By this stage in life single women of talent and accomplishment begin to grasp the principle that life is unfair in at least one key domain. Men may be able to pursue their careers singlemindedly during their twenties and postpone marriage until their thirties without compromising their fertility or opportunities to find a suitable mate, but women cannot. Just at the moment when they are ready to slow down and share the pleasures of life with similarly successful mates, they look around and find that many of the most desirable men are already taken. This is a classic case of what is known as goods in conflict. The romance of love and marriage took its inspiration from a long-standing mating system, but the defining institutions of the old system are breaking down.
Courtship is dead.
Marriage is in decline. A new mating system is emerging, with its own complications and confusions, including the conflict that faces high-status women. All rights reserved.