Which girls are allowed to be "Free Spirits?"

The presentation that we had concerning women in China made me realize something that I've observed this before. As an Asian, I'm more than familiar with how Asians see marriage as a norm that must be adhered too. Even in literary works and in cinema that I've seen in High school, we see the moms that fixate on their daughter's future as a bride one day in the future, going as far as to use her network of friends and relatives to find potential suitors for their daughters. Marriage is just something that every woman is supposed to look forward to. From what I've observed in my own culture, it has do with a sense of pride in not only your culture but your family's blood, heritage and the continuation of the family's line. It's about honor, tradition, and bringing further descendants down the line. However, this isn't something that is as highly regarded, I believe, in Western culture, as well as a sense of independence and the idea of a "free spirit."
In TV and in movies, there are more than several examples of women (typically Caucasian) that seem independent, unrestrained by the cultural norms, and unconcerned about getting married. They are the ones that seem happy and care free about the future. Men that have difficulty courting these women rationalizing it as being difficult because she is a "free spirit." But what's interesting as I saw this is that Eastern culture doesn't have the same views on a independent female spirit as Western cultures have seemed to do so lately. In the East, if a woman were to act in such a way, it would disappoint and worry many mothers and perhaps make them labeled as being different, peculiar, even odd; this typically leads people to ask themselves, "What is wrong with her? I don't understand why she doesn't think or care about marriage." It is interesting how different the perspectives are between Eastern and Western culture. But I wouldn't go as far to say that this is how it is, black-and-white, plain-and-simple. But I do believe that it is a distinction that is clear, especially for Asian-Americans that live in America and can see how differently people approach life here, compared to what they've observed and are taught indirectly at home.