Althouse: "Modern Love."

August 6, 2005

"Modern Love."

This week's "Modern Love" columnist is a 41-year-old woman whose alternative to married life is a string of nonsexual relationships with guys in their 20s: "I think I like young guys, especially guys in their 20's, because, at heart, I am a guy in my 20's."

Maybe then my readers who are guys in their 20s will understand this column better than I did.

I read these "Modern Love" columns most weeks, and I'm getting the impression that what the editors are looking for is weird detail and complete ineptitude at self-perception. "Modern," you know, means hopelessly at sea. And "love" means, well, anything but love.

9 comments:

goesh said...: I just don't know what to say about this one; 8/6/05, 4:56 PM
Wave Maker said...: Where was this woman when I was 25?; 8/6/05, 5:16 PM
Robert Holmgren said...: Time was when therapy would be suggested. But then Woody Allen reminded us of its limitations.; 8/6/05, 5:21 PM
Finn Alexander Kristiansen said...: I do think that one's life activities can help one synchronize with some people better than pure age synchronicity.

Let's say you are a 37 year old male (this is hypothetical, don't read into this) and have been slow at getting career, savings, and responsibilities together, and are thus a "work in progress" and not ready for home-house-kids, or rather, unwilling to take those steps without making sure you can do it responsibly.

One often will find fewer women at the same age who want to just chillax with you without having a clear timetable of progress, as opposed to some younger women who can pretty much "hang" indefinately without some clear goal in mind.

But everything else this woman said was very major Egyptian riverish. (...Like she does not so want to jump Southpaw's bones).; 8/6/05, 7:19 PM
Kev said...: I was really surprised to find out that the author in question was Spike Gillespie; her columns used to appear regularly in the Dallas Morning News a few years ago. I knew she was single with a young son, but, needless to say, her "romantic" exploits never made it into the pages of a "family" paper in this part of the country.

"I do think that one's life activities can help one synchronize with some people better than pure age synchronicity."

Amen, Finn. I think people make way too much of a big deal over chronological age differences sometimes, when the bigger deal really is where people are in life. It can be boiled down to this little Johnnie Cochran-ism: "It's not the age, it's just the stage."

Quick straw poll: What does the Althouse readership think is the maximum "appropriate" age difference between romantic partners? Or does it matter to you?; 8/6/05, 11:39 PM
Steven said...: Okay, I'm a rather atypical 20-something male, but no, I don't get this woman at all.; 8/7/05, 1:27 PM
Anonymous said...: She sounds like a candidate for Hooking Up, the saddest show on TV. I truly worry about those women.

And "Spike" is finishing a book on anger. *sigh*; 8/7/05, 4:01 PM
Randomscrub said...: I'm a 20 year old guy who can't make heads or tails out of that column. That just sounds bizarre if you ask me...; 8/8/05, 2:32 PM
Dwight said...: Her 14 year old is getting one hell of an education. In particular, what type of woman to stay as far away from as possible.; 8/8/05, 3:48 PM