I've been following closely a book written by Mark J. Penn about micro-trends and how they impact the nature of society. Although Penn used the United States as a microcosm to discuss certain trends that are emerging, it is also significant to realise that such trends may perhaps be slowly taking shape in our society.
Microtrends is defined by Penn as "the idea that the most powerful forces in our society are the emerging, counterintuitive trends that are shaping right before us." He attributes such powerful forces to individuals, or as he qualified, "small intense subgroups and communities that are able to lobby about their individual needs and wants" in society. Today, society has never been more individualistic, complicated, sophisticated and definitely more knowledgeable. The whole idea that there are huge forces that will shape the world in time to come has to fade for small ripple-effect forces that can perhaps be from a small percentage of society, but are powerful enough to effect large changes in society. I shall follow the trends identified by Penn, but using Singapore society as a context. Even though Singapore may be vastly different from the United States, it does contain small enough forces that can shape our small nation-state in a large way. In fact, these small forces may themselves re-write the development of our Singapore culture in many ways.
I'm analysing these trends based on observations, newspaper readings and of course speaking to friends about the issues. The statistical validity may not be there, but the phenomenon may already be brewing, and if some sociologists may one day start the data collection, these trends may be proven correct.
1. Love & Relationships
- In Singapore, more and more women are finding themselves left out from the institution of marriage. Granted that some women may deliberately choose to be single, there are many who storm dating websites, only to be disappointed. Did anything go wrong?
- Nothing went wrong - there are just too few men for all the women; or perhaps there are too few straight men for the women. Thus women in Singapore are left in a situation where they have to chase pants in a sea which is pretty dry.
- Women in Singapore are now more able than before to assert their wants and needs. They believe that there is a right one that will appear to them. Thus when they storm dating sites, they have such high expectations of men that they price themselves out of the market. Stability and trustworthiness ranks as one of the highest when it comes to selecting a male spouse. Women will rather choose to pursue the single life than have the belief that so-called 'unsuitable' men may ruin their lives. Their earning powers are increasingly close to that of men, and they believe that life without men may be better than life with the wrong men.
- For some women who want a fairy-tale ending, they may choose alternatives. It used to be women who hope that men may be 3 to 4 years older that forms the criteria of a good spouse. Now, we see no lack of older women who go out with younger men. And perhaps this is all the rage in Hollywood . Can you remember Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher? They may perhaps be one of Hollywood's newbie couple. And some women love dating younger men, for from these men, they see an eternal spring of youth, the potentiality that these men could be with them in their old age (men tend to die earlier than women). Viewpoints may also have changed - women do not see younger men as a desperate outcome, they see a plausible future - progressive and dynamic.
- Online or professional match-making is the new way of making love work. In Singapore, many women seek out men in all possible avenues. In many events organised by SDU, women always outnumber men, sometimes to the extent of a significant imbalance. Women are also more daring now, enjoying speed-dating and after-office drinks in the company of men. Love has today been seen as one of the many pursuits - just as you need to study hard for a degree; you need to 'work hard' to get a spouse. No longer are many women viewing SDU with a negative light, they see it as a good way to enjoy events at reasonable rates and perhaps along the way, a match made in heaven may surface.
- There is also an increasing trend towards office romancers. Office romancers may be the new rage in the dating scene. Though office romancers try to hide their affairs, almost everyone knows that it is going on and guess what, nobody actually minds. Forget about what your mother tells you about dating someone at work because it can compromise your professionalism or expose yourself to unnecessary suits. It is the 'in' thing - in the office. The only problem arises if married people are in for the action as well.
What do you think are the implications of these trends for policy-makers and the government? It will be good to hear your thoughts before we talk of more micro-trends here in our society.
Acknowledgement: Microtrends - Surprising tales of how we live today by Mark J. Penn (2007)
