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By Kim Susan Se-jeong
Aging bachelors and bachelorettes seem flawed and incomplete to Korean singles, according to a survey by two matchmaking agencies.
A total of 528 men and women were surveyed online about how they perceive single people of their own gender by Biennale and Feeling You.
The results, gathered from May 14 to 19, showed that 43.2 percent of men thought that an aging bachelor “must be flawed in some way,” while 31.8 percent of surveyed ladies thought an older bachelorette “looks incomplete.”
For men, the top answer was followed by the comments, “He looks pitiful” at 19.7 percent and, “I envy his freedom” at 15.9 percent. The question “What does he do for sex?” stood at 11.7 percent.
For women, the second most prevalent answer was “She must be flawed in some way” at 28 percent, followed by “She must not have that much to worry about” at 15.9 percent, and “She looks pitiful” at 12.1 percent.
“Men are generally more open to marriage, so when they delay wedlock without apparent reason, people start to wonder why,” said Son Dong-gyu, head of Biennale. “On the other hand, if women, who generally seek physical, financial and psychological stability through marriage, stay single to an old age, it feels like they’re lacking something.”
On another note, in a survey asking for reasons “why old bachelors/bachelorettes don’t make suitable spouses,” 46.2 percent of men answered it is because an old, unmarried woman “seems fussy (about her partner)” and 33.3 percent of women said it is because old, unmarried men “seem disagreeable.”
“Both men and women have various reasons for putting off marriage,” said Jo Eun-yeong from Feeling You. “But people that are matched up with old bachelors or bachelorettes often suspect there are character flaws or other problems.”
