Was Publishing The "Marriage Crunch" Wrong?
By: Shirley Simmons
There are people who love to stay away from controversy and then there is the media. The media is one outlet that can survive on controversy alone. In fact, the more unique their stories are, the more publicity the media will get. Therefore, there is little doubt that the editors ever thought about shelving the “Marriage Crunch”. However, they likely didn’t realize the implications of publishing it either. Of course, magazines and newspapers rarely know for sure what will come of their stories.
Since the original publishing of the “Marriage Crunch” in the 80s, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the article. Some say it was not right that the media allowed such a controversial article to go through to the public. Since most of the information was considered to be found inaccurate, even at the time, it also seemed to be a little bit of a white lie. To scare women in such a way, like the author of the “Marriage Crunch” did, was not appropriate.
However, the media didn’t see a problem with it at the time and millions of readers found it intriguing. The true impact the article had on women nearing 30 will never been known. However, those women who were highlighted in the original article went on to marry, for the most part. And most of them never divorced.
So, the question of whether it was right to publish the article is not really something to think about. What’s done is done and women today are much different than women then. But, you can bet they are more independent not because of the article, but because they have been raised by more independent women.
See our views on the marriage crunch in asian society.