Globe and Mail Concerned That University-Educated Women Will Not Find Husbands

Earlier this week the Globe and Mail ran a serious article titled, "When women outnumber men on campus: What it means for marriage." When I first saw the title of the article, I thought it was a joke piece and it was something from The Onion showing up in my Facebook feed. No, it is indeed a serious article written by a newspaper claiming to be Canada's national newspaper. I had to read it.

The article talks about how more and more women are attending university and that the gender balance is now thrown off. By the time the current freshman graduate the ratio will be 156 females to every 100 males. The rest of the article is about how this will bode for marriages. Not all women will be able to marry a partner with the same education as them; not all women will be able to marry a partner with the same earning potential as them. It discusses the advantages of being a less-educated women on the marriage market. And the willingness of educated women to "marry down." 

Yes, this was indeed a serious article, and yes, it is still 2013. Here's a quick taste: 

There may be a relative abundance of less-educated men, but the increasing willingness of educated women to marry down, and of less-educated men to marry up, in terms of education has created a shortage of men who have the means to support a family.

I have so many problems with this short article that I don't even know where to begin and will probably only end up scratching the surface.

1. Women don't go to university to find a husband. 
2. Not all women (or men) are heterosexual. 
3. Not everyone is interested in getting married and having children.
4. Marriage is (or should be) based on love and respect, not how much someone earns. 
5. The term "marriage market" sets feminism back by decades. 
6. The entire basis of this article is insulting to both men and women by essentially saying all we can bring into a relationship is earning potential. 

The author seems to be trying find a reason for lower marriage rates. Okay, here's the deal. I'll spell it out for you. Younger people are indeed putting off getting married and having kids until they are older. But many are choosing to not do either of those things at all. Or just one of them. My generation watched their parents and 50% of their friends' parents divorce. They don't want to go down that road and many are simply choosing to live with a partner rather than sign a piece of paper. And people today also understand that marriage and kids is not the only path available to them. Many men and women in the 60s got married right out of high school because they simply thought, "well, that's what you do." Well, it's not what we do. Families, marriages and partnerships are all changing. And that ain't a bad thing.

We need to be inspiring today's freshman to study hard, enjoy themselves responsibly, and explore and change the world. Not making them wonder whether there will be an engagement ring waiting for them after graduation.