One issue that many ascetic virgins, especially women, came across was how they were to live once they denounced marriage and earthly pleasures. Some independently wealthy women were able to seclude themselves on their estates, others were supported by family, but many had no means with which to support themselves. Monasteries for women were a later development; in the 2nd century CE there would have been very few in existence. Thus, spiritual marriage may have emerged as a solution to this problem. An ascetic woman would have gone to live with an ascetic man in his house, living as brother and sister in a sort of unofficial marriage.Miller, Women in Early Christianity. 118 Spiritual marriages would have also offered a rare opportunity for a man and a woman to engage in an emotionally and spiritually intimate friendship, something that was next to unheard of in the ancient world, in which it was believed that men and women could never be friends, as friendship implied parity, and the sexes were not considered equal.Clark, Elizabeth A. "John Chrysostom and the "Subintroductae"" Church History 46, no. 2 (1977): 183. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3165004. Thus, spiritual marriages would have been a desirable option for both ascetic men and women.
