Societal expectations of men and women?

Question

Why does society look down on 30 + women who are not married and/or without children?

Why is consider okay, normal even for a 30+ man to not have children and/or be married?

Answer 1

I didn't know that modern post-feminism society looked down on women for being 30 + and single....from what I've read, seen in life and on television I've come to assume it's somewhat normal.

Answer 2

Sorry to tell you, but there is no secret conspiracy of men looking for ways to look down on these women.  I can't say I have seen to much of this anyway.  Working in education and health (both female dominated industries), I see many women over 30 who are neither parents or married, and they get along fine.  

When comments do occur, most criticism in this area appears to come from other women, usually family members or people who have children already.  Our society does somewhat exult parenthood: sometimes a bit too far, and sometimes not enough, depending on the situation.

Men over 30 who are not already married are avoiding marriage in greater numbers for a couple of reasons: one is that marriages often fail, and the man loses out far more than the woman in most cases, and the other is that we don't have a biological clock that enforces having a family by a certain time.  

More and more women also feel the same way and are getting married older (or not at all).

The idea that woman must be married off by a particular age is dying, though perhaps you know more people who think the old way.

Answer 3

But a woman over 30 who decided to become a nun was revered by the male-controlled religion.

Men are much too controlling for my taste. Women are just now starting to be free and the march toward independence will continue for the next 2000 years.

Answer 4

No society doesn't. I really don't think society cares.

Anyone who says different is full of BS.

Answer 5

Because, bachelorhood was traditionally something that was prolonged, while an unmarried women would be called a spinster, along with some other not-so-kind labels.

It's more even now. I'm a divorced women with no children, and no one really razes me about it.

The old thought process was that if a women didn't "snare" a man to make a family with, there was something wrong with her. People now realize that women have options and will constuct a life that works the best.

Answer 6

This question is about 20 years to late. I have never met another person who had these views. I'm not saying they don't exist on a individual bases, I doubt they exist on a societal level.

Answer 7

Where do you live?

Answer 8

That had not been my experience before I had a child.

Before my daughter was born, however, I did find that male colleagues were more apt to deal with me as an equal than they did women with children.