Long term bachelor(ette)hood doesn't mean failure

Why is being a bachelor or bachelorette seen as being a BAD thing? Finding a partner is the ultimate goal, anything less is seen as abject failure.

There is a common set of unwritten rules imposed by Government and society into what the average persons life path should take. Alongside getting a job, owning a house, learning to drive, one of these rules involves finding a partner, getting married and having children. Worse still, if you are in a situation where you are the so called "last one standing" within your friends and acquaintances, it makes socialising very difficult as you end up feeling the odd one out in a sea of couples, even to the point of not wishing to socialise with those people. Being single is actively discouraged by the media, Government and ultimately, individuals in society as a whole. Indeed, within modern male advice guides, they actively paint the "eternal bachelor" in a bad light. As if being long term single can only be a sign of abject failure within an individuals life path.

If someone is happy with their life solo, shouldn't we just let them live their life that way? If you are lucky, like I am, people will eventually accept your wish to be single. That's not an indication of ever closing the door to the idea of love, that's just contentment. If you are unlucky, you'll be subject to the repetitive calls of how you are unlucky in love and how you'll meet someone one day. Of course, if you are not happy, then you should take positive steps to change your life, but the main objective of life is to make yourself and the ones you love happy. Believe it or not, being a long term single person doesn't mean that you are sad or lonely. Another case of don't take things at face value or make assumptions about someone.