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The Women Who Said Yes to a Proposal but Meant No

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Women file for divorce a majority of the time and also break the majority of engagements.

Twenty percent of interviewed straight women said they said yes because they didn't know how to say no.

Knowing you can be alone and are strong enough to end a committed relationship is important before a new love.

“What the hell was I going to do? Say no, and then we both walk back to the car together? And also, I had mentioned, it was not a healthy relationship. I wasn't sure what he would do. He was never physical, but it was always right on the edge, and you never wanted to do anything…”

“What the hell was I going to do? Say no, and then we both walk back to the car together? And also, I had mentioned, it was not a healthy relationship. I wasn't sure what he would do. He was never physical, but it was always right on the edge, and you never wanted to do anything…”

That is how Lucy described her marriage proposal to me during an hour-long interview about her broken engagement. She elaborated:

“Every older person in my family married their high school sweetheart, and so I thought this is what is supposed to happen. The whole time he was talking I didn't want to say yes. I wanted to say no, but I didn't know how. It was like, okay, I’ll just say yes and figure it out later. Or maybe it will get better ... like maybe being engaged will make it different. Stupid kid stuff. It did not – spoiler alert – get better.”

“Every older person in my family married their high school sweetheart, and so I thought this is what is supposed to happen. The whole time he was talking I didn't want to say yes. I wanted to say no, but I didn't know how. It was like, okay, I’ll just say yes and figure it out later. Or maybe it will get better ... like maybe being engaged will make it different. Stupid kid stuff. It did not – spoiler alert – get better.”

Of the 34 straight women with a broken marriage engagement whom I........

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