This has been repeated in this thread over and over. I have 2 brief comments:
1. It is a little Patrician to think that only American women can be independent, isn't it?
2. It doesn't match my experience and observation. Of the half-dozen foreign marriages I know of, none are like that.
I didn't say that, but since you want to spar over it:
"Young, beautiful and compliant women" should always be prefaced with:
"as compared to the usual screeching, bitchy, harpy of a female wannabe attorney or therapist you typically run into in a canvas of American females."
There's what the rest of the world considers 'independent', then there is the european and american 'independent' which means--hates men, comfortable shoes, long pants and short hair (wink, wink)....
Green?