Posted on 01/16/2007 10:04:04 AM PST by shrinkermd
For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.
In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.
Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.
Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.
In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.
In a relatively small number of cases, the living arrangement is temporary, because the husbands are working out of town, are in the military or are institutionalized. But while most women eventually marry, the larger trend is unmistakable.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ah, but you're asking the wrong question. Do you think he'd find those women any more attractive if they were 20 years older if they weren't tattooed? Why is it the anti-tat nazis like to pretend that only those with tattoos age?
It's just the truth.
A bit of a rough edge is a desirable trait in a man.
True. My statement began with wanting a man to have enough gumption to speak his mind to a woman, but it translates on up.
Yep. I honestly don't know why some men find this so confusing, complicated, or unnerving.
When men fail to live up to their moral obligations and begin cheating and womanizing (just to mention a couple of bad habits,) I can't imagine today's women putting up with that kind of behavior. In the old days, women used to take it and adapt to all sort of injustices in the name of preserving the marriage. The answer tended to be "well, he's a man, and men do those things."
Today, women are less willing to take this kind of abuse, and I can't blame them. They are more savvy, are better prepared, and often have comparable - or superior - earning power as compared to their spouse. If I were to marry a cheating husband, a philander, or a sex manic who can't get enough from his wife but is in need of sex anywhere he can find it even from porno magazines, I'd be part of the 51% statistic, because there is no way on earth I'd put up with an individual like that. That's the main reason couples should spend time knowing each other well before they get married, even if that takes a long time.
Likewise, if women behave badly in the marriage, I can't imagine a man putting up with that kind of behavior either, thus divorce becomes a “quick solution” to end a bad relationship.
However, marriage is a sacrament which should be honored and respected equally by husband and wife, and it shouldn't be treated cavalierly as just another social event. It's a serious endeavor where the children often suffer the consequence of failure.
I think like in anything else, you need to know each other well, and a dose of good luck doesn't hurt, either. :-)
I concur with you. Well said.
Well since I dont feel Im sending a "message" by my tattoo, I guess theres nothing for me to fix.
I dont really care if folks want to judge me by it, if they do, thats there problem. Whats done is done.
its a SMALL ankle tattoo, its not like I have "satan" tattoo'd across my forhead or something.
I have found in my life anytime I have made a judgement about someone, wether it be what they wear, drive, or look like, its always been a mistake.
now its simple, i ask "conservative or liberal?" ;)
My ONLY point in my posts to riverat was that it was unfair to add all those other qualitys to someone based on a simple tattoo.
You might have missed his initial post and my original one.
This didn't happen on a date but I had a guy purposely let go of a door on me as I was going in to a place of business. Thankfully I reached out and caught it in time before it smacked me in the face. He was laughing. It's ugly out there.
Infidelity is unforgiveable. JMHO. Marriage is a legal and spiritual contractual union before God and "Caesar".
That men occasionally do annoying stuff like whiskers in the bathroom sink, etc., we beg just a little indulgence.
LOL! I hope I haven't given the impression that I'm a mean person, as nothing could be further from the truth. I will be more than willing to give my future husband more than a little indulgence, and in return, I expect he will do the same for me. :-)
And potentially lethal this day in age. Think about the quality of person willing to bed down with a married person and think any manner of communicable disease. No condom can protect from many of these. The history of one you have sex with now becomes your own history. Today infidelity is much more dangerous than in years past and certainly not something God intended we live with.
Like pickup basketball, we have to police ourselves/"call our own fouls" to a great extent. For that reason, despite organic impulses, talking to vulnerable married women 'unchaperoned' is generally not a good idea.
I believe it's in the Epistles (perhaps even a gospel or two) that to carry carnal thoughts of a woman is to be committing adultery. The thoughts, of course, are half the fun, because women are a cruel gift from God, made specifically for Man (according to Genesis). They are, simply, a treasure, to be taken care of.
My standard, though not so strict, still applies to married ladies. Even those who seek me out and are, supposedly, at the end of their relationships, waiting for the papers. Right and Wrong are just that.
Female indulgences are comparatively minor, stuff like misplacing dishes and buying terrible, PC food for the fridge.
It's all good.
What, are you posting from over my shoulder? You just described my last relationship! In retrospect it's kinda funny. You know the old Richard Pryor routine, "Who you gone believe, me or yo lyin eyes?" First time I ever wanted a guy to strike out at me so's I'd have moral license to hit back, heh.
I've never wanted a "project." I don't understand the women who do. I just a want a guy to respect & love me the same as I do him. If that doesn't happen, well ... I've seen worse than being single, LOL!
Which network? I'm almost confessed-out, here.
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