I'm a Japanese woman. In Japan, generally, it is believed that to marry a nice guy is the most important thing in a woman's life because it is believed that the a woman who marries a nice guy will be taken care of by her husband and children, and this is the easiest and safest life.
In fact, in Japan it is very difficult for women to get good jobs and promotions in a company because most Japanese companies and men doubt women's power and ability. Therefore, women's status is really weak and people believe that it is the marriage that guarantees women's life and status. In fact, my father also used to say that marriage is everything in a woman's life; however, I don't think so. I know that marriage is a very important event; however, as for me, it is merely one part of a woman's life.
I was born into the middle-class, and my father is a business man and he works at a financial company. My mother is a housewife and she has never worked since she married my father because my father has earned enough money to support his wife and children, so my mother doesn't need to work. My father is a typical Japanese hard worker, so he leaves home early in the morning and comes back around midnight. Usually he doesn't stay home so much because of his job; however, when he stays home, he is a sort of dictator.
In my home it is he that manages money, and everything he says are orders which we have to obey absolutely. Furthermore, he can't do any housework and never does it, so my mother does everything. Therefore, my mother plays roles of a wife, a mother and a secretary for my father. I was really scared of my father and at the same time I didn't like him although he works very hard to support our family, because he made my mother a kind of a slave who does everything for him. I couldn't help doubting if the marriage which forces women into being slaves is wonderful, and I decided not to marry anybody and to become a working woman.
However, as I grew up, I understood reality, and I realized how hard it would be to live by myself socially, physically and mentally. If I do not marry, I'll have to work throughout my life to earn a living. However, as I mentioned before, women's status in Japan is weak and it is hard for women to earn enough money to live by themselves throughout their lives. Actually I feel I'm not smart enough to get a nice job and do everything by myself. Next, I'm not so strong physically, because I have gotten seriously sick before. Finally, even if I had a nice job, it would be very lonely and I would need somebody to stay with me. I think I was around eighteen when I realized marriage is important in a woman's life. In fact, I was interested in boys at that time.
When I was 20, I started to work at a bank, and I saw the reality that women who were around 24 years old quit their jobs one after another because of marriage. In Japan it is believed that 24 years old is the favored age to marry because women who are 24 years old are mature physically and mentally, and it's a good age to have children. Therefore, until 25 years of age it is easier to find a nice guy who wants to marry, and many women get married around 24 years old.
Anyway, when I became 24 years old, I quit my job because I wanted to improve my English for my future. My parents disagreed with that because they doubted that even if I studied English for one or two years in the USA, there would be no guarantee that I could get a nice job and have a good status. Actually I'm also afraid about that; however, I don't feel like giving up studying just to get married.
After all, I believe in myself and I'm studying in the USA; however, I'm still anxious about my future. When I was a kid, I was disappointed with the idea of marriage, and decided to become a working woman. However, as I grew up, I couldn't help accepting that marriage is an important issue. That was a shock for me. Now, I'll be 25 years old soon, so it'll be getting difficult to rely on marriage to get the stable status. Even now when I talk to my father in Japan on the phone, he says that English isn't important in Japan, so quit studying and come back to marry. That also gives me stress because I know he is right, but I don't want to do it. Therefore, I just believe in myself and make an effort although I don't have much confidence about my future.