The Wall Street Journal published an article last week entitled, "Why Women Don't Want Macho Men" that dives a bit deeper into the reasons why women are attracted to different types of men.
Referencing the study Faceresearch.org, Jena Pincott discusses how of 4,800 women from 30 different countries preferred either manlier or more feminine men based on the their World Health Organization mortality rate, life expectancy, and the prevalence of communicable diesease.
I was standing in line at the Jewel yesterday when the Red Eye's headline caught my eye, "No Sex in the City," heralded the front page. Obvi I picked it up, curious about what this article could possibly be about. I found a page full of graphs and an article about adults in their mid to late 20's choosing to become "born again virgins."
Crate and Barrel and Daily Candy have joined together to hold the Ultimate Wedding Contest. The contest asks couples to submit their love story in 100 words or less. Visitors to the site are asked to vote for their favorite pair of to-be weds. The prize is $100,000 towards the winning couple's dream wedding and the services of celebrity wedding planner, Jo Gartin.
Chicago native Gregory J. and his partner Jonathan are currently the 2nd runners up. The story of these two was brought to my attention by a mutual friend of Gregory and mine who told me that they were a couple, not only deeply in love, but also deeply committed to speaking out for marriage equality and LGBT rights. Today, in Washington D.C. they will be going to the courthouse to register for their marriage license.
Gregory and Jonathan's path has not been an easy one. In August of 2008 Jonathan was the victim of a violent hate crime in which he was beaten to the point of unconsciousness and suffered both mental and physical trauma. Throughout his recovery, Gregory stood by his side, encouraging him to heal by speaking out about his experience. Both have become activists for civil rights and the LGBT community. Jonathan contributed to a speech read at a protest in Boston and will speak at a LGBT march in Maine, he also authors a blog called Stuff On My Mind.
As I watched the Superbowl on Sunday night, surrounded by my parents and their friends, drinking my dirty martini, I began to notice a trend in some of the commercials. Many of the ads that ran during the marketing hotbed that is the conclusion of the American football season featured an emasculated man.
I have to wonder about the market research that prompted companies like Dockers, Flo-TV, and Dodge to create ads urging men to reclaim their right to be manly. This is interesting to me especially in light of the recent study regarding the evolution of the Y chromosome, in which it was suggested that this evolution is responsible for male domestication.
Colloquialisms aside, I've been hearing/reading a lot about engagement lately and feel the need to give my two cents on the topic.
In a life amongst mostly single and gay friends, there is not a lot of talk about marriage flying around the dinner table, but the other night, I went out with some new friends and heard a particularly crazy story (well crazy to me at least):
My curiosity was piqued, as the daughter of two parents who met in college, were engaged after 3 months of dating, and married at 23, I have a stellar, 26-year-strong example of young marriage. Where are the cons?
The article postulates that men and women who meet, fall in love, and get married at a young age often grow up and out of the relationship they founded in their late teens and early twenties. A time when one is still naive with at yet to be realized adult identity.
I FINALLY saw 500 Days of Summer last night, and beyond loving the music and all of Zooey Deschanel's outfits, the film started those wheels in my brain to turning. Is defining your romantic relationship a necessary step?
SPOILER ALERT: Zooey Deschanel's character, Summer, is a girl who refuses to define her relationship with Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt), her doting admirer who thinks that she is "the one." This lack of definition essentially sends him on a roller coaster of emotion, chasing mixed message after mixed message until he ends up heart broken.
To be fair, Summer told Tom upfront that she wasn't looking for anything serious and he continued to fall in love. The whole question of defining whether or not he was her boyfriend haunted him throughout the film. I wondered, would that title have spared his feelings in the end?
After reading Jess's post I was excited because I have been wanting to write about a study I recently read done by Rutgers University and The National Marriage Project called The State of Our Unions.
I read a great article today on TheFrisky.com called "Cut Peter Pan Some Slack," about the modern woman bemoaning men's ability to grow up. Writer John Devore asserts that:
"Women are always complaining that the men in their lives suffer from
"Peter Pan Syndrome." It's a standard, catchall criticism that chicks
levy willy-nilly on dudes for any number of relationship misdemeanors
or faux pas."
He goes on to discuss J.M. Barrie's classic novel and play from a
standpoint that suggests women these days have developed the opposite
of "Peter Pan Syndrome," A "Wendy Syndrome." "Wendy Syndrome" occurs
in young women who grow up to early and become sticks in the mud,
forever nagging and prodding their male counterparts to do things like
the dishes and to join them for sophisticated activities that force them out
of their man-child ways.
