Are Men Really Necessary?

So, I checked out Dowd's book with the above title.  Never something I really contemplated before now.  In it, the author writes how self-sufficient(educated, career) women really do not need men.  When it comes down to the wire, technology has the solution to our need for reproduction.  I have some friends who are in a same sex relationship awaiting sextuplets.  Moral dilemma!  This will be their second birth experience.  I am happy for them as I know they wanted another child together.  I do not envy the situation which they now face.

Is life better with or without men?  I believe I always fall for the "grass is always greener" mentality.  Often it comes back to bite me in the ass. When you are single, you live with the hope of someday making a permanent connection to another soul.  If it hasn't occurred by the time you hit the late twenties, you begin to wonder if it was meant to happen.  The older you get, the less likely it is to happen.  It is also around this time that you realize some of the girls who were hitched right out of high school are often splitting from their mates.  I've been the awkward single girl who makes the married women feel threatened.  I have also played the Fag Hag. At least there, I found friendship and acceptance regardless of coupledom.  Now, I live the semi-conventional wife routine.

I don't have an exact answer.  The single life, for me, will always conjure memories of desiring a confidante, soul mate, and partner. The married life is bittersweet: often filled with closeness, reliability, love. It is still peppered with a need for independence, adventure and escape.  I am grateful that I have the choice to live in either situation.  When I think of cultures where men suppress sexuality or families arrange marriages, I am thankful to be capable of forming my own journey.  To young women I give this advice, "do not go charging full fledged toward matrimony.  Use this time to explore, travel, and experience life."  I have no regrets about hitching at 29.  I know some family members were relieved to see me tie the knot.  There will always be someone interested in you.  Linger until you are ready to commit.