Imagine a wedding anniversary with no romantic meal for a couple and no flowers; instead, it is a celebration of the day you swore to cherish someone forever – yourself. This is known as sologomy – a marriage between one person.
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The rise of sologomy
The first self-marriage took place in America in 1993, with the trend steadily gaining popularity worldwide in recent years.
Entering public consciousness in an episode of Sex and the City in 2003, Carrie Bradshaw became irritated with constantly buying wedding gifts for her friends while her life choices were left uncelebrated.
While unlikely to reach the popularity of traditional weddings for two, sologomy is on the rise. It is part of a bigger social movement of women rejecting traditional agendas of past generations and forging their own independent path, shrugging off the spinster label of the past in an act of defiance.
Why do?
There is no landmark occasion in society for celebrating your return to happiness or overcoming something awful. Everyone comes together to celebrate love and marriage, so why not celebrate singlehood and enjoyment of life?
It is easy to dismiss this idea as narcissism of the generation that loves selfies and documents every moment of their lives on social media. Although not legally recognised, the ceremonies are powerful statements with happy atmospheres, centred on accomplishing things for yourself and not waiting for someone else to make things happen.
According to recent statistics, around 100,000 couples get divorced each year. Unmarried women have outnumbered married women over the past decade.
Marrying yourself is an opportunity to celebrate self-reliance, personal independence and freedom from convention. Often the message today can be interpreted as you are not enough unless you are with someone else.
There are even self-marriage wedding planners that create special consultation services. This can be a lucrative business in some countries, such as Japan, where one in seven females are unmarried.
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Rather than a substitute for a spouse, sologomy makes a statement of becoming a stronger person and more grounded member of society. Why find yourself lonely as part of a couple when you can be independent by yourself? You can wait a lifetime for the one, only to find that you are enough.
