Posted on 01/16/2002 3:01:34 AM PST by Drew68
WASHINGTON - More and more American women are sharing their husbands and boyfriends with female friends and family members because there simply aren't enough guys to go around, say experts!
"Between 7 million and 8 million single and married women in this country are now man-sharing," reveals Dr. Marc Lipton.
"Many single women are opting for man-sharing as a way to deal with today's shortage."
Agrees Dr. John Hudson, a social psychologist and past president of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy:
"There are just under 38 million unmarried women in the U.S., compared with 31 million unmarried men.
"Man-sharing is becoming more acceptable and popular because so many women are discovering that the old saying, 'A good man is hard to find,' has never been more true.
"There just aren't enough eligible men to go around, and top-notch unattached men are in short supply."
Several factors put women at a disadvantage, adds Dr. Hudson.
"Women live longer than men, so as time passes, they have fewer and fewer males in their age bracket to choose from," he says.
"Then also, men generally tend to seek out younger women, so the older women lose out on that score, too.
"And the pool of eligible males is further depleted by the fact that there are more gay men than gay women. So everywhere you look, women are caught in a 'squeeze.' "
Says Dr. Lipton: "The largest number of man-sharing women are those who become involved with a married man, or one who is already 'spoken for' by another woman. They decide it's better to settle for half a loaf rather than none.
"Then there are the many wives who discover their mates are involved in an extramarital romance - and make the decision to stick with the marriage, even though it means continuing to share him with the other woman."
Man-sharing is different from the old-fashioned husband-wife-mistress relationship because both the women involved in man-sharing know that the man has another lover.
"The man-sharing arrangement is out in the open - the women are aware that their man is seeing someone else," says Dr. Hudson.
"For instance, I know of one case in which a man is really a 'husband' to two women - his wife and a woman with whom he's had an ongoing relationship for a very long time.
"His wife knows about it, but doesn't want a divorce.
"The other woman values her freedom and independence, and is content with the relationship as it stands.
"Men realize that they're in demand, and are taking advantage of the situation under the guise of being 'open' and 'honest' with their women," says Dr. Lipton.
This is the best news I've read in quite some time! *grin*
I thought that this society hated men? (Just kidding.)
I'd be happy to donate my services to all the lonely women out there, but Alas... I am an incredibly, happily married man!
But I do have a single brother who is available!
Hillary made it acceptable to the NOW gang to "share."
and,
Don't think it is sharing at all, it's more like co-dependentcy.
After that depressing thread about how suicide is rising among men, I had to post something to lift our spirits.
Sorry. I didn't mean to rain on your parade.
Now, Valerie! Don't spoil our fun. We've got ego-boosting going on here! ;-)
One woman is enough! I don't have the time (or energy) to deal with another one.
Now, if I were 20 years younger (and a lot dumber)...
That's got to be an unintended pun.
Hmm... I'd be curious to read the reasons stated for this.
While I did post this article in humor (only because of the source) whoever wrote it does touch on some interesting points about women living longer, younger women preferred, and (what seems anyways) to be a larger number of male homos than female ones.
These points give a small (very small) measure of validity to the article.
An idea whose time has come. Ladies pick a number. NOT!!!!
You can keep 'open and honest'. I'll take good old-fashioned lying through his teeth any day.
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