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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 8, 2024

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I'd love to see the study around marriage happiness (not challenging it exists, genuinely interested, since I haven't heard it before).

I'm torn here because I think:

  • Focusing on self-reported happiness, an unreliable metric (to put it very politely) as the key to the value of marriage is both simplistic and self-serving to make the point
  • Kind of agreeing that, sometimes, men just don't bring much to the table

I know many single people who express interest in getting married. Unrealistic expectations abound. Overweight men ask why only overweight or single-mother women are interested. Women want strength and masculinity, but then try to bully their dates into submission within just a couple of weeks. Nobody seems interested in becoming a great lay or compromising on vacation destinations / home decor.

I think we're at a bit of a standoff in the sexual market where nobody recognizes their value or lack thereof.

It reminds me of these idiotic calls for "Financial Transparency" and discussing salary at work. No, learning that you're worth literally half your coworkers will not be an easy pill to swallow. Especially when your fundamental personality or intelligence is the reason why you're paid less.