The Catholic Church has told Aussie women not to be “too choosy” when searching for a husband, a decision which is apparently just like choosing a sandwich filling or where to sit in a crowded movie theatre. God’s own marriage ref, Reverend Father Tony Kerin, episcopal vicar for justice and social service in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, told The Herald Sun that declining marriage rates were due to women’s impossible standards, an extended man drought and the perils of premarital cohabitation (thanks Peggy Olson’s Mom!), advising single women to lower their standards and marry younger.
“Are women getting too choosy? I’d say yes,” he told the newspaper. “I think many are setting aside their aspirations for later, but by the time they get around to it, they’ve missed their chance…In trying to have it all, they end up missing out.”
Hear that women? You can’t ‘have it all’. You just can’t. Some old dude said so.
Demographer Bernard Salt calculated that there are about 1.3 million women aged between 25-34 in Australia but of 1.343 million potential suitors only 86,000 were single, well-off heterosexual men with 485,000 married, 185,000 in a de facto relationship, 7000 gay and 12,000 a single parent or earning less than $60,000 a year.
But the man drought’s only partly to blame according to Father Kerin who also advised against living together before marriage.
So there you have it ladies, cancel that Amazon purchase of The Secret and marry anyone you can as soon as possible (unless you’ve lived together before) then disregard all the pitfalls of lowering your standards just for the sake of getting married because that is a smart thing to do and solid advice for anyone who wants a fulfilling long term relationship.
