Comments on: Literary dating

By: Tanya

Tanya — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 23:39:08 +0000

Rafe: I have a few suggestions for the revision of your ad.

Firstly, think about your potential market. Being a middle-aged man seeking a nubile woman places you in a market with very large unmet demand. Middle-aged academic males should keep their false consciousness in check: 20-something year old female students are only interested in them for one thing, and it sadly what male academics would like it to be. (I know that years ago things were a bit different but things have never been the same since those jealous academic feminazis invaded the campus.) Furthermore, by

By: Tanya

Tanya — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 22:47:05 +0000

Dare I suggest that - for some women - university education diminishes interest in marriage, or at least, some types of marriages? Perhaps underneath the concerns of those men who argued against women entering, for instance, U of M’s medical program, were deep concerns about whether women graduates would find the majority of men as interesting. There’s quite a difference between thinking of this situation in terms of prospects or in terms of interests. Yes, most university-educated women want to live in committed relationships, but they set reletively high standards (intellectual as much as economic) on the type of relationship to which they are prepared to commit. They are interested but in a highly conditional way.

By: Andrew Norton

Andrew Norton — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 02:59:29 +0000

Tom - This Catallaxy post has the link, along with a link to another paper on HECS and fertility which with HILDA data backs my case more convincingly than I could with the data available in 2003.

Interestingly, one of the 19th century arguments against letting women into university was that it would diminish their marital prospects. On that at least, they were right.

By: Tom N.

Tom N. — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:41:37 +0000

Hi Andrew - Can you provide a link to your paper on HECS and upmarket women’s marital prospects? Sounds interesting.
Ta, Tom

By: Andrew Norton

Andrew Norton — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:25:25 +0000

Tanya - With my general aversion to 20th century French intellectual life, I have not read Bourdieu. But I probably should add Distinction to my reading list.

I think you are right about the different dating strategies. I’ve known women who seem to regard the choice of boyfriend in much the same way they would regard the choice of a handbag; he/it has to look ok and serve its intended purpose, but there are a large number of possibilities in the acceptable range since nothing unusual is required.

But for women with more sophisticated tastes, I think this is tough - I wrote a paper on their poor marital prospects a few years ago (in the context of a debate on whether HECS affected fertility). Not only do educated women outnumber educated men in the younger age groups, but many of the guys who do fit the rough profile they are after seem quite happy to ‘marry down’ , choosing women who are physically attractive but not particularly intelligent.

By: Rafe

Rafe — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:35:11 +0000

This one looked promising but it was in the next category of notices.

Publisher’s editor with fifteen years’ fiction and non-fiction experience, for clients including HarperCollins and Random House, and former literature specialist for Arts Council England, offers first-rate editorial services, including editing, copy-editing, proofreading, manuscript appraisal and submissions advice. Non-fiction expertise includes biography, current affairs, history, memoirs, politics and travel.

By: Rafe

Rafe — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:28:52 +0000

Healthy but not wealthy middle-aged man seeks nubile lover of learning for clandestine meetings in the Fisher Library stacks with a view of walking on the beach, sunrises and listening to music together. Would help to have classical liberal/libertarian tendencies, own car and complete set of Bob Dylan records or Goon Show scripts.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:39:00 +0000

Boris: Indeed, NYRB and the LRB subscribers are very serious readers or, at least, wannabe serious readers. NYRB and LRB reviews are more than standard reviews: they often cover more than one book at a time, examine complementary and contradictory themes often in light of current events, and are written by serious academics (e.g. Harold Bloom) and writers (e.g. John Coetzee). Both publications are major arbiters in the literary community.

More generally, I agree that limited social circles and problems associated with solitary activities are good explanations. I

By: Boris

Boris — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 16:29:25 +0000

I NEVER read reviews of books and had no idea they had personal ads. Maybe it’s my cultural background, but I do not think keen readers actually read reviews of books (excluding the professionals like of course - this includes you, Andrew). So it is not keen readers who have difficulties in communication, but readers of book reviews.

I would add that serious readers may be the last people to advertise in any personal ads - they are too serious for that. Which leaves the field to odd types.