Getting married young havng babies early. etc. etc. when people makes those kind of statements I see it as their way of showing you their controlling nature as they are devaluing you in their search for bargain basement whatever...eat well and leave the check for this type of neanderthal then go home alone.

Doh! NO!

I find that many people’s judgements have more to do with how they feel about themselves and their own choices than they have to do with the person they’re talking about.

You’re doing your life just fine.

Your pattern is not the typical one, and tha probably frightens conformists. I don't judge people's choices unless unless the reasons are really weird.

Yes. While I was in the Navy, I was treated like a deviant for never having been married at 40.

Bull shit thinking. All individuals differ. You may be "weird" but not because of that. Personally I like weird people and feel complimented to be called one. It means simply, non conformist.

I think that you are probably just smarter than "the average bear"
Quote from the old yogi bear cartoons.. lol

I would politely tell someone with those beliefs that you beg to differ (if you're so inclined) and politely end the date. Swaying them is a waste of time, it's been deeply ingrained and usually would require a frontal lobotomy to get them to think otherwise (and I hear tell those are frowned upon.)

He's a dolt..

I wonder if by his definition, something wrong might cover being gay. I've been divorced a long time and didn't have kids, and about the only thing I've heard close to this is some sideways remark that I don't like women. Ugh. Anyway, I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with you. I kind of wish I had never gotten married in my youth, or more to the point that I had been more particular and selective.

Was he also a fat shamer? Tell you what you Should want to eat or drink? Tell you what movie you will like/must see?
Same mentality, get your self-confidence into question, then move in....and you WILL BE SO GRATEFUL HE RESCUED YOU! Riiiiggghhhhhhttt..........

The spinster theory, I'm not buying into his thought, how we see ourselves is the important thing.

People can and do have very weird thoughts indeed. Fortunately they can easily be ignored.

I got married at 18, son born day after my 20th, divorced at 26 and done raising him by 39. I'm very happy with the way I did things and glad my son has chosen a different path.

Where did you find this moron? I hope you at least ate well; you earned it! (oh, and to hell with "people".) Smile! Spring is on its way. Hell, giggle.

Marriage is overrated and our planet is overpopulated with humans. Your life belongs to you, not that conformist casting negative judgement on you. Fuck 'em.

My gosh! Well I ever venture into the deep south of America, they are all going think I am super crazy! lol. I can just imagine it... I would have so much fun with them. mwahaha.
Anyway Ignore the silly man, and do what makes YOU happy

Honestly? I don't think there's anything wrong with you, but parenthood is such a profoundly transformative experience, I can't quite relate to people who never go through it.

Yeah, I'd delete that guy's phone number right now. Dating many/most southern men are sort of like dating many foreigners..they are mostly totally patriarchal, and usually looking to upgrade socially, i.e. from broke trailer trash to an educated woman with an income.

I was married two weeks before I turned 20 yrs old, to an old MK (missionary kid) friend I'd known in Haiti since I was eight years old, and my brother's best friend. I only married him because we'd been pen pals for a few years, then dated in college, but only after I made him promise he'd never propose, since I couldn't say "no" to a pal (I didn't know at the time I'm partially transmale, with an active "bro" code), something I'd observed about myself, but didn't know why.

I didn't have my son until I was 27, and my daughter when I was 30.

I've never been told that, nor do I agree with it. I live in the Deep South though, and there are lots of weird things people think and say.
The father of a friend once told me that since I was an educated woman, I had an obligation to have children. I thought that was weird.

What's weird is when people think you should be some cookie-cutter copy of everyone else. It's scary that anyone would be so limited that it would never occur to him that you may not care what anyone else thinks.

I'm 30 and never getting married.

Guess you just have higher standards than those from the Deep South. Lol.
Oh wait a minute! I'm from the Deep South!

I can imagine that being a practical issue in the Deep South and in rural areas broadly.

I think people should marry when they are ready and mature enough. They are usually convinced they're both, well before they are.

Some people should never marry. I suspect I am one of them. It's just that I figured it out way too late in life.

In the old days they used the term spinster. This term had a lot of underlying meanings, like ugly, prude, man hater, and even harsher names like dyke. Everybody tried to get them married but stopped trying when they passed the golden age of 30. so by these standards you are hopeless. I have a friend who is now 83, never married and had a blast every day of her interesting life. Her laughter pierces walls. I don't think that marriage would have made her any happier. She has a busy love life, a busy cultural life, and many many friends.

Nothing wrong in living the way you elect to live.