerpieces for their wedding. And heaven forbid staying in

one night during the weekend; you could be meeting your future husband! Okay, so I’m

exaggerating a little bit…but not that much.

Marriage started out as contract, sort of like a business deal, arranged, no love

involved. Today, straight men and women have the freedom to marry who they want,

when they want, how they want and for however long they want. Unfortunately, society

is still pretty medieval when it comes to gay, interracial and interfaith marriages. The

point is, even though times have changed, women still feel pressured by society to be

married with kids by the time they are 30. Today, fewer women are married more than

ever. However, college women cannot seem to stop thinking about the big day.

To be fair, women are not the only ones with marriage on the brain. An

anonymous male source claims that guys talk about marriage with their friends. A guy

talking about marriage with his girlfriend if they are serious is no secret, especially if

they are serious. Marriage and/or companionship are something that both men and

women desire. Basically, guys just are not as open about their marriage obsession, for

lack of a better word. The difference is that it is less attractive to be an older single

woman than it is to be an older single man. At least that is the traditional thought, but

more women are becoming independent and it is not seen as a faux pas. Some men prefer

to get married later than women. Our male source claims, “Guys don’t want to get

married at all until they’re like 40.” The marriage game goes both ways, but what about

the outliers?

Maybe the outliers are not really that different. Although college students do talk

about marriage frequently, that does not necessarily mean that they will get married

immediately after graduating college. Women are more interested in the fantasy of

marriage and particularly a wedding. The reason college girls are auditioning their

bridesmaids is because that is how it has always been. Our parents got married in their

mid to early twenties, and before that our grandparents. College students talk about

marriage because that is how it has always been.