Shonda Rhimes Talks About The Pressure On Women To Get Married, Have Children
LOS ANGELES, CA (CBS Sacramento) - Shonda Rhimes recently appeared on SuperSoul Sunday with Oprah Winfrey to talk about her new book "Year Of Yes" and her successful television shows. It just so happen that both Rhimes and Winfrey share some of the same views when it comes to marriage.
Rhimes said, "I was able to finally stand up and say, 'I don't want to get married.' At all. I said that out loud. I said it to my family. I said it to my friends. I said it to anybody who asked. It's never been a dream of mine. "
The two successful women talked about the pressure many women of a certain age face if they aren't married yet. Rhimes, who has three children, even expressed how the expectation to have children is put on a to-do list for women, but she knew she wanted them.
"It's a lot like the desire to want to have children in our society. You're supposed to want it, and if you don't want it, what's wrong with you? I'm one of those people, since I was 5, I could tell you I was going to have kids. I could tell you I was going to have three. I could tell you they were going to be girls," she added. "But I have never wanted to get married. I never played bride. I was never interested. I don't know what it is; I never wanted to get married."
Winfrey, who has been with her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham, talked about wanting marriage at one point, but then agreed to postpone it.
"The moment he asked me to marry him, I was like 'Oh, God! Now I actually have to get married?' But what I realized is, I don't want to be married," said Winfrey.
Rhimes and Winfrey agreed that speaking about not wanting marriage out loud felt good and was freeing.