Women dating down

There are just not enough good men to go around. At least, that’s the opinion held by many women and experts across the United States. For years researchers studying America’s inner cities have documented that women living in our nation’s poorest neighborhoods have very few good choices for husbands. Therefore, many women from impoverished inner cities choose to raise their children as single mothers.

Now one expert is examining — hold onto your hat — whether or not women who listen to country music and women who outnumber men at their colleges, date down because there are more qualified women in the dating pool than suitable males. While these discussions made headlines, a long series of Doonesbury cartoons suggested that outnumbered women serving in the military take on rock star appeal. Could a scarcity of candidates for dating and marriage cause those in the majority to lower their standards or even give up on marriage?

Colleges: Are women settling for less?

I have never met a student attending JMU who did not report being extremely happy. Therefore, I am skeptical about the comments in USA TODAY, made by Richard Whitmire, the author of Why Boys Fail. Whitmire was asked by reporter Mary Beth Marklein to explain the social ramifications of attending a college that enrolls considerably more females than males. This was the author’s response: “The most striking (report) was at James Madison University (where the ratio was about 60 percent female, 40 percent male).

Some women there (said) it was not uncommon to see these parties where girls would get into this bizarre competition to win a guy who maybe even wasn’t worth winning. And these guys were total players. The minority sex sets the rules, animal house rules, and these women would do very demeaning things just for the competition.” After making this statement Whitmire applauded his own children for attending colleges with an even balance between males and females. Although I’m sure Whitmire was making a point that he believes is generally true of colleges, it seemed unscholarly to use unsubstantiated anecdotes about a popular and outstanding university.

Do ladies love country boys?

Whitmire offers other opinions as well. The author maintains that a new theme recently emerged in country music, “Ladies, especially well-educated urban gals, love country boys.”

He quotes many lyrics, including Eric Church’s song Guys Like Me: “You must have had your pick/ Of all the trust fund types/ But you came back for me.”

“Nope! She’s not coming back to you,” claims Whitmire. In fact, he believes country males who choose less education are deceiving themselves if they believe women are attracted to uneducated males with fewer economic possibilities on the horizon. “Not only are the wannabe cowboys watching those videos unlikely to nab more successful women, if current trends continue (widening the gap between men’s and women’s education), they also are less likely to find anyone to marry — or land decent work.”

Whitmire clearly doesn’t mind creating controversy, but in doing so he ignites some interesting discussions.

West is a professor at Lynchburg College. His book, ‘The Shelbys,’ has been translated into Indonesian and Czech. Readers may write to West in care of The News & Advance, P.O. Box 10129, Lynchburg, VA 24506.