All the Single Ladies
29th October 2011
Recent years have seen an explosion of male joblessness and a steep decline in men’s life prospects that have disrupted the “romantic market” in ways that narrow a marriage-minded woman’s options: increasingly, her choice is between deadbeats (whose numbers are rising) and playboys (whose power is growing).
Gee, I wonder why that is.
In 2001, when I was 28, I broke up with my boyfriend. Allan and I had been together for three years, and there was no good reason to end things. He was (and remains) an exceptional person, intelligent, good-looking, loyal, kind. My friends, many of whom were married or in marriage-track relationships, were bewildered. I was bewildered. To account for my behavior, all I had were two intangible yet undeniable convictions: something was missing; I wasn’t ready to settle down.
What’s missing is the point where the author changes from a child to an adult. There’s a lot of that going around these days, and what goes around comes around.
October 29th, 2011 at 17:28
Naw, what’s missing is “need”. Men and women don’t need each other the way they used. Simple as that. Destroy prosperity, and the welfare state, and the need is back.