I saw an article on the BBC website on Monday proclaiming that "the secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you". After reading about this no doubt world-class research, I went home that evening to give Mr E Man the good news that we're all set for an eternity of marital bliss. (The fact that he was in the middle of cooking dinner and had a glass of chilled white wine waiting for me might help, too).
I might hold off on telling him the corresponding story from News Arse, though. The article on this satirical UK news site (fans of the BBC website will recognise the layout, fans of The Onion will recognise the style) is titled "women encouraged to marry old and stupid men", and gives hope to "those previously considered terminally undate-worthy":
Reg Brown told us, “I’m thick as pig shit and the wrong side of fifty, so this is the best news I’ve had since The Sun did its 10p issues".
Good stuff!
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*Not true - I may be more educated, but I was only (although consistently, heh) ahead by 2 IQ points in some online tests we did for fun a few years ago!
HAHA. I read it too and thought to myself "what is a happy marriage?" ;)
ReplyDeleteclearly today is a hippie thinking day for me. Why don't we just all love eachother since all we need is love! (and an older, less intelligent man.... :D )
I haven't shown this article to my wife, I don't want the divorce papers to be too much of a shock.
ReplyDeleteUh, no comment!
ReplyDeletecrap - we're doomed. DH is younger and smarter than me!
ReplyDeleteJodi's younger than me, and sharper, though not as well educated. I suspect as time goes on, and she better self-educates, she'll easily outstrip me on IQ tests.
ReplyDeleteHooray!
Perfect. I am narrowing my dating search to old, stupid men. Preferably old, stupid, rich men. After all, don't they say that wealthier couples have a lesser chance of divorce? And according to Pew, you have a lower chance of divorce in Massachusetts than in most other states, so he'd need to be old, stupid, rich and a Massachusetts resident. Plus, live in a city with a major league baseball team and be an atheist.
ReplyDeleteWith all these studies to help me out, what's love got to do with it?
Chall, I wonder why John Lennon left that last line out?!
ReplyDeleteBob, good luck with that!
SF, probably wise!
Alyssa, better find a good lawyer! Like, RIGHT NOW. Go!
Jason, nice one! It's amazing how many people don't understand that intelligence is not necessarily correlated with amount of formal education...
Ruchi, Mr E Man is not rich, not from Massachusetts, not from a city with a major league baseball team, and more of an agnostic Buddhist than a hard-core atheist. Does that override the older and less educated thing?! I am so confused.
Honestly, I would have thought that having a level of intelligence that's very close to that of your partner's would be more important, but you cannae change the laws of physics/dubious science!
BTW it would be interesting to see similar stats for same-sex couples!
ReplyDeleteWell, agnostics also have low rates of divorce, and since you guys are all weird and Canadian having a major hockey team probably counts the same as having a baseball team. The lack of riches is a problem, but you know, that's probably compensated by his being all old and stuff. So, you guys will PROBABLY be okay, but if things don't work out, I'd recommend you move to Boston.
ReplyDeleteUh-oh. EGM is only ~6 months older than me (but his today is his birthday!). That doesn't sound like enough.
ReplyDeleteBut you, Cath, are sitting pretty in your marriage!!
So since we're also doomed - hubby is both younger and smarter than me - I wonder if I should divorce now and take advantage of my (relative!) youth when trying to find an older, stupid man (this way the choice will also be wider...), or wait for the marriage wealth build-up (Ruchi's link) and then be better dressed/have a nicer bike/have a house/know where I will live in the long-run/etc. when I enter the 'market'?
ReplyDeleteI showed Hubby your post. He immediately started claiming that we fall in the right category, because he is older than me (a whopping 6 months!) and I am smarter than him (yeah, right, but I am always glad he thinks I am smart ;). Also, agnostic/atheist - check.
ReplyDeleteGotta work on that money thing ;)
Hm. Good. Smarter: yep. Of course. Women are, generally speaking. LOL! On the other hand, how smart can we be for marrying someone older and stupider????
ReplyDeleteRuchi, I'll bear that in mind! How's the skiing in Boston?
ReplyDeleteEGF, yup - he's 6 years older than me, and his last formal qualification was high school, so we're all set.
Happy belated birthday to EGM!
Lisbeth, I would wait it out. You never know, he might get rich before the divorce!
SG, me too. Let me know if you figure it out!
Tina, LOL! Good point!
Our perfect marriage is in jeopardy today. Mr E Man forgot to put the heating on when he got up, and I'm bloody freezing!
Yep, that's why all of the men I've dated got depression; they've all been 1-5 years younger than me.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, perfect. My husband is 6 years older than me. Unfortunately for our marriage, I suspect that he is smarter. Luckily, we're both atheists.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Cath, I'll take your advice and thank you again later if we actually make it through - wealthy or not :)
ReplyDeleteHGG, nice work! (the younger men, not the depression).
ReplyDeleteBean-Mom, thank god for atheism, eh?!
Lisbeth, what's my commission?!
Aah Cath, now you're forcing me to put an exact value on the happiness of my relationship?!
ReplyDeleteI will promise you a beer and then if I'm truely very happy I can upgrade that offer to a) a better beer (Staropramen for instance), b) include peanuts, c) take place in a fancy place, perhaps somewhere with a pub quiz! - and if we're taking fairytale 'happiness ever after' ALL of the above :D
I should add "will give questionable marital advice in exchange for beer" to my profile.
ReplyDeleteActually, I still feel too sick to want beer.