Is the ‘Golden Penis Syndrome’ Destroying Dating for Young Women?
Or will the backlash be the Golden Vagina Syndrome?
It’s a tough time to be a college student looking for love. The ratio of college women to college men is now four to three. And that imbalance has created what some university students have dubbed ‘The Golden Penis Syndrome.’
Many college women are now reporting cringe-worthy behaviors from university men with too many dating options — inflated egos, disrespect, cheating, hook-ups, and the dreaded ghosting. Apparently, when men outnumber women, gilded penises destroy good manners.
Sociologists are also worried about the long-term impacts of an education gap in the dating market. College grads earn on average 30k more than those with only a high school degree. And when those feisty college-educated women graduate, society will have a glut of educated single women with a shortage of educated single men to choose from. Many sociologists predict that these women will have to “settle” for men who don’t match their career aspirations.
Women will settle? Pleeeeease. A lacuna of educated men won’t make women less picky. Instead, many will choose not to get married and become single moms. It’s already happening. This year, birth rates in educated, unwed mothers increased six-fold to 24.5%.
Regardless of motherhood, most women won’t choose a life of spinsterhood because their choices of educated men are limited. The education gap will cause a very different scenario.
More white-collar women will choose blue-collar men.
Now, I know many will argue that assortative mating is too entrenched in our culture. And classism is a big one. We have been conditioned to believe educated women only desire educated men.
But that is going to change. Over time, the education gap will cause women to choose men from a different set of criteria. And how much money he has in his bank account or what degree he holds won’t be at the top of the list.
Women will choose men who support their careers by providing equal parenting support. They will choose men who are emotionally intelligent and empathic. They will choose men based on loyalty, companionship, and respect. And yes, they may even choose younger men over older, wealthier, educated men.
Tis’ the season for a May December Romance
The education gap will flip the script on hypergamy. In the past, high-earning men commanded their choice of nubile young women, and they often chose younger women because younger women are (objectively) more attractive and fertile.
But the bloom falls off the rose in both genders. Younger men are also (objectively) more attractive and more fertile than older men. Currently, 40–50% of fertility problems fall on the male side. More alarming, sperm counts in Western men have dropped by 50% in the last forty years, and age was a significant factor in that drop. This year, the NIH is conducting a million-dollar study to determine why male fertility declines in men over 35, but the problem might be too late to correct.
The dropping sperm counts could also affect a lady’s choice. If older successful women want to have children, they may choose men under 35 to increase their fertility odds.
Gilding the dying lily
Then there is the question of monogamy. The Golden Penis Syndrome may cause college-age men to philander more during their university years and beyond, but it won’t cause men overall to be less monogamous.
The reason is simple. As education levels drop in men, rates of infidelity will also decrease. The IFS latest study on The Demographics of Infidelity in America found that spouses with a college degree are more likely to cheat than spouses with only a high school degree. This higher rate of infidelity is most likely due to income.
Let’s face it. There’s something about money that makes people do bad things. And money definitely corrupts when it comes to fidelity. Study after study has found the higher your income, the more likely you are to cheat.
It makes sense. Wealth breeds options. And infidelities are often caused by having too many choices. In the past, men have primarily held those cards. But a workforce of more educated women will close the wage gap and give women more freedom to pursue their options.
Of course, college-educated men will continue to play the field and have more options too. But women may tire of the playboys with the fancy resume and prefer those salt of the earth types.
And there are several advantages to partnering with a blue-collar worker.
Why more women will choose blue-collar men
1. Their economic status is often better than it appears.
Although statistically, higher education equates with higher income, many blue-collar workers with entrepreneurial skills make far more than white-collar workers. They also don’t have student debt. You might think a suave doctor or lawyer with his fancy car is a good catch, but he is also buried in debt. Most don’t pay off their student loans until their 50s.
2. They have a more flexible schedule.
I have dated enough doctors and lawyers to know the stereotypical pitfalls — you are on their schedule. Not always, but often. Generally, they often treat your time as inferior to theirs. It is in the hardwiring. They are constantly making everyone wait for them. Unless you are ok with feeling like a second-class citizen in your relationship, that kind of disrespect corrodes intimacy.
3. They have less stress.
Men in white-color jobs often take their work home with them. Not so with that stoic plumber. Although the blue-collar worker might be more physically tired at the end of the day, he is not mentally exhausted. And nothing kills a marriage more than stress. Stress is catchy.
4. A man with a hammer is hot AF.
Those guys with physically demanding jobs are more likely to be in shape than the man sitting at an office desk all day. Their gym is their job. And if you own a home, the handy guy will make your life easier. Marry the doctor, and he will only come in handy when you are choking on a wishbone.
5. Higher education does not always equate to more intelligence.
Does a similar education make couples more compatible? In my sordid dating experience, I have found education level has very little to do with intelligence. And it definitely does not correlate to inquisitiveness and self-awareness. Many of my doctor and lawyer ex’s never picked up a book. Or, if they did read, their knowledge was niched. If you are a polymath, that gets dull fast.
The age of The Golden Vagina is coming…
As women lean toward higher education, many will abandon economic hypergamy. And why wouldn’t they? If more women can provide for themselves, the days of men’s bank accounts wielding sexual clout are ending.
We will most likely see an increase in stay-at-home dads too. When women bring home the bacon, they only need someone to fry it up. They don’t always need more bacon.
Republicans already sense gender roles are reversing. Republican states, like Texas, will try to control women’s bodies through draconian abortion laws. According to PPRI’s 2021 American Values Survey, only 33% of Republicans support legalized abortions. Ostensibly, the age of The Golden Vagina won’t happen if women don’t have control over their vaginas.
Either way, The Golden Penis Syndrome is the classic case of “all that glitters is not gold.” A world with more educated women than men won’t limit women’s choices or force them to settle. Money always leads to more freedom of choice.
Or, as my Grandma Ella used to say, “Whoever holds the gold, holds the power.”
