MSN article about women who are turned on by money

I thought you might find this article interesting. It’s about women who find money to be an aphrodisiac:

There are a three interesting things about this article that call into question certain things we’ve been taught about men and women.

1. Men are often portrayed as the shallower of the sexes, i.e., only interested in looks, while women are portrayed as more emotional and concerned about sensitivity and feelings. Yet, the author states “…if I'm gut-wrenchingly honest with myself, the only reason that I agreed to go out with TFB in the first place -- and the reason I stayed so long -- was that he was loaded.”

2. We—as a culture—have been inundated with stories of successful women who (supposedly) can’t get dates because they’re success intimidates men (note how this female problem, i.e., not being able to get a date and/or steady boyfriend, is converted into a male problem—“he’s intimidated by my success!”). Yet, the article states: “Even women who don't need a man with money still prefer one.” This suggests that successful women sometimes can’t find boyfriends because they have inadvertently shrunk their dating pool by becoming successful and, thus, disinterested in men who have a much lower income than theirs. It’s not always the case that the man is intimidated, it sometimes happens to be that the woman is not interested in the man because he makes less than she does.

3. We see a very clear advantage a woman has over a man: Being able to get out of a financial jam by dating. The author states: “If agreeing to date someone just because he was flush made me a shallow, money-grubbing gold digger, so be it. At that point in my life, I was tired of living hand to mouth, worrying how the bills were going to get paid and making the dreaded weekly choice between martinis and food. I liked the lifestyle he had, and I wanted a piece of it, too. The idea of relaxing financially for a while conferred an unmistakable appeal on a person who didn't have much else to recommend him.”

Of course, this article doesn’t condemn all women…anymore than a male leaving his lifelong companion simply to get a younger girl condemns all men. However, it does help to debunk the myth that females are the more pure of the sexes. Hopefully, articles like this will continue to highlight that both men AND women have their exceedingly shallow moments.

--Brent