{"id":18938,"date":"2023-09-25T13:28:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T17:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=18938"},"modified":"2023-09-25T13:28:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T17:28:51","slug":"latest-tiktok-trend-highlights-unraveling-us-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/09\/latest-tiktok-trend-highlights-unraveling-us-institution","title":{"rendered":"Latest TikTok Trend Highlights Unraveling US Institution"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_18944\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18944\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/low-birth-rate_credit-Shutterstock-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18944\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/low-birth-rate_credit-Shutterstock-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18944\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A viral TikTok video has led to a debate amongst liberals and conservatives over the state of American marriage and family. 29-year-old TikToker Julia Mazur released a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@pmdpod\/video\/7274293854134734122?embed_source=121355058%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_masking&amp;refer=embed&amp;referer_url=dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com%2Fthe-case-for-marriage-why-viral-tiktok-of-29-year-old-single-woman-is-problematic%2F&amp;referer_video_id=7274293854134734122\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">video<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0earlier this month describing a Saturday while being single and childless. She stated that she had been out at a Beyonce concert the night before, having gotten home at 1 in the morning and then getting up at 10:15 the next day. She decided to spend her Saturday learning how to make shakshuka after seeing a picture of it online. \u201cWhenever I\u2019m hard on myself about why I\u2019m not married, and I don\u2019t have kids, and I should be further along at 29, almost 30, I wouldn\u2019t wanna do anything else this Saturday,\u201d she noted. \u201cThe effortlessness and ease of my life just kind of focusing on myself and the shakshuka I wanna make, or the Beyonce concert I wanna go to really pays off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mazur\u2019s video caught the attention of conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who highlighted the video on <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattWalshBlog\/status\/1698375234909307373\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">X<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Walsh, a 37-year-old father of 6, called the video \u201cdepressing.\u201d \u201cHer life doesn\u2019t revolve around her family and kids, so instead, it revolves around T.V. shows and pop stars. Worst of all, she\u2019s too stupid to realize how depressing this is.\u201d Walsh\u2019s comment led to a wave of right and left-leaning individuals commenting on the video, some defending Mazur and others agreeing with Walsh\u2019s stance. In an\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/disturbing-gen-z-social-media-trend-threatens-america-most-important-institution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">op-ed<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for Fox News, 23-year-old Aldo Buttazzoni referred to Mazur\u2019s and other videos denigrating married life as a symptom of a larger problem. \u201cThese viral videos are more than just fleeting Internet sensations; they reflect a broader shift in societal attitudes toward marriage and relationships, especially among younger generations. The rise of online dating, career-focused aspirations, and changing gender dynamics have led many to reconsider the traditional timeline of settling down and starting a family.\u201d In fact, since 1960, the median age at first marriage\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com\/the-case-for-marriage-why-viral-tiktok-of-29-year-old-single-woman-is-problematic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">has risen<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0from 20 for women and 22 for men to 28 and 30, respectively, according to the U.S. Census. Consequently, the median age of U.S. women giving birth is at the highest it\u2019s ever been, 30, according to the latest statistics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The delaying of marriage and having children has led to concerns about declining <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/health-news\/articles\/2023-01-10\/u-s-birth-rates-continue-to-fall#:~:text=Overall%2C%20birth%20rates%20have%20plummeted,Gladys%20Martinez%20and%20Kimberly%20Daniels.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">birthrates<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in Western nations. In response to a question about intentional childlessness,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.focusonthefamily.com\/family-qa\/intentional-childlessness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Focus on the Family<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0encouraged looking at God\u2019s Word. \u201cWe realize that Western thinking has been shifting in the direction of ambivalence toward childbearing or outright dismissal of parenthood. We understand that many two-career couples have reasons of their own for wishing to postpone childbearing or skip it altogether. It\u2019s not our desire to sound \u2018authoritarian\u2019 or to push our views on others. Still, we have to admit that the current tendency to ignore or dilute the command of Genesis 1:28 causes us grave concern. It seems to be symptomatic of an attitude that rejects God\u2019s design for humanity. So strong are our convictions in this regard that, under normal circumstances, it\u2019s our opinion that couples should make it their goal to follow the divine pattern and look forward to a future that includes children. To state our view more plainly, we don\u2019t favor intentional childlessness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> In Genesis 1:28, God encourages Adam and Eve to \u201cBe fruitful, and multiply.\u201d In contrast to Mazur\u2019s delight in the \u201ceffortlessness and ease\u201d of her lifestyle, Focus on the Family encourages choosing the harder path. \u201cNo doubt about it: parenting is inconvenient. Hesitations about starting a family are understandable. The responsibilities of parenthood can\u2019t be taken lightly. And there\u2019s no denying that kids will bring major changes to your marriage and your individual lives. But the difficulties associated with childrearing aren\u2019t reason enough to choose childlessness.\u201d Both Mazur and Walsh stated they received hateful comments for their views, with Mazur\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/internet\/was-childfree-woman-enjoying-saturday-came-culture-warriors-rcna103581\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">doubling down<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on her lifestyle choices. \u201cI found myself in those safe, good-on-paper relationships, but I also found myself feeling deeply unhappy and unfulfilled because I felt like I was checking off a box to appease other people. Throughout that process, I realized, \u2018That\u2019s not the only thing that can make you fulfilled.\u2019 I\u2019m 29 and single, and I feel fulfilled by my life and my career, by my friends and family.\u201d Walsh, too, released a video to discuss\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=p6gbsAWaP_w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the controversy<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. \u201c[Leftist outlets are not] angry at me for being mean to Julia,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re angry at me for attacking a philosophy. A philosophy of self-centeredness and materialism that they all personally live by.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A viral TikTok video has led to a debate amongst liberals and conservatives over the state of American marriage and family. 29-year-old TikToker Julia Mazur released a\u00a0video\u00a0earlier this month describing a Saturday while being single and childless. She stated that she had been out at a Beyonce concert the night before, having gotten home at&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":18944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Latest TikTok Trend Highlights Unraveling US Institution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A viral TikTok video has led to a debate over the state of American marriage and family.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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