Most major Star Trek characters are single. In part that's due to the dynamics of one-hour action/adventure shows; the cops in T.J. Hooker weren't married either. But it seems like real life is catching up to TV. Star Trek might be right to portray marriage as a rare thing in the future:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/09/love-in-the-time-of-individualism/540474/
By the 23rd century, I wonder if Tomlinson and Martine in "Balance of Terror" would be seen as oddballs, eccentrics, for getting married. In a society where "consenting adult" is the only hall pass men need to find satisfaction, attractive men will be less inclined to commit to one woman (why are Kirk and Picard, such great catches, still single?).
Furthermore, when women have their own careers and paychecks, they feel no need to take up with less attractive men (who are presumably less satisfied being single, but can't do anything about it). And career women have a lot less free time to raise children anyway, so that's another reason to skip marriage.
Over time, the norms and expectations change, and marriage becomes the rare exception. This is also a culture whose birth rate is likely to fall below replacement, and thus one that is heading for extinction.
Star Trek shows us all the benefits for single adults enjoying total freedom out there in the galaxy (no strings, no roots, even no planet needed while you do your own thing) but I wonder if the ensuing shortage of well-raised people has to be countered with super high-tech test tube baby factories or something weird like that. If Kirk stays single and childless, who parents the next generation's Kirk?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/09/love-in-the-time-of-individualism/540474/
By the 23rd century, I wonder if Tomlinson and Martine in "Balance of Terror" would be seen as oddballs, eccentrics, for getting married. In a society where "consenting adult" is the only hall pass men need to find satisfaction, attractive men will be less inclined to commit to one woman (why are Kirk and Picard, such great catches, still single?).
Furthermore, when women have their own careers and paychecks, they feel no need to take up with less attractive men (who are presumably less satisfied being single, but can't do anything about it). And career women have a lot less free time to raise children anyway, so that's another reason to skip marriage.
Over time, the norms and expectations change, and marriage becomes the rare exception. This is also a culture whose birth rate is likely to fall below replacement, and thus one that is heading for extinction.
Star Trek shows us all the benefits for single adults enjoying total freedom out there in the galaxy (no strings, no roots, even no planet needed while you do your own thing) but I wonder if the ensuing shortage of well-raised people has to be countered with super high-tech test tube baby factories or something weird like that. If Kirk stays single and childless, who parents the next generation's Kirk?
