alone again. naturally?

This week's column is about singlism, a new buzz word that refers to discrimination against single people.

I was inspired by "Singled Out," a recent book that aims to debunk the myth that married is better.

In spite of the fact that many readers have interpreted the column as an excuse to hit on me, I think the idea of singlism touches on some important questions. Especially here in the South, where I think there is much more pressure to be married than what I experienced while living in California.

I saw the same thing when I lived in small-town Wisconsin -- many more people getting married directly after, or even during, college. I'm not saying that's a bad thing -- I'm just saying that small towns in particular seem to hold some sort of expectation that makes people marry early.

Am I right? Is this geographic, or are there other factors at work?