For a woman to “have it all” in today’s times, the key is to subtract men.
This was the conclusion made by Wharton professor Corinne Low, after years of research and one exhausting marriage of her own.
The author said she has made an “evidence-based decision” to swear off dating men, and it has ultimately made her happier than ever.
Highlights
- Corinne Low was praised for her “evidence-based decision” to stop dating men.
- “It wasn’t just my husband, but men in general, who couldn’t meet mine or my child’s needs,” she wrote for the Daily Mail.
- The Wharton professor dived into data and research related to household and gender economics.
- She shared her findings as well as personal experiences in the book 'Having It All.'
Corinne Low was praised for her “evidence-based decision” to stop dating men
Image credits: CBS Mornings
In her recent book Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours, Corinne Low dived into data related to household and gender economics.
She revealed that in 2021, she decided to step out of her unhappy marriage with the realization that not just her ex-husband, but no man could keep her happy.
“It wasn’t just my husband, but men in general, who couldn’t meet mine or my child’s needs,” she wrote for the Daily Mail.
Image credits: MacMillan Publishers
Corinne began experiencing equality in her home the moment a man exited the frame.
She is currently married to wife Sondra Woodruff and is raising two children with her.
“I’m not physically repulsed by men,” she joked to The Cut. “I’m socially and politically repulsed.”
The professor divorced her husband and is currently raising two kids with her wife, Sondra Woodruff
Image credits: Heidi Roland/The Cut
The associate professor of business economics said her decision to stop being in relationships with men and to date only women was an “evidence-based decision.”
“Being attracted to women wasn’t a conscious choice, but actively excluding men from my option set for partnership was,” she said.
Image credits: Corinne Low
According to her research, Corinne found that the number of hours a woman dedicated to housework dropped after divorce. But the same number increased for men.
This is “proof, surely, that men can do it; they just choose not to,” she wrote for the Daily Mail.
“I’m not physically repulsed by men,” the author said. “I’m socially and politically repulsed”
Image credits: Dr. Taz, MD
In her book Having It All, Corinne looks at heteropessimism through the eyes of an economist.
Heteropessimism was a term coined by theorist Asa Seresin in 2019.
It refers to the collective disappointment and frustration that many straight people, especially women, feel about heterosexual relationships.
Image credits: Dr. Taz, MD
Corinne believed the growing heteropessimism among women makes them want to remain single.
“I know of few women who would say, ‘There’s no man out there I would want to marry,’” she said, noting that these women were “opting out of the options that are available.”
Corinne said the growing heteropessimism among women is making them want to stay single
Image credits: Getty Images/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
The division of labor at home was found to be one of the key areas that lead to dissatisfaction among women in relationships and marriages, Corinne explained.
Using her own experiences as an example, the professor said she and her wife Sondra share their tasks evenly at home.
While she does most of the cooking, her wife takes care of a majority of the cleaning and laundry. However, this wasn’t the case in her previous marriage.
Corinne said there is data to prove that the number of women who are choosing not to marry is increasing
Image credits: Corinne Low
“I think there was a part of me that was resentful toward, like, men as a phylum because of how much I felt gender had written the script in my marriage,” she said.
The author believed that women, for a long time, accepted “unfairly labor-intensive, functionally unsustainable deals” at both work and their home.
Even when a woman has a full-time job and might even be earning higher than her husband, they were still tasked with the majority of the labor at home.
Image credits: Yunus Tuğ/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
While Corinne had a tongue-in-cheek way of saying she completely swore men off, she said she is aware that abandoning men completely is not an option for women, especially if they are straight.
But she advocated for better ways of handling and dividing labor at home for women to feel more satisfied in their relationships.
“I want them to set more boundaries, renegotiate things, reclaim their time, correct leisure inequality,” she said. “Not everyone needs to get divorced!”
The professor said men have to reach the acceptance stage for gender revolution to progress
Image credits: CBS Mornings
Although women might be aware of the changes required, Corinne said men are still in stages of denial and anger because they are still coping with the loss of their privilege.
Nevertheless, she believed it was possible for men to eventually reach the acceptance stage in the gender revolution.
“That’s the second part of the gender revolution, because we’ve seen such a big change in women’s roles that I don’t think it’s sustainable for men to just stay fixed,” she said. “Heterosexuality will always be there.”
Netizens have been praising the professor’s ideas, with one saying, “I LOVE this concept and it’s really true.”
“I have been waiting for this conclusion to go mainstream,” one commented online.
Another said, “Fingers crossed that menopause makes me attracted to women, I guess.”
“Maybe I should get a divorce so my wife can live a better life,” one quipped
