A discussion on marriage and how Irish society views women who are separated or choose to remain unmarried.
Sheila is separated from her husband and the separation is permanent. She recognises a double standard when it comes to how society views men and women who are no longer married.
A separated woman generally has the children and is stigmatised by society, whereas a separated man is able to live the life of a single man and is not judged or criticised.
Marie agrees with Sheila that separated women are shamed and judged in Ireland. She thinks it is unrealistic to expect all marriages to last indefinitely because,
You just don't know what’s ahead.
For Deirdre, marriage was the right thing for her to do,
It’s a full time job, it’s a career, it’s a hobby, it’s everything.
Deirdre says her marriage is a success that she puts down to luck and both partners working equally hard to make it work.
Maeve believes people should get married before they get too set in their ways. She does not expect her 29 year old son to ever get married as he is having too good a time as a single person.
Pat is 27 years old and is an unmarried woman by choice because,
I feel I have an awful lot more to do with my life.
She feels Irish society stigmatises unmarried women and there is a huge pressure to be married.
What Irish society wants is the nice happily married couple.
Being unmarried, separated or an unmarried mother does not fit into this ideal.
Getting married is not on Pat’s list of things she wants to do,
To give a commitment like that would be far too much for me at the moment.
Pat has a fulfilling job and a good social life. Above all, she values her independence. No matter how happy she is with her life,
I feel people think I should be married.
Also unmarried is Anne, who does not have any inspiration to get married. She thinks of herself,
As just being me, on my own.
Anne can get frightened when she thinks of herself as being 50 years old and being on her own. She lives in a house with other people and hopes to continue to live that way as she gets older.
The episode of 'Women Talking' was first broadcast on 12 September 1983. The presenter is Doireann Ní Bhriain.
The series 'Women Talking' was produced by Nuala O'Faolain with programme assistant Patricia Swan for two series of six programmes in the Summer of 1982 and the Autumn of 1983. Women around the country talked with presenter Doireann Ní Bhriain about their experiences, their problems and their hopes.
The first episode of 'Women Talking' was recorded and broadcast on 13 May 1982 and continued over the summer of 1982. The episodes covered timeless themes such as work, marriage, education, mothering, money and growing old.
The second series was broadcast in the Autumn of 1983 and included a programme in Irish covering the lives of women in the Gaeltacht, an episode on nuns and their lifestyles, the problems of loss and grief, personal and social hopes and ideals, women's relationships and the structure of marriage.
