Experience and odds

Another woman laments her lack of appeal to men:

Men are like eggs. They must hatch or go bad. I came to this conclusion after seeing in the new year with a gang of university friends and hearing one of them, a single guy of 35 called Jamie, declare with complete sincerity that his resolution for 2008 was not to get a girlfriend.

I groaned. His vow struck me as odd, not just because Jamie is a remarkably warm, kind and entertaining individual rather than some ropey Lothario, but because I knew him ten years ago when he was mustard keen to marry his then girlfriend. And when I thought harder about it, I realised that over the past decade Jamie has effectively been degenerating from the man he was at 25 years old to the boy he is today.

Let me get this straight. Men are often willing to settle down, get married and start a family in their mid-twenties, however, the women they know are too busy having fun and enjoying the peak of their appeal to want to do so. Ten years pass. Now, the woman is sensitive that her looks are fading and the quality of the men she attracts is declining, so she wants to lock in and settle down. The men, who are having more fun than ever because they are more secure, making more money and are of more appeal to women than ever before, are no longer interested in settling down.

This is the MEN’S fault?

Look, it’s not that hard. Women are at the peak of their appeal from 18-25. If they don’t settle for whatever is on offer then, they can always settle later. However – and this is the significant point – what will be on offer later will usually, (although not always), be of lower quality than was available before. This is a vicious circle… it’s both amusing and painful to hear from aging single friends and see how they are carefully weighing the marital merits of men with whom they wouldn’t have even contemplated having dinner ten years ago.

And how can a woman who has just spent a decade dedicated to “having fun” possibly begrudge her male peers electing to do exactly the same thing, albeit a bit later? Furthermore, speaking of experience, it’s worth noting that the divorce courts have rendered all women but the most exemplary unmarriageable. A twenty-something single guy may not realize this, the thirty-something single man knows it all too well.