The Indirect Peer Pressure of the Rising Number of Marriages in COVID19

The tempting allure of getting married in COVID19, are we missing out?

There’s been a sense of insecurity surrounding jobs worldwide since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it seems like everyone has been listening to workplace gossip to find whos’ being laid off next. Everyone except Cupid, who has been working overtime in the GCC.

There is a history of extravagant weddings and marriage-related costs in the GCC that have been breaking the backs of many newlywed couples who have to comply with these traditions. These conditions may not suit their paychecks and millennial norms, and have left newlyweds with a wedding band and a huge loan as a symbol of modern-day matrimony. So in this unlikely opportunity, the pandemic has provided a golden opportunity towards a simpler and affordable wedding.

There are endless updates on every social media platform of friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers getting married these days. And this barrage of photos and videos may be contributing to indirect peer pressure, when it seems like everyone else but ourselves is tying the knot. Indirect peer pressure here refers to the social pressure we feel from actions taken around us rather than actions or words targeted towards us from our peer group. We are not overtly told “Hey, you’re missing out!”, but it ends up making us feel like “Hey, you’re missing out.” It is so easy under these circumstances to feel left behind or alone, not only because of the reality but also because of the feelings denied to us as self-sufficient working people. Work is supposed to provide purpose, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always do that. Adventure and self-care are supposed to consume us and comfort our need for belonging, but they don’t assert all needs. (Read: Working Women and the Stigma of Loneliness.)

When we feel a certain way, it is all too easy to focus on that feeling with disregard for other blessings in our lives like our families, our jobs, our sanity, our health, and our opportunities. Some may even drop their preferences or preferred values in a partner for the sake of not missing out. It’s so important to remember that life is not one huge train ride, and there are no certain stops we must all arrive at simultaneously. We all have our own route, and we all have our own stops, and we can revisit or even decide not to visit at all, if that’s what we want.