Letters to the Editor
LeCastor
Published Letters: 1916 Editor's Choice: 86
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The Forbes Screed
[Read the article: But can we prevent wanted pregnancy?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is my favorite part of the Forbes Screed:
3. She is more likely to cheat on you.
According to a wide-ranging review of the published literature, highly educated people are more likely to have had extra-marital sex (those with graduate degrees are 1.75 more likely to have cheated than those with high school diplomas.) One April, 2005 study, by Adrian J. Blow for the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy summed it up: "If a woman has more education than her partner, she is more likely to have a sexual relationship outside of her primary relationship; if her husband has more education, she is less likely to engage in infidelity." Additionally individuals who earn more than $30,000 a year are more likely to cheat. "In a more general sense, it appears that employment has significantly influenced infidelity over the years," Blow said. "The work environment provides a host of potential partners, and individuals frequently find themselves spending a great deal of time with these individuals."
Source: "Infidelity in Committed Relationships II: A Substantive Review," Adrian J. Blow, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, April 2005.
Okay, but is the same true for husbands? If he has more education than the spouse he is more likely to cheat, and if he has less education, he is less likely to cheat? Conveniently, it doesn't say. Beucause then it would be trend of successful people, not just of the female kind, and would not work as well at chastizing successful women. And it would subvert that mythical family structure of the working high-earing husband and the stay at home wife, becauase then the stay-at-home wives might not want to marry men who are more likely to cheat on them.
In fact, the whole screed fails to mention the corresponding statistics for men. Because we don't want to get down on successful men, do we?!
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You can't always get what you want.
[Read the article: But can we prevent wanted pregnancy?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was preg at 19
and everyone was horrified. I was thrilled - I did consider abortion briefly but the truth is I wanted the baby. I also took the baby with me to college and to grad school. And managed to marry. And own my own house today.
"Baby" is now 17-years-old and getting ready to graduate himself. How about we face the reality that some people want kids much earlier than intellectuals think they should and that they are going to do what they want to do? Instead of deciding it's a death sentence, let's help them get by.
-- CJ
Well, sure, let's help them get by once they've had the kid. But don't you think there is a societal interest in discouraging people from making HUGE choices about their lives that they can't afford? Suppose at 19, instead of a kid, i want a Corvette. Somehow i get the credit approval for it, but then I can't pay for it. Should society have to bail me out because i made an irresponsible choice? More importantly, doesn't society have an interest in preventing that kind of choice, even if it's something i REALLY want, until i can afford it/deal with it/support it myself?
If you can afford your kid at 19, then sure, go ahead. But why should society support some seemingly frivolous life decisions but not others?