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Not a happy conclusion, especially given that many men, particularly successful men, are attracted to women with similar goals and aspirations. And why not? After all, your typical career girl is well educated, ambitious, informed and engaged. All seemingly good things, right? Sure … at least until you get married. Then, to put it bluntly, the more successful she is, the more likely she is to grow dissatisfied with you. Sound familiar?

Uh... no, no it doesn't sound familiar. Is there something you want to talk about, Mikey? sheat seven kingdoms II

Not only are these good things, but there is no way that I would consider marrying a woman who wasn't these things. I would rather die cold and alone. (An idea which Noer will get to eventually.) sheat seven kingdoms II

Corcoran has this to say, in a slightly different context:

Say you marry your college heartthrob. Ten years later, he's working with some good-looking gals--nymphets just out of college, or the more sophisticated types who spent two years building houses in Africa before they went to Stanford Business School. What do you do? A: Stay home, whine and eat chocolate. B: Take up rock climbing, read interesting books and continue to develop that interesting personality he fell in love with in the first place.

I don't know what you'd do, but I do know what I would want my wife to do. And, while it may involve wine and chocolate, it isn't choice A.sheat seven kingdoms II

Meanwhile, Noer digs his hole deeper:

To be clear, we're not talking about a high school dropout minding a cash register. For our purposes, a "career girl" has a university-level (or higher) education, works more than 35 hours a week outside the home and makes more than $30,000 a year.

Wait, I thought you said you weren't talking about a high school dropout minding a cash register. Because, by these standards, that's all you're left with. Does anyone really want a partner who didn't finish college? Or who doesn't leave the house? Think of the conversations you'd have over dinner -- what would they involve, after you told a few stories from work and she caught you up on the latest Days of Our Lives gossip?sheat seven kingdoms II

Getting to the meat of the argument, Noer says:

In classic economics, a marriage is, at least in part, an exercise in labor specialization. Traditionally, men have tended to do "market" or paid work outside the home, and women have tended to do "nonmarket" or household work, including raising children. All of the work must get done by somebody, and this pairing, regardless of who is in the home and who is outside the home, accomplishes that goal.

Aha! Classic economics! Economists are really excellent at telling people how to live their lives; this is going to be great. But it is interesting that he says, "regardless of who is in the home and who is outside the home," but doesn't urge career women to avoid career men. Indeed, he never seems to consider the notion of a non-career man. sheat seven kingdoms II

Of course, I'm only joking. Everyone knows that all men are career men. Moving right along.

The other reason a career can hurt a marriage will be obvious to anyone who has seen his or her mate run off with a co-worker: When your spouse works outside the home, chances increase that he or she will meet someone more likable than you.

Indeed, men! Stay away from the career women, because they are all hussies! And, if you have already married, best to keep your chattel wife locked away, safe from smarter, hunkier men. sheat seven kingdoms II

This, to me, is the most confusing part. Noer seems to expect that if we let women out of the house, they will seek out the most interesting men, and he doesn't seem to believe that they shouldn't. And his solution is for us to ignore depth and character in favor of dull-but-happy homemaking. I, for one, remain unconvinced. If a happy marriage requires me to my life with a woman who is uneducated, never leaves the house, and is poor, then I think I'll pass. And, as I mentioned, Noer is way ahead of me:sheat seven kingdoms II

So why not just stay single? Because, academically speaking, a solid marriage has a host of benefits beyond just individual "happiness." There are broader social and health implications as well. According to a 2004 paper titled "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage?," marriage is positively associated with "better outcomes for children under most circumstances" and higher earnings for adult men, and "being married and being in a satisfying marriage are positively associated with health and negatively associated with mortality." In other words, a good marriage is associated with a higher income, a longer, healthier life and better-adjusted kids.

A word of caution, though: As with any social scientific study, it's important not to confuse correlation with causation. In other words, just because married folks are healthier than single people, it doesn't mean that marriage is causing the health gains. It could just be that healthier people are more likely to be married.

sheat seven kingdoms II

First thing's first: what the hell does "academically speaking" mean?sheat seven kingdoms II

Secondly, what's the deal with the caveat? He was completely gung-ho about the articles from "research journals" at the beginning of the article. You remember, the ones that supported his thesis. Now he's giving us lessons on correlation and causation? How about this "it could just be" for you: it could just be that women who didn't go to college, who have too many kids to work more than 35 hours a week, and who make less than $30,000 a year are too dependent upon their husbands to seek divorces. Maybe they're from families where divorce is still seen as a Very Bad Thing. Maybe they report themselves as happier because they don't know what they're missing. I honestly don't know. But I don't think Michael Noer knows any better. sheat seven kingdoms II