A growing anti-marriage movement is being fueled by viral TikTok trends and high-profile celebrities painting men as the enemy, but according to a new column, women may ultimately be the ones losing out.In a USA Today op-ed, columnist Ingrid Jacques warned of a rising wave of "heteropessimism," defining it as women’s growing feelings of disappointment and antagonism toward relationships with men.She argued that viral trends like "divorce glow-ups" and anti-male literature have actively widened the divide between the sexes."Studies show that married women are not only happier but also live longer and earn more than their single counterparts," Jacques wrote on Tuesday.RELATIONSHIP EXPERT CHALLENGES ONE OF AMERICA'S BIGGEST ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT DIVORCEA stock image shows a woman with her arms crossed while a man gestures during a heated outdoor discussion.
(Vladimir Vladimirov/iStock)She explained that the media modern women consume is increasingly hostile toward traditional relationships, pointing to bestselling books like "Yesteryear," which centers on a "tradwife" influencer.In that novel, Jacques notes, men are reduced to lazy or toxic tropes: "Either a man is an idiotic man-baby who lacks ambition and a brain, or he's a quintessential patriarch who pals around with other sexist pigs in the manosphere.Husbands are at one point referred to as ‘freaks.’"On Amazon, the book’s description includes, "A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, ‘Yesteryear’ is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood."TRANS ACTOR ELLIOT PAGE ARGUES 'HEALTHY MASCULINITY' IS REJECTING EXPECTATION TO 'SHUT DOWN'The trend coincides with falling U.S.
marriage and birth rates.Official U.S.
Census Bureau data from December shows that just 47% of American households in 2025 were married couples, down from nearly 66% 50 years ago.Of those married households, only 37% included their own children under age 18,...