Increasingly, women need to make this choice to protect themselves from governmental and spousal abuse. When you can be jailed for having a miscarriage, when three women a day are killed by their intimate partners, I think it's time to rethink romantic relationships in their entirety. Friendships are better! Friends don't treat you badly, and if they do, you can walk away without significant trauma or cost.

I just read two stories that made me think of you and your work, Bella. This one about how marriage is hyped but doesn't deliver: https://keralataylor.medium.com/the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-about-marriage-and-happiness-9a1c28625cc2

And this one about how living alone is good for your neurocognitive health! https://medium.com/crows-feet/women-who-live-alone-for-one-year-experience-this-miracle-d2ddb4b3190f

I personally think marriage is a bad deal for women. We have evolved so that we now have actual individual identities, and aren't just slaves to the husband and children, but men haven't caught up. They are still looking for a housekeeper/cook/servant, etc. In my own marriage, we share the chores equally, but that isn't enough. There's an authority/respect gap which results in my spouse winning 90% of our arguments. It may be sexism or it may be personality -- but the older I get the less patience I have for it. I find myself envying the single women I know, and I am not the only married woman who feels that way. Marriage is an old idea that needs revision.