Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2011
Abstract
Marriage is a social construct that takes on different meanings as societies develop and mature. To understand why people get married, it is important that we understand what marriage means. This paper will discuss the social transformation of marriage in Asia using Singapore as a case study. To examine two demographic trends- delayed marriage, and the increasing proportion of people who remain single - this discourse also explores the constraints imposed by contradictions between traditional norms and modern expectations. In the midst of these ideological challenges, there are important implications for the practice of marriage among younger Singaporeans. We see that while the institution of marriage continues to be held in high esteem, changing expectations of what marriage should be poses barriers for time-strapped young adults in their search for the ideal spouse.
Keywords
marriage, ideology, spouse selection, social transformation, Singapore
Discipline
Asian Studies | Family, Life Course, and Society
Research Areas
Sociology
Publication
Journal of Youth Studies
Volume
14
Issue
1
First Page
113
Last Page
129
ISSN
1029-7847
Publisher
Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
Citation
STRAUGHAN, Paulin T..(2011). Not yet married: The implications of meanings of marriage on youths in Singapore. Journal of Youth Studies, 14(1), 113-129.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2179
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Comments
Journal website: http://yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/