Of all the criticisms facing women today, the view that university-educated women’s supposed high standards destroy their chances to find love has to be among the most ridiculous.
A recent column published in The Wall Street Journal saw the author disparaging the “college gender gap,” pointing to an increasing number of university-educated women as a negative factor impacting modern romantic relationships.
In short, apparently, educated women are raising their standards unrealistically, making it too hard for them to find suitable men.
This is because a greater number of women are achieving university degrees compared to men, which makes it more difficult for educated women to find partners with a parallel educational level.
Off the bat, this heteronormative stance excludes a vast number of educated women.
The article proves unproductive beyond that adherence to heteronormativity. It also skirts around making overt conclusions about the implications of these findings, aside from alluding that “the educational disparity between men and women is a problem” for women looking for love.
Pair the piece with its illustration of a haughty woman in a cap and gown looking down her nose at a distressed average Joe, however, and it’s clear the article is more than observational. It’s a condemnation of the threat female education poses to traditional, obsolete gender roles.
The minor difference in men versus women graduating university doesn’t indicate a massive systemic inequality in favour of women. Gender bias in hiring processes still leave women less likely to be hired for jobs. Despite the higher number of women with degrees, men are still earning more money.
The statistics referenced in the WSJ column say more than 57 per cent of bachelor’s degrees earned in the US last year were earned by women. Statistics Canada also reports that in 2016, for the first time, women accounted for slightly over half—50.6 per cent—of young Canadians, aged 25 to 34, with an earned doctorate degree. Comparatively, the gender wage gap in Ontario is 26 per cent, meaning that on average, women earn $0.74 to every dollar earned by their male counterparts.
Despite this, the column includes no proof of how the educational gap actually impacts modern relationships.
Nevertheless, it’s reductive to frame the importance of female issues as relative to men. Feminist issues are human issues. Everyone should value gender equity and equal access to education, regardless of whether or not you have a sister, mother, or daughter.
Addressing the university gender gap should look like encouraging and facilitating women in fields of education previously inaccessible to them, like STEM, not tearing them down for achieving degrees.
Women have more on their minds than romance.
The female pursuit of higher education should be valued, respected, and encouraged—not seen as a chase for a husband.
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