Gird your loins men, because it seems that women are less happy than they were nearly 35 years ago, despite vast advancements in the work place, at home, and in society in general. Now, I know, I know, how could such a fine gentleman (read: 24 year old grad student who has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle poster hanging by his bed) possibly make such a claim? Well, if you don’t believe me, check out this study which has been making quite some news. It’s entitled “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness” and was carried out by two female researchers at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Study: http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/betseys/papers/Paradox%20of%20declining%20female%20happiness.pdf
When I ran across this study I was automatically reminded of a Saturday night outing several weeks ago with a buddy of mine. So let me take you back, way back, back into time, as I recount to you how I personally experienced “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness”.
Like most outings, it had started innocent enough as a buddy of mine and I were drinking some fine beers and reveling in male camaraderie. The weather was cooling down, and one could not help to notice the groups of super cute girls who kept walking past us as they made their way to different bars scattered along the street. And like all things, it started with just a simple few words. As my friend finished the last of his beer, he looked at me with a look that was a sly mixture of satisfaction and mischievousness and uttered, “Let’s go have some fun.” Well people, it was on like Donkey Kong.
We wasted no time approaching different groups of girls and striking up conversations with them. My buddy was a goddamn natural at being a wingman, and so with his talents and my natural gift (read: girls thought I was non-threatening and/or gay) we soon found ourselves immersed in conversations with groups of girls. So far, so good? Right? Well, there was a slight problem….If the Grim Reaper himself came down and told me that if I didn’t flirt my life would end right then and there, well, I hope you guys enjoy my funeral! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FLIRT! So with this said, girls seemed to really enjoy talking to me because I was so non-threatening, or as I mentioned, perhaps they thought I was gay (does that mean I dress well?). But then I began to notice a disturbing pattern, almost every girl I would talk to (about 30 min into the conversation) would start talking about how they were unhappy. When I asked them why, it usually had something to do with how all their friends had boyfriends and they didn’t, or perhaps they really liked a guy but he in return liked one of their friends, and the list goes on. Now, this was just my experience on a particular night, so in no way am I suggesting that all girls are emotional wrecks looking for male companionship. But the pattern was a bit disturbing.
The last girl I talked to was the most interesting. On the surface you would have thought that this girl had it all: she was super cute, friendly, smart, and overall seemed like a good person. As usual, the conversation soon turned to her unhappiness due to the fact that she really was interested in a male friend of hers. However, she was worried that perhaps she would ruin their friendship if she made her true feelings known and also because this male friend was envied by all her other mutual girl friends. I tried to give her sound advice (God knows what that means) and help her out by providing a male perspective. As her friends were leaving, I took it as a queue to wrap up the conversation. However, as I was turning away to leave, she grabbed my arm and stated that she really wanted to continue talking, and that she would meet up with her friends later. Now I know it would be obvious to state that perhaps she was interested in me, haha, I don’t really know. What struck me however is that all she wanted to do was to talk to somebody, somebody who would listen, even if that somebody was yours truly who later that night would wage jihad on a George Foreman grill as he and his buddy attempted to make cheeseburgers in a highly inebriated state.
So what does this all mean? I’m no sociologist so I’m not too sure. But if there truly is an overall pattern of females becoming increasingly unhappy, then we have a problem. I mean, who will bake us cookies, clean our dishes, and allow us to watch football on Sundays? Ok, ok, I’m just kidding. I think the great James Brown put it best when he stated:
“This is a man’s world,
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl”
