For centuries, marriage was socially expected, and for women it involved giving up many personal rights. Husbands were generally considered their wives' superiors in almost all situations, which required a huge sacrifice of a woman's freedom. Nevertheless, throughout history there have been plenty of successful and groundbreaking women who opted not to get married.
Luckily, we're past that era, but despite this progress, the world still views women as somehow incomplete if they don't marry. As a reminder that women can live phenomenal lives without marriage, click on and check out the following gallery.