Replies

Well this 27 year-old female Ph.D. would LOVE to find an analogous version of the traditional female counterpart: Maid, chef, nanny, sexual object and source of fawning affection, all rolled into one. Are you kidding me? Where do I sign up??

Ok, great. Then you are unlike the women in the article who are complaining about the whole 'marrying down' concept.

Being as I'm evidently too old, miserable, and infertile to attract a comparably-educated man, that is.

Just in general, Doctor, observe the following. It is not uncommon for, say, a 30-33 year old man to marry a 22-25 year old woman. It's plausible. Now flip it around. It doesn't happen. Even as much of a 2-3 year difference is not as likely. It's unfortunate for women in that their options are more limited and less flexible than a man's. My point was that the women who are discussed in the article missed this point. Of COURSE there are examples to the contrary, but in general, this is the way it is.

I really don't want to get into the specifics of your case, you may be an exceptional example, but I don't think very many women go through the trouble of getting a PhD with the goal of raising 4-5 children and not dumping them in day care (aka 'child abuse.')

The women in the article are elitist and condescending to the point of embarassment, as even the author of the piece (a self-described feminist) pointed out. I doubt anyone here thinks otherwise. Point is, you were equally repugnant in your self-righteous condemnation of educated women and sneering "I told you so" attitude in response to their stated difficulty in finding an equally educated partner, having rejected the role to which you would prefer they be relegated (career-less homemaker, wife, and mother). You paint us all with the same brush in the process ("quality men are not interested in dating someone with a biography like their own") and I just have to wonder, what is the source of your hostility?

Another thing that struck me about your earlier post was your assertion that women who pursue higher degrees do so to attract men. I certainly didn't, although you've made it clear you don't want to discuss the specifics of my case (which happen to be awfully inconvenient for your thesis). In fact, as a general rule women who are looking to attract men dumb themselves down because endearing stupidity in women tends to be reinforced by a lot of male attention, whereas intelligence and achievement are regarded as "intimidating."

Incidentally, educated men are about the only ones who aren't out looking for a much younger, dumber, and less successful partner, as a general rule. To the contrary, they pursue and marry educated women. The concern of the women in the article about "marrying down" stemmed not from the fact that male PhDs, MDs, JDs, MBAs, etc. are not interested in comparably educated women, but that there are relatively few educated men around now that women earn >50% of college and graduate degrees.