Meet a woman who married herself
"I'm married to myself because I think that's where every relationship begins." Here’s why some women are choosing self-marriage.
Instead of a groom
Erika Anderson is married to herself. While not legally recognized, self-marriage is a form of empowerment. Since 1990, marriage has declined by 8% while divorce rates have tripled according to reports from The Pew Center.
Undoing the patriarchy that ascribes value to women and assigned it to herself
“I think different people use different terms, self-partnership, self-marriage. But yeah, I'm married to myself because I think that's where every relationship begins. And also, there's so much pressure to be with someone else to prove that you're okay and that nothing is wrong with you. And I think that's a pretty awful reason to be with someone else. So, I partnered up. I’ve often heard since I left my marriage that I’m a “catch.” So, I decided that today I’m catching myself. So, thank you for being here for this sort of ridiculous stunt, but also meaningful thing, too. Women have more economic freedom than ever before, we're marrying later, we're not getting married, we're having kids later, we're not having kids. We just have so much choice in a way that we've never had it before. And so, essentially why use that time or that freedom to just be narrowly focused on finding a soulmate or "Mr. Right," or "whoever Right." And yeah, I was like, "Oh, why don't I just use that freedom to marry myself?" Like I wanted to tell myself that I was enough, that I didn't have to be on this constant search for someone else in the picture”, Erika Anderson tells Brut.
Destroying the institution of marriage
A growing number of young women are using self-marriage to negate the idea that their worth is tied to partnership. Anderson's untraditional ceremony involved a wedding dress, vows, a bracelet instead of rings.
Brut.
Instead of a groom
Erika Anderson is married to herself. While not legally recognized, self-marriage is a form of empowerment. Since 1990, marriage has declined by 8% while divorce rates have tripled according to reports from The Pew Center.
Undoing the patriarchy that ascribes value to women and assigned it to herself
“I think different people use different terms, self-partnership, self-marriage. But yeah, I'm married to myself because I think that's where every relationship begins. And also, there's so much pressure to be with someone else to prove that you're okay and that nothing is wrong with you. And I think that's a pretty awful reason to be with someone else. So, I partnered up. I’ve often heard since I left my marriage that I’m a “catch.” So, I decided that today I’m catching myself. So, thank you for being here for this sort of ridiculous stunt, but also meaningful thing, too. Women have more economic freedom than ever before, we're marrying later, we're not getting married, we're having kids later, we're not having kids. We just have so much choice in a way that we've never had it before. And so, essentially why use that time or that freedom to just be narrowly focused on finding a soulmate or "Mr. Right," or "whoever Right." And yeah, I was like, "Oh, why don't I just use that freedom to marry myself?" Like I wanted to tell myself that I was enough, that I didn't have to be on this constant search for someone else in the picture”, Erika Anderson tells Brut.
Destroying the institution of marriage
A growing number of young women are using self-marriage to negate the idea that their worth is tied to partnership. Anderson's untraditional ceremony involved a wedding dress, vows, a bracelet instead of rings.
Brut.