Anti-marriage movement may be hurting young women, argues columnist
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Over the weekend, two very different stories about womanhood and motherhood went viral: Emily Ratajkowski’s raw musings on birth, divorce, sexuality, and single motherhood, and the ongoing cultural debate around Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman, a mother of nine, entrepreneur, and homemaker.
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A growing anti-marriage movement is fueled by viral TikTok trends and high-profile celebrities casting men as the enemy, but women may ultimately be the losers, according to a new column.
One USA Today’s column, Columnist Ingrid Jacques warned of a rising tide of “heteropessimism”, describing it as women’s growing feelings of frustration and hostility towards their relationships with men. He argued that viral trends such as “divorce fever” and anti-male literature are effectively widening the divide between the sexes.
“Studies show that married women are not only happier, but also live longer and earn more than their single counterparts,” Jacques wrote on Tuesday.
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In the stock image, a man shows a woman with his arms crossed during a heated argument outdoors. (Vladimir Vladimirov/iStock)
She explained that the media consumed by modern women is increasingly hostile to traditional relationships, noting bestselling books such as “Yesteryear” about a “traditional” influencer.
Jacques notes that in this novel, men are reduced to lazy or toxic tropes: “A man is either a stupid man-baby with no ambition and no brains, or he is a perfect ancestor who befriends other sexist pigs in the manosphere. At one point, husbands are called ‘freaks’.”
on Amazon, Description of the book includes“A gripping, thrilling novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, ‘Yesterday Year’ is a sharp-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith and the majestic performance of womanhood.”
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This trend coincides with declining marriage and birth rates in the United States. Official US Census Bureau data Data from December shows that only 47% of American households will be married couples in 2025; this rate was approximately 66% compared to 50 years ago. Only 37% of married households included their own children under 18; this rate was 54% in 1975.
Jacques attributed the shift directly to liberal ideology, noting that left-leaning Americans choose to abandon traditional family lifestyles “much more often than conservatives.”
The split photo shows comedian Leslie Jones (left) and model Emily Ratajkowski (right). Both openly expressed their doubts about the marriage; Jones called it “legalized slavery” and Ratajkowski spoke positively about life after divorce. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix; Lia Toby/Getty Images)
“Everywhere you look these days, women who ‘liberated’ themselves from the shackles of marriage are celebrated,” Jacques wrote. It featured cultural figures who publicly advocated celibacy or life after divorce, including “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert and model Emily Ratajkowski.
In April, comedian Leslie Jones criticized marriage, saying that most people she knew who got married were now divorced, arguing that “marriage is legalized slavery.”
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A 2024 American Family Survey found that 37% of conservative women and 28% of moderate women ages 18 to 40 reported being “completely satisfied” with their lives. But only 12% of liberal women of the same age reported feeling the same way.
This sentiment has also taken over social media through trends like TikTok’s “divorce glow”, where women share before-and-after photos celebrating their separation. Jacques noted that in these videos, women “often look happier and more radiant in the next photo.”
Quoting Louise Perry, author of “The Case Against the Sexual Revolution,” Jacques argued that young women became alienated after being “burned by hookup culture” and unable to form real friendships with the opposite sex.
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Official data from the US Census Bureau as of December 2025 shows that only 47% of American households in 2025 are married couples; this rate was approximately 66% 50 years ago. (Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock)
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Jacques, like Perry, argued that returning to marriage rather than abandoning men altogether was the remedy for the cultural divide.
“Of course, this will not be the case for everyone,” Jacques concluded. “But men and women need to find a way back to each other. Ignoring marriage will not get them there.”
