@lalee
So what I'm getting at is that, poverty leads to pack mentality, which in turn leads to Filipinos valuing kinship, which then leads to them asking relationship questions? (LOL)
So anyway, we are just trying to know the place of socio-economics, and I can see your point. Let's just integrate our theory *wink*
Re: individualistic
I don't just base it in my opinion, it's what countless of psychological research said. Unless the authors are not that credible enough. Or perhaps, I didn't elaborate on what "individualistic" really mean in the culture. It's more than the choice of marrying or not, having kids or not.
Re: on being single
Anyway, my reason for mentioning kinship is to imply that maybe the questionings are not really about Pinoy looking down at anyone who is single. That it has nothing to do with one's self-worth.
Take these progressive questions for example:
When you're single -- "kelan ka mag-bf?"
When you're in a relationship -- "kelan kayo magpapakasal?"
When married -- "kelan kayo mag-aanak?"
When there's a child -- "kelan susundan?"
For instance, with childless couples by choice, people don't look down on them or think they are less of a person, it's just that they're going out of the norm. But with the case of having a bf or not, sometimes it's not one's choice, which makes it all the more irritating. But I still don't think it has something to do with someone's worth. For me, in our culture, andun ka pa lang sa question number 1. Ako at shadowangel nasa number 3. LOL
Kasi when I place myself in a position of a single woman in her late 20s or 30s, I would feel lonely because I have a desire to be in an intimate relationship, yet "that man" (the one who has my non-negotiables and who I will emotionally connect with" does not exist or is not for me. I will be saddened by that thought, yet willing to accept it.
But I will not have a low self-worth due to people's conversational fillers. Nakakabwisit, yes, but it won't affect my self-worth. Because being single has nothing to do with it. And if someone judged you, makes herself feel better than you, then it's their issue. Otherwise, what I think about these questions, ang kulit lang, which again is stemming from the ingrained value of relations/kinship.
So personally, if placed in that position, I wouldn't need to prove myself to anyone. But I would want to prove things to myself or test my limits, which I still do until now.