I was at a bookstore the other day, browsing the "Relationship" section as I do (because I like trainwrecks), and I was suddenly struck by the number of books showing women how to get married.
I don't understand this.
First of all, the bulk of women do get married. Newsweek has backed off from the claim that terrorism is less of a threat than spinsterhood. In any case, spinsterhood isn't all that big a threat anyway. I'm quite in favor of marriage for those who want it, but I can certainly see the disadvantages. A woman (or man) can be perfectly happy without marrying, even if she's in a jurisdiction where she'd be allowed to marry at least some of the people she's wanted to fuck.
But what most puzzles me is the notion of marriage as a goal. The books seem to tell the reader how to do everything necessary to get married, overtly or subtly, openly or deceitfully -- except find someone she likes and is compatible with. It's as though women set out to Get Married, with the identity of the groom basically irrelevant. Which I suppose some do, but I can't imagine that's an intelligent woman's path to long-term happiness.
Not that that's necessarily a problem.
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