The Taiwan-made idol drama My Queen provides a voice for unmarried women. It sends a strong message that "being single does not mean being a loser!" (courtesy of Sanlih E-Television)

Recently, a series of advertisements for engagement gifts in the Taiwanese media have caused enormous controversy. All show similar situations: young women are forced to suffer overbearing people either in the workplace or in daily life. A woman is scolded by her boss for no apparent reason; another is badly treated by a salesperson in a boutique; a woman living alone must put up with her landlord's arrogant intrusion into her life. In all of these situations, the three young women are able to just turn their backs on the unpleasantness. Why? They are all planning to marry, and are therefore guaranteed the support of a man in their lives!

The really disturbing part of the advertisements is that they intend to convey a rather bizarre message to the audience: "When a woman gets a husband, everything will be OK."

In reality, however, many women are taking the initiative to break away from the mainstream values of traditional marriage. Why make such a decision? And what changes might it mean for society?

"Asia's Lonely Hearts," the cover story of The Economist's August 20, 2011 issue, discussed the fact that many Asian women of marriageable age are trying to escape marriage.

The Economist points out that the percentage of unmarried women aged between 35 and 39 in regions such as Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong has risen rapidly from a range of 2-6 % to 15-20% in three decades (see Figure 1). The rate is much higher than that for the same age range in the UK and the US (about 13-15%).

There is, in parallel, a trend towards getting married later in life: the average marriage age for women has risen to 29-30 in Asia's most affluent areas (including Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong). This figure far exceeds the traditional age for women to marry, and also surpasses that of Western countries; in the US, for instance, the average age at marriage is 26 for women, and 28 for men.