The Trump administration has proposed to get rid of one of the tax filing statuses that gives single parents a deduction in the tax code. There are currently two types of filing in the tax code: married and single. Single parents are currently able to file under the married section that saves them money when filing taxes. The new proposal would create a third category for single parents that would result in them paying more for on their yearly taxes. This is a further step in the wrong direction. Singles and single parents should not be taxed more than their married counterparts.
2016 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 at a campaign rally said that under Donald Trump’s tax plan “51 percent of singles would see their taxes go up.” Now that Donald Trump is President he is able to affect policy and make the Republican Party fall in line with what he wants it to become, which it is doing with ease. One of his policies, while cutting taxes for the majority of the middle class, would raise taxes in three different ways on singles. The first way is that Trump’s tax plan rates affects singles who are in the 33% tax bracket, or who make up to $127,500. The second way is that Trump would eliminate personal exemptions while raising standard deductions on singles. By raising the standard deduction, singles can expect a minimum increase of $8,750 from what they pay in taxes now which is more than those who are married. A third element of Trump’s tax plan is that it would eliminate single parents’ head of household status. Single parents’ will suffer by no longer being considered a head of household under Trump’s tax plan. In short, singles and single parents will pay more and see increased taxes under now President Trump’s tax plan.
Single parents are becoming more normal as society has seen a spike in divorces. Singles can now become a single parent by choice through adoption or in vitro fertilization. Singles also outnumber the married population in America. This tax policy defies the new normal of people remaining single longer, delaying marriage, or deciding to never get married. It is time for Washington to recognize the plight of singles and single parents and phase out head of household status. This would be a step to make singles, single parents, and those who are married more equal with tax policy. The next, and larger, step would be to eradicate the more than 1,000 laws that favor and benefit those who are married. None of these steps will come soon to Washington since both parties are entrenched in political interests. Those who are unmarried, single, and single parents should push their representatives to expunge the laws that benefit those who are married. This would be the fairest tax policy option to make singles and married equal during tax season.
Singles already pay more taxes with the current tax code compared to those who are married. In addition, those who are married receive over a 1,000 tax benefits and deductions merely because they are married. The tax code must be simplified and the deductions and benefits for those who are married abolished. It is time for the government, on all levels, to acknowledge the rise of singles and lower their tax rates.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Singles get a hard time for not being married. This is surprising since singles now outnumber those who are married. But popular culture and people like to make someone who is single feel bad for not dating and pressure them to date so that they can “fit in” and be “normal.” This needs to stop. There is nothing wrong with being single and singles need to firmly respond that they are not interested when they are pressured to date.
When someone encourages a friend to date, they never stop to consider the positive attributes of being single. The single life provides autonomy and flexibility. The dating and married life offers dependence and constraint. Staying single will allow you to better grow and develop into the person that you want to be. In contrast, when you date and get married it has been found that people become more insular and become more what their partner wants them to be. These options are both good in their own way, but the single life ultimately offers more independence and chances to grow as a person compared to being in a relationship.
Time is a valuable resource. When you are in a relationship, a lot of that time will go to the person you are dating. While you are single, that same time could be spent studying, working to move up at work, starting your own business, travel, and trying new restaurants in your city. Personal development and growth is essential to life, and the single life is the best opportunity to flourish as an individual. Ground and prepare yourself so that you can become financially free by paying off any debt that you may have and work to become the best version of yourself. Time is required to do both of those things. After you can sustain yourself, pay off any debt that you may have, and know yourself, you decide if you love being single or want to date. Regardless, you will be at a better place in life to make that decision than if you had just jumped into a relationship. The single life made you into the person that you are now. It is now your choice if you want to get set up by your friends who keep bugging you to date and get hitched or continue to live the single life.
If you are not interested in dating, then you need to respond first with a few questions and change the focus off of you to the person who is questioning your decision. A great first response that gets to the point is to ask them, “why haven’t your broken up yet” or “why aren’t you divorced yet?” This normally stuns people. If they continue, talk to them about the positive sides to being single that are rarely discussed, such as that the single life offers autonomy, flexibility, security and diversity. Describe to them why you enjoy the freedom of not being tied down to someone and the flexibility that it gives to your life. You can explain that you are secure in your singlehood, that there are different types of singles, and that singles now outnumber those who are married. At the end of your conversation, you can ask, do you think I should jump into a relationship with what you know now about singles?
There are many different types of singles. Some may want a relationship. Some may be taking a break from relationships. Some are not interested in relationships. Some have discovered that they can be their most authentic selves by being single. Some have decided to remain single to commit themselves to something larger than themselves. Regardless of why you are currently singles, you should not be pressured to enter a relationship if you want don’t want to. It is time for singles to stand up against the assumed obligation to always be in a relationship and to proclaim that they are content and satisfied being single.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Bill Maher just released a video that included a segment on singles. He presented singles in a positive light and asked, why do single people not have their own holiday? Bill Maher presentedd a nice summary of facts about the single demographics that Secure Single has covered on the site. It is nice for someone who has mainstream recognition to finally acknowledge singles. This is a step in the right direction. Society needs to realize the reality of the single population in countries and make a holiday that celebrates singles’ contributions to society.
In the five minute video, Bill Maher summarized data and studies about singles. He told his viewing audience that singles now outnumber those who are married and that singles are the new norm. Singles do have a smaller carbon foot print than their married counterparts. Society needs to stop with the negative stereotypes of those who are unmarried and face reality. Maher also told viewers that society and people need to stop believing that those who are single are incomplete and suspect. He explained that being single can be a rational decision (for those who are single by choice). Bill Maher told his audience that compared to couples; singles exercise more, are healthier, have less debt, have stronger social ties with family and friends, and that not being married should not be a shock. This is the 21st Century after all
Bill Maher asked for a holiday to be made for all single people since holiday are made for those who are married or who have a role to their children. His name for the holiday was “I Didn’t Reproduce Day.” While that name is comical, it still is negative to singles. There is a National Single Parents Day, but there needs to be a National Singles Day that celebrates being single. Here are some other Single Holiday, or holidays, name ideas:
- Secure Singles Day
- National Singles Pride Day
- Single By Choice Day
- Happy Singles Day
- Single Life Day
Since I first started Secure Single, I am happy to see that someone who is recognized by the mainstream is finally bringing the truth about singles out of society’s closet. There is nothing wrong with being single. No one is incomplete if they are single. No one should be held suspect by someone because they are single. There should not be any pressure for those who are single and unmarried to have children if they do not want to have kids. Being single is a healthy lifestyle choice or stage in life and society needs to begin to acknowledge that fact. This is a step in the right direction, thank you Bill Maher. The Secure Single Team will continue to move society’s pendulum to change the perception of all singles.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
The 85th Texas Legislator recently passed Texas House Bill 3859 that protects adoption agencies right of conscience to deny prospective parents from adopting who they deem unfit. This is in fact a reasonable law as the country seems to continue to want to slowly erase First Amendment protections to religious freedom, contrary to the media hysteria that has resounded with a discrimination alarm. The problem is more about the relationship that adoption agencies have with the state. Single parents should have adoption access by finding an agency that works with singles who want to be parents.
The core concern that “only Christian groups are contracted with the state, [advocates have] raised concerns that taxpayer-funded agencies will be protected if they reject parents of other faiths.” However, the bill explicitly reads “It is the intent of the legislature to maintain a diverse network of service providers that offer a range of foster capacity options and that can accommodate children from various cultural backgrounds.” Why do adoption organizations have a relationship with the state? Why does the state, or a state approved agency, need to be involved in foster care and adoption? Those are the two essential questions related to Texas. The fact that only Christian adoption agencies have a relationship with the state and act as the state’s adoption middle man is secondary. That problem reflects the second question. If the state controls the foster care system, it has control over what type of agencies it wants to be involved with state adoption. In states that are not as conservative or religious as Texas, such as Washington and New York, the types of agencies that the state works with are probably different from those of Texas. That is how federalism works. States are independent to make their own laws and operate differently from other states. Anyone who wants to become a parent should be able to, but the adoption organization that parents go to should have the right to disapprove a candidate if they do not fit an adoption agency’s requirements and any state laws.
By taking power away from the state to penalize agencies and giving more to adoption agencies, it gives more freedom and choice to the consumers who want to become parents. This will also help to decentralize the adoption agency market that state often controls by using only one or a couple of approved providers in its foster care network. Such is the case with the controversy currently surrounding Texas. Since adoption organizations’ have different criteria for what a prospective parent must meet before they are able to adopt, there will be some agencies that will not accept certain people. This is actually fine, although it is contrary to current popular thought. For example, there is a single woman who has been divorced twice. This woman goes to three different agencies with three different requirements. The first agency is an orthodox Catholic adoption agency that requires that prospective parents have been married for a certain number of years, are in a good marriage, and do not think that they will divorce in the future. The second agency requires information from the potential parent regarding their yearly salary, criminal record, and any health concerns that may come up when the agency runs a background check. Finally, the third is a progressive adoption agency that only requires that the parent will be able to care for the child and does not have any history of child abuse and a criminal record. Which of these three agencies will the twice divorced single parent most likely meet the agencies requirements for? Options two and three. Each agency had its own prerequisites, but the first option most likely would require that the parent be Christian or Catholic, ask if she has annulled her past marriages, and if she regularly goes to church. The other two won’t be concerned with these type of questions. For this reason, she will still be able to adopt but it will be through organizations that she meets the requirements of. This scenario can be changed with a gay couple, atheists or Hindus, and for single parents. They will still be able to find access to an agency to become parents that is fine with certain lifestyles because they are not in a relationship with the state that will have its own criteria.
People are single for a number of reasons, the unmarried are a growing demographic in countries, and solutions need to be found to let them become parents. The two main ways are adoption or through in vitro fertilization for singles who want to become parents. Both of those options would have improved access for single parents if the state or federal government did create arbitrary definitions or worked with agencies that will naturally approve certain candidates and not others for adoption. The United States is a Constitutional Republic that is based upon federalism. All states have the ability to make their own laws and to test ideas as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously stated in his dissent, “The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas — that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.” Some single parents may not be able to become parents in Texas because of the state’s laws and how it operates with foster care agencies. Those singles who really want to be parents should seek out an agency that will approve someone who is unmarried to become a parent through adoption rather than complain about the Texas’ new bill.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
A trend that started in the mid-2000s with singles buying jewelry to celebrate their singlehood is now reaching its height as single Millennials are buying themselves diamond engagement rings. Wedding jewelry has traditionally been meant only for a bride and groom, but the rise of singles has evolved past that convention. As Millennials begin to earn more money and continue to remain single, there is nothing wrong with unmarried Millennials treating themselves to nice jewelry. Singles should not be afraid to purchase jewelry that looks like wedding rings, but should be ready to answer questions about wearing bridal jewelry. Diamonds are single Millennials’ best friend and getting married is not required to own wedding jewelry.
Da Beers found that single Millennials are self-purchasing more diamonds for themselves. This new trend in the diamond jewelry market is not surprising. Singles continue to be a dominating and rising demographic while marriage is in decline in industrialized nations. Many well-known brands are still trying to understand the single demographic to market to them. They should consult Secure Single. Marriage rates are down. Divorce rates are up. Children being raised by single parents are up. The time to be single and unmarried is up. The time to be single is now.
Jewelry is meant to be a fashion statement and to celebrate yourself. So why not buy yourself an engagement ring or wedding jewelry, singles? No one needs to know that you are not getting married. If someone asks if you are engaged or married because you are wearing a ring that looks like an engagement ring, just be honest. You can say that you like the jewelry, but you are unattached. You have excellent taste in jewelry. A husband can wait. Love can wait. Men may not be necessary today. Men are not women’s best friend. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Jewelry allows women, and men in limited circumstances, to present their personality to the world. It has also been connected to money, power, and prestige. Jewelry, especially diamonds and high-end jewelry, has traditionally been given as a dowry should the husband die so that the wife could have income to support herself. While dowries are no longer practiced today in many developed countries, a woman could sell jewelry should she for some reason have to pay off debts. Jewelry serves many important uses to the wearer but the most important attribute is displaying the individuality of the person who is wearing a piece of jewelry.
The single life provides autonomy, flexibility, security, and diversity so each single can determine how to best live their own individual life. Jewelry reflects the single life. There are a range of different types of jewelry that can be bought. Mass produced jewelry. Boutique jewelry. Cheap jewelry. High-end jewelry. Bespoke jewelry. The stones, cuts, metals, and customs designs are limitless as are the options that the single life provides to all singles. This trend of single Millennials purchasing bridal jewelry is not a cause of alarm, as demographics have changed and Millennials have started to come into money buying high-end jewelry is a reflection of where they are in life. If single Millennials have a great jobs, house, and other basic life necessities covered then purchasing jewelry is a wise choice. More singles should buy diamond and precious gemstone jewelry for themselves.
Being single means that you are in full control of your life. Singles who want to purchase fine wedding jewelry to wear should not worry about what other think. You are responsible for your choices and if you want high-end jewelry that has classically been meant for a bride, purchase it. Treat yourself! Buy fine diamond jewelry from “Tiffany, Cartier, Black Starr, Frost Gorham… Harry Winston” and don’t be afraid to flaunt your singlehood (“tell me all about it”).
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
More people today are deciding that they want to delay getting married, but there are some people who are not at all interested in dating or getting married. These singles often identify as single by choice. That means that they are comfortable being single and that they live their best life as a single individual. They do not have an urge to date to fit in to what society expects people to do. These singles are comfortable with their choice to remain single throughout their lifetime. However, since single by choice goes against what popular culture and society tells single people what they should want out of life, they are often considered to be sad individuals. Singles who have made the choice that they are comfortable remaining single recognize that there are other types of relationships. They are perfectly fine not having to walk down the aisle to get hitched. Single by choice is a viable lifestyle for people since it depends upon the decisions and preferences of each individual.
There are many different paths that people decide to walk that affects the direction of life. Life offers options. People make decisions. Those decisions influence who people become. While it is impossible to know what those important choices and decisions are for individuals, it is harmful to assume to anyone who is single by choice is sad. There is more to life than romantic relationships. Singles are a growing population and singles are known to volunteer more compared to those who are married. These singles may decide to spend their time to assist their parents as they prepare to retire and need their help later in life. These singles may decide to pursue their career and become the best professional in their field. That may lead them to decide to start their own company once they find a niche that needs to be filled to provide a product or service that people need. Many more examples could be given, but these show that there are other ways to find fulfillment in life that does not require a partner. These singles are not sad. On the contrary, they are happy with the decision that they made to remain single.
Society likes to frame decisions of individuals in black or white. This is called the false dilemma logical fallacy. Society, following that fallacy, pushes that everyone needs to date and marry their soulmate. By dating and getting married individuals are then deemed as good people. However, if someone decides that they do not want to date or get married than they are viewed as outcasts of society. Is this not problematic in a modern society that claims to be tolerant? The simpler solution is to recognize that an individual can make their own choices. In fact, an individual will make the best decision for themselves and they do not need society or an expert to help them with their choices. Since everyone is born single, everyone can decide their own future and to decide for themselves what they want it to be and who they want to be in it. This is ultimately a lifestyle choice that is dependent upon each single individual. It is time for society to truly start to respect the choices of all singles.
Single by choice is a lifestyle decision. These singles often value autonomy and flexibility most of all and they realize those qualities would be lost by getting married. These singles may also enjoy travelling alone and realize that they would face the same problem if they were married. Ultimately, it is most important to recognize that those who are single by choice are not heartbroken people. They are happy with their decision to remain single and are untroubled by the pressure that society places on them to get married. It is time for both society and people to stop falling for the false dilemma fallacy when it comes to singles not being in a relationship or not wanting to date at all. It is time for popular culture to stop telling people that they must get married because relationship experts believe it’s the most important life choice that someone can make. It is time for all singles make the decision themselves about if they really want to be in a relationship or if they are perfectly fine with being single. If the answer is in the affirmative about enjoying all that the single life offers, than those singles are single by choice.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Society and the media present being single only in negative way. However, being single is a great time to be alive, whether it is only a transitional phase while you prepare yourself to enter another relationship or if you are single by choice. While some stereotypes of singles have improved, there is still much work done to be done to change how culture views those who are single and unmarried. There are many reasons why the single and unmarried state is a great stage of life and those who are single need to be able to defend their single status.
When someone – or the media presents singles — asks someone why they are single, it is most often asked with in a negative tone along with shock. This makes people believe that they need to be in a relationship at all times. It causes those who are single and who want a relationship to jump into a relationship when they are not ready for one. Further, and worse, it makes those who want to be in a relationship to enter bad relationships. 70% of college students have been abused by a former boyfriend or girlfriend while 43% of college age women have reported experiencing violent and abusive dating relationships. While dating abuse and violence is a difficult issue, could it decrease if those who are single were not constantly told that they must be in a relationship? It would slow down the relationship train that singles are told they must ride. It would allow individuals to mature before they decide to date. It would allow singles to learn more about who they are and if they even want to date or get married. It would let individuals learn to enjoy being single rather than being dragged into a bad relationship because being single portrayed as being bad.
By equating that single is always bad, society harms those who are unmarried by attaching stigmas that are false. These stereotypes range from that single women are crazy cat ladies to that single men are lonely bachelors’ who are unable to take care of themselves and need a woman in their life. This degrades the status of both men and women. This demeans men and women who do not have a relationship status that the culture approves. Further, the treatment of singles and the unmarried devalues the legitimacy of being temporarily or permanently single. Single now are a major part of population in industrialized countries so society should recognize this and change its attitude about the unmarried.
The single life is both a time to learn to enjoy life and to learn about who you are as an individual. It is a time to prepare to date or to consider becoming fully your own person by starting your own business by no longer having to rely on working for someone else. The time, flexibility, and autonomy that being single offers is the perfect time to take risks and to step outside of the confined comfort zones that society has drawn. Break down that line. Tear down that wall that society has put up that is the easy way to be comfortable, but does not ask for anything more from individuals besides getting married and working a 9 to 5 job. The qualities of the single life allow those who are unmarried to become the best version of themselves and to take chances that cannot be done once married.
Deciding to be temporarily single for a time and being single by choice are both legitimate lifestyle choices. The first option recognizes that being single is good, but the individual ultimately wants to be in a relationship and to get married. The second option the individual wants to remain single throughout life and does not want to get married. There are many different types of singles and reasons why people are single. For this reason, there are short-term and long-term singles and this reflects the diversity among the growing single and unmarried population that society has not yet acknowledged.
Society needs to accept that more people are remaining single longer and that singles contribute more time to volunteer and to other activities that improve their communities compared to those who are married. The tone needs to change about how being single is talked about in culture and presented in the media. This needs to change. Those who enjoy being single and unmarried, whether it is temporary or permanent, are responsible to help change the attitude of their family and friends about those who are single. Secure Single seeks to help all single adults optimize their human flourishing and to fulfill their life’s calling, but in order to create a different world where those who are single and are unmarried will be more accepted must first start with you.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
There are some people who make the argument that the World Health Organization is doing good thing — actually a great thing– by allowing those who are single and who are unmarried to have access to IVF. They will go on to argue that since singles, and others, are able to get IVF that the single and the unmarried population should not complain about the WHO deciding to broaden its definition of “infertile” to include singles. Their line of reasoning is that the end (access to IVF) justifies the means (labeling single as a disability). An article by Elite Readers follows that exact line of argument by writing “So single folks out there will now be classified as “infertile” but I’s not arbitrary or insulting, as it is merely for purposes of priority for invitro fertilization.” In an earlier article, I presented five reasons how this is offensive and insulting to singles and to other communities. The purpose of this article is to respond that line of argument, find flaws in its reasoning, and then show how by adding being single into its new disability definition that classifying singles as “infertile” is in fact an insult.
This first line of argument is broken that everyone should have access to IVF. This is fine since IVF is a new medical procedure that allows for an embryo to be implanted into the womb of a woman to have children or to act as a surrogate for a couple or a single person who wants to have a child. This is reasonable since some people may prefer to use IVF to have children instead of choosing to adopt.
Next, supporters will argue that by including singles and the unmarried under the new World Health disability definition is not maligning singles since they are now able to receive a service. IVF is already on the rise as more men and women who want to be single parents and want to use the service, but it is only expected to “explode” more as people put off marriage for their careers. People already are able to get access to it in most cases. For this reason, there is no need for the WHO to change the definition of disability to allows singles to receive IVF because they do not have a sexual partner. Ironically, IVF does not require a sexual partner because it only requires someone to act as a surrogate to the parent(s). Why is not having a sexual partner a problem according to the WHO? This is a contradiction and inconsistency in the very argument by supporters. No partner needed for IVF. No sexual partner required for singles.
Third, by legally changing the definition of infertile to include those who are single and unmarried is arbitrary. It does not matter if supporters argue otherwise. Infertility is being unable to conceive, ovulate, and other reasons that vary between men and women. John Hopkins Fertility Center found the “cause of infertility are approximately 50 percent due to male causes and 50 percent according to female causes.” John Hopkins Fertility Center also found that 15 percent of the population is affected by infertility. By combining the part of the population that does not have any type of infertility issue in order to give them access to IVF does a disservice to the healthcare, medical, scientific community, and disgraces singles who are not infertile while also showing contempt to those who are really infertile.
For anyone who is single or who knows someone who is unmarried, please think twice before jumping on board the World Health Organization’s crazy definition wagons for disability and infertility merely because it’s an easy solution. It is impractical. It defies common sense. It discriminates against singles in favor of matrimania by using IVF treatment. It is time to stop insulting and continuing to attach stigmas to singles that are not true and to embrace the single and unmarried population.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Society portrays singles and the unmarried as being sad, lonely, and unsatisfied with their lives. However, the reality could not be farther away from this stigma and stereotype. Singles today outnumber those who are coupled or dating in industrialized countries and singles are deciding, or prolonging, staying single longer than ever before for many reasons. There are many reasons why the rise of the single and unmarried in society is a great thing and society should embrace singlehood and singleness instead of stigmatizing those who are single.
Singles are often shown as being alone and lonely. That is in fact false when compared to those who are couples. The unmarried are more likely to be engaged in their communities, civic groups, and public events as well as find more ways to be involved in their cities by finding different events and causes to attend and support compared to their married counterparts. Singles are also more likely to volunteer their time to coach, mentor, teach, counsel, and support causes and organizations that they want to assist to help others compared to couples. Singles have autonomy and flexibility that come with the single life. Singles don’t only help organizations through their volunteerism, but they also help their cities.
As the traditional family home goes, in its place are growing apartments and condos for one person. Where single and unmarried Millennials are moving to in cities often results in the growth of neighborhoods since they go out more and want to return to their house. This has led to the rise of neighborhoods in cities, and the rise of cities, where Millennials have moved to for work. This in turn has resulted in the growth of cities economies and of new types of restaurants and cafes that want to attract single Millennial customers. As single Millennials have brought about revitalization and growth in cities and their neighborhoods, single women have been able to contribute more to the economy as they have been able to enter the workforce.
Women have made considerable economic gains over the past decades with the success of feminist movements and as it has become acceptable to go to school and get a job. Today, only 14% of Millennial women are homemakers. Women are also projected to make up more than half of the United States work force by 2018. Single women share the values of the Millennial generation, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report, that places economic and educational success as more important than getting married and starting a family. These different factors have finally given women the freedom to not have to get married to have economic security. In the 21st Century, women can provide for themselves and attain financial freedom on their own without needing a man.
These sociological and economic changes have finally allowed singles to live full lives. Single is no longer a state where an unmarried individual must wait to mate. Being single today can now be a choice and not just a temporary state. As Millennials continue to delay and not consider marriage a necessary milestone, singles are able to live their fullest lives by making use of the autonomy and flexibility of the single life.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
As someone who is studying cybersecurity and who enjoys technology, I have noticed the rise of technosexuality from software apps to the evolution of more realistic looking sex dolls with artificial intelligence. While each of these offer interesting topics as they relate to developing technology, the connection between technosexuality is of interest in a society that is increasingly becoming more single. There are some concerns that relationship professionals have presented about these increasingly human looking robots, but these same professionals also recognize some of the positive aspects that these dolls can give to people who are lonely and socially isolated. Technosexuality provides singles with an option to have an artificially intelligent robot that they can interact with on multiple levels. Sex tech is on the rise and this is an introduction for singles about sex tech.
The Technosexual Era And The Rise Of Technosexuality: An Introduction
Who is a technosexual and what is technosexuality? A technosexual is usually defined as someone who loves technology over an actual romantic human relationship. The term technosexual is often used to insult someone who enjoys technology, but does not have a romantic partner. Technosexuality, or robosexuality, combines “techno” and “sexuality” denoting a sexual attraction to technology. People who are technosexual are commonly stereotyped are being unattractive, socially unintelligent, and lonely men by society. This stereotype demeans an individual because they really enjoy technology and like to talk about on a level that society believes is only reserved for talking about love, romance, and sex. The stigma attached to technosexuals is similar to those that society places on singles. Both technosexuals and singles do not fit a culture where one must be in a romantic relationship or married to be fully accepted by society in order to fit in.
However, sex technology comes in many different types that can used by both men and women. This breaks down the stereotype that society has constructed that single lonely men are the main users of sex technology. There are many more specialized sex technology devices that are aimed at women. These different devices come in a range of technology from hardware, software, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to meet the preferences of the user.
The many types of technology components from hardware to hardware to artificial intelligence allows the user to customize the type of experience that they want with their sex tech. The software variety are often apps that help the user to find a friend or a sexual partner such as Tinder, Android After Dark, or MiKandi to only name a few popular mobile applications. In terms of hardware, these are amped up smart version of vibrators and dildos. These virtual reality devices typically combine hardware with software to create a virtual reality experience for the user of their choice. Finally, there is artificial intelligence, that is a machine that is able to learn the preferences of the user or have setting that have realistic reactions to a sexual encounter. The two main examples of the artificial intelligence — which combines hardware, software, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence – are VR Tenga and RealDoll.
Technosexuality presents a range of concerns as well as positive attributes to the human sexual experience according to some relationship experts. The concerns tend to enter the dystopian science fiction realm that humans will become attracted to these robots and humanity will end. However, these relationship experts also recognize that sex tech can make sex more interesting between couples or allow individuals who are single, and maybe lonely, to have an artificially intelligent robot that they can talk to or have a range of relations with to form a human-robot connection. This human-robot relationship has opened up interesting questions that will be explored in the context of singles in this series on technosexulity by Secure Single.