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From celebrities like Oprah to professionals like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, many successful women these days are deciding not to marry at all. Why the trend - and is the institution of marriage in any danger?
The role of women in America has changed dramatically since the 1960s and 70s. Before the women's movement raised fundamental questions about the role of women in American life, two-thirds of adult women were married. By 2005, that number had dropped to a little more than half.
It seems these days more women are saying "I might" rather than "I do." NOW president Kim Gandy says, "There certainly was a time when the number one aspiration of a lot of women was to get married because that's what they were raised to believe they needed to do."
But Gandy says today's woman is more focused on her career and personal success. Unlike her predecessors, she does not feel the pressure to marry for economic security. "That has changed so much now in that women aren't forced to get married or forced to stay married in order to be self-supporting."
And with the rise of successful, single women like talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, many women are more willing to take less traditional paths as adults.
But is the institution of marriage headed for extinction? Conservatives dismiss the idea that marriage is on the decline. They say other factors are at work. Women live longer, for example, and divorced women are less likely to remarry than divorced men.
Gandy acknowledges there are fewer marriages, but she believes marriage in America is actually stronger than ever before. "If anything it strengthens the institution of marriage because people are in marriages because they want to be, and not because they have to be."
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