On the cusp of turning 50, why is Kylie Minogue now bothering to get married?
Of course her age has nothing to do with it, she deserves to be happy and if a marriage brings her joy, than so be it.
![Kylie Minogue out with her fiance Joshua Sasse.](/web/20170128133739im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/t/d/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxgg4.png/1485610020479.jpg)
But having lived for half a century without feeling the need to conform and given how her engagement has been played out in the media, I have my doubts.
For starters, why, in 2017, is one of the world's most successful women now planning to drop the surname she has spent the past four decades stamping across the showbiz world for some ill-conceived notion of honouring an ancient tradition of taking up her new husband's name?
![Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue as Scott and Charlene in <i>Neighbours</i>.](/web/20170128133739im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/s/x/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtxgg4.png/1485610020479.jpg)
As for the political sentiments she has been expressing since news of her engagement to the far less famous young English actor Joshua Sasse was made public, let's just say it has hardly instilled much confidence in her marital prospects.
Minogue and Sasse, 29, raised eyebrows when they declared their wedding day would have to wait until same sex marriage was legalised in Australia, despite neither of them actually living in Australia and the likelihood of such an event now looking like it is still many years away.
Nor do all gays necessarily want to get "married", as one of would-be Mrs Sasse's most ardent gay fans drolly told me: "why take on the yoke of the oppressor?"
We can only speculate as to why Kylie has turned her engagement into a political statement after spending so many years avoiding such sensitive topics in her public life.
![Kylie Minogue and former fiance Olivier Martinez.](/web/20170128133739im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/s/f/7/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gtxgg4.png/1485610020479.jpg)
Sure, she has openly supported her huge gay following, who in turn have supported her through the highs and lows of showbiz, but unlike her gay icon peers Madonna, Barbra Streisand or even Cher, our Miss Minogue has avoided getting her public image mixed up in issues of a politically sensitive nature.
Rather Kylie chose to lead by example when it came to marriage and the enormous pressures and expectations from the outside world. She was happy not to conform, one of a rare breed of celebrities to eschew the razzle dazzle of a big, public wedding.
![Kylie Minogue dated INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence from 1989-1991 and the pair remained friends up until his death ...](/web/20170128133739im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/w/s/t/r/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gtxgg4.png/1485610020479.jpg)
Oprah Winfrey has dated Stedman Graham for over 30 years but has declared that she will die an unmarried woman, so don't expect her to change her name to Mrs Oprah Graham anytime soon.
Diane Keaton is in her 70s and has dated a string of high-profile men from Warren Beatty to Al Pacino.
She once explained her choice of avoiding the aisle: "I'm attracted to men, and I love playing around with them. But a life shared together? That's a different world. I think you have to be somebody who can compromise and be realistic. I could never do it. Ever."
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been together for 33 years and have raised four children together, but the pair have no desire to marry. In an interview in 2012, Hawn said: "The question is, 'Why (get married)?' it's not, 'Why not?'" She went on, "We love each other. We fight the way people are supposed to fight. We love our lives together."
Even Minogue herself once told London's Sunday Times Style magazine that while having kids would be "marvellous," marriage was "lower on my list."
"I need to know I can step outside this room, I won't, but I do need to know that mentally I have space and freedom. Others would want to know they had those strong foundations, but I'm just a different make-up I guess," Minogue said, her free-spirited attitude a breath of fresh air in a world of celebrity conformity.
So why, dear Kylie, do you now feel the need to put a ring on it?