Different people get married for different reasons.
While some get married for love, some others do so for reasons other than love.
In the same vein, some people are very intentional about who they marry – never wanting to settle down with just anyone.
Even if love isn’t in the equation, they’ll still choose to marry a particular person for specific reasons.
In this article, we’ll be talking about the different reasons men marry women they don’t really love.
9 Reasons Men Marry Women They Don’t Really Love
1. Pressure from family
One of the reasons men marry women they don’t really love is pressure from their families.
Some families have friendship ties between themselves, and use the marriage of their children to seal such friendships.
So, they’ll insist on their son getting married to a woman from a particular family, even if they have no feelings for each other.
Another instance of this is when the man is the only son.
In Africa, it’s believed that an only son needs to get married early in order to have children and continue the family lineage.
It can also be that the man is of age and doing well for himself.
In this part of the world, some people view marriage as the completion of a person.
It doesn’t matter what a man’s achievements and success are.
They feel that he’s incomplete if he’s not married.
Sometimes, he doesn’t even need to be doing well for himself.
You’ll see some family members who are ready to sponsor the wedding ceremony as long as he gets married.
Such emphasis on the need for marriage will put intense pressure on a man, and he might end up getting married to a woman he doesn’t really love just to satisfy his family and get them off his back.
2. To have children
There are men whose sole purpose of getting married is to have children.
When such a man is ready to get married, he sets out in search of a woman who will bear children for him and also assist in raising them.
He doesn’t have to love the woman, as raising a family is his one goal.
3. For financial stability
A man can marry a woman he doesn’t really love for financial reasons.
He can marry a wealthy woman to give him a footing and set him on the path of wealth.
He can also marry a woman from a wealthy family who will inherit wealth from her family.
That way, he’s setting himself up to become rich by marriage.
There are also men who get married to career-oriented women to combine resources and build a wealth empire with them in marriage.
In all these instances, love may not be in the picture.
4. Pressure from the society
There are some societal and cultural activities that may be limited to only married individuals, no matter who the single person is.
In such a situation, a single man who is interested in engaging in such activities will be under serious pressure to get married so that he can participate in them.
For instance, in Igbo land (an ethnic group in the South Eastern part of Nigeria), taking traditional titles is reserved exclusively for married men.
No matter how wealthy a man is, or his contributions to the society, he has to be married before he can be conferred with a traditional title.
In some other cultures where having a King is still obtainable, the man who is next in line to the throne has to be married before he can be crowned King.
These are situations in which a man might choose to marry a woman he doesn’t really love in order to achieve certain goals.
5. To get an unpaid house keeper
There are men who marry for the sole purpose of getting a wife who also doubles as their house keeper.
Such a man looks for a woman who can clean, cook, wash dishes, do the laundry, and generally make sure that the house is tidy and in order.
In this case, sometimes, the woman is on board with the plan of being an unpaid housekeeper.
She doesn’t see herself as an equal to the man and wholeheartedly accepts the man’s proposition.
The arrangement might be that the man will be the sole provider of the home while she takes care of the home front.
It’s clear that love is not in the books at the beginning of such marriage.
6. Fear of being lonely
There are people who are afraid of being lonely at some point in their lives.
As they grow older, the men in this category see a pressing need for them to get married and have children.
They see marriage as their ticket out of being lonely.
It’ll make them marry any woman whom their spirit agrees with to some extent, even if love is not in the picture.
7. The regard that comes with being married
Here in Africa, many people associate responsibility with being married.
They assume that one is responsible once one is married.
On the other hand, a single person doesn’t get such regard.
No matter how good the person is, and their contributions to the society, they’re constantly reminded that they’re not ‘man enough’ till they get married.
It’s as if doing no wrong and getting all things right automatically comes with the title of being married.
This might push some men to marry women they don’t really love so as to get the regard they crave.
8. To exert control
I know of a man who always made it clear that he would never marry a woman who will ‘open eyes’ for him.
When he was single, he was so obsessed with the idea of getting married to a subservient woman.
He used to say that he couldn’t be ‘rubbing shoulders’ with the ‘woman he married and kept at home. ‘
He wanted to marry someone who he could order around as he pleased and she’d obey without any complaint.
According to him, that’s what made him a man, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.
When he was ready to settle down, his mother found him a girl from a poor family in his village.
He splashed some money on her family, and they started dancing to his tune.
In the end, he married the girl, and I doubt that love was in the picture at the onset of that marriage.
9. To be the envy of other men
When some men want to get married, they set out to specifically look for a beautiful woman.
Such a man wants to get married to a very beautiful woman because it’ll make him the envy of other men.
He doesn’t necessarily have to love the woman.
Getting married to be the envy of other men is one of the reasons men marry women they don’t really love.