The M.R.S. and the Ph.D.

SpanishGuy · 2012-02-13T21:55:32+00:00

Educated women worry that they are scaring away potential partners, and pundits claim that those who do marry will end up with unsatisfactory matches.

As a self-taught man, I've never felt scared by educated women (neither by educated men), unless -of course- they had a gun pointing at my head and were about to pull the trigger, so to speak.

But the smell of vanity is something I can't stand for more than 20 seconds, and I think I'm not the only one with this olfactory characteristic ;)

What the article doesn't say is how it is going for intelligent women. Because "Ph.D." doesn't necessarily mean "intelligent". Actually I've never found a relation between the two things, neither in men nor in women.

Nowadays in developed countries there are more educated people than ever before in history, but the human stupidity remains the same: Infinite. Albert Einstein said it. He was not into psychology, but the dude was a smart ass.

Cartesian_Duelist · 2012-02-13T17:39:25+00:00

I find it completely stupid how we're fine with "Oh women need to marry up, because those below them aren't good marriage prospects." Yet they don't see anything wrong with those gender roles.

bedhead269 · 2012-02-13T19:36:50+00:00

Can I get the TL;DR, it's behind a paywall for me.

JeremiahMRA · 2012-02-13T21:14:37+00:00

TODAY women earn almost 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and more than half of master’s and Ph.D.’s. Many people believe that, while this may be good for women as income earners, it bodes ill for their marital prospects.

Oh, that's the concern. Women's marital prospects.

DoctorStorm · 2012-02-13T20:53:52+00:00

A perspective that's commonly left out of this conversation is that some men and women have evolved to demand their SO "catch up".

We're in the infancy of this particular debate, so there's still a healthy majority of women who "marry up" and men who "marry down". Personally, I don't see anything wrong with genuinely wanting a traditional role - whether that be a man who wants to be the breadwinner and marry a woman who wants to be a housewife, or a woman who wants to be a housewife and marry a man who's a breadwinner.

Again, however, we're neglecting the men and women who want to "marry sideways", if that makes any sense. Men and women who have their doctorates or own their own businesses and want their SO to have, or actively work towards, similar achievements.

In the end, if you're against the notion of "marrying up" then you deprive the men and women who want to be in a traditional relationship. In doing so, we also cut away at the notion of "househusbands" and women who want to be the breadwinners and don't see it as "marrying up" or "marrying down".

Side Note: I'm not defending the concept of "marrying up" per se. I think it's a bit childish and primitive to seek out a mate based on their relative earning potential. I'm merely saying that "marrying up" in the sense that one person is more financially secure and thus more capable of being the breadwinner often comes under attack as well and I personally don't think it should be.

zenmushroom · 2012-02-14T02:58:00+00:00

For those of you who read the article, it said that more women are "marrying down" than men these days.

"Almost 30 percent of wives today have more education than their husbands, while less than 20 percent of husbands have more education than their wives, almost the exact reverse of the percentages in 1970."

"Marrying Down" is a stupid term anyways because it connotes that a person's value is directly tied to their wallet or education. Women of my mother's generation were raised with the belief that they were expected to marry a financial provider. Today, however, that has completely changed. Women in my age group (20's) seek out emotionally/romantic/sexual compatibility over money. Most girls I know either earn the same amount as their bf or more than them. The 20 something year olds are fine with it. It's the 30-40 year old women who tend to have an issue with "marrying down."

I know that last part was a generalization, I'm simply speaking from experience here.

Different times, different expectations.

Title	The M.R.S. and the Ph.D.
Author	carchamp1
Upvotes	8
Comments	33
Date	February 13, 2012 2:38 PM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/pnhj0/the_mrs_and_the_phd/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-mrs-and-the-phd.1027753 https://theredarchive.com/post/1027753

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