I don't know of much literature that looks into single mother's and why they are single.
Stands to reason. For what other purpose would you get divorced? If you can't stand the person anymore, they are abusive, or whatever you can simply part ways. The only reason you would initiate divorce is to get help sorting out the financial aspects of the relationship.
Looking it up: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/divorce/common-causes-d...
I was slightly incorrect. Financial reasons was the #1 reason to get married. Apparently the #1 reason for divorce was "lack of family support". Which I suppose can still come down to financial issues in some way.
Though, it does seem to shift depending on the stage of marriage. First year divorces happen mostly due to incompatibility, whereas long term (8+ years) happens due to infidelity.
>Like, if infidelity lead you to never want to look at the other person again, you could just carry out the rest of your life pretending they don't exist.
Sure, not all infidelity leads to divorce, some stay together for the kids, others forgive or drop it, others "get even" and then forgive/drop it. Infidelity also isn't illegal and open relationships are a thing, so you can indeed remain legally married and proceed to date aroind as if you are single.
But general societal pressure dictate that if you want to properly separate you divorce. Which is probably why the top two reason come from not being a good partner (i.e. Being unable or unwilling to take care of the family or not being faithful).
Polygamy is also a problem: because while there's no real punishment for it in society for engaging in polygamy, you are legally not allowed to have multiple spouses. If you ever imagine re-marrying you want to get that divorce over with ASAP. And the process can take a while.
But isn't that still directly related to finances? The article kind of touches on the same point, where women are "giving up on men" who not in a good financial position. Not having your finances sorted out with a former partner would also question one's financial position. The pressure stems from one not wanting to look like someone who cannot manage finances.
> If you ever imagine re-marrying
But circling back, you pointed out that the people get married is for financial reasons.
Which makes sense as the modern marriage contract doesn't cover anything other than finances. Maybe there was an earlier age where there was more to it, but we don't uphold those values anymore.
If someone talked constantly about, say, "toxic women", would you really believe they were only talking about a subset?
Seems like you're agreeing with me.
If toxic masculinity encompasses a big chunk of masculinity, if there's no clear definition of non-toxic masculinity that's actually masculine, and if toxic femininity isn't ever discussed, it can seem like masculinity is considered to be an overall toxic trait while femininity isn't.
I think the GP was responding to the broader idea that masculinity is especially toxic in comparison to everything else, rather than the narrow "some men light themselves on fire to prove they're macho and get hurt, and that's bad" defensible academic usage.