Intelligent women tend to be single

Society is changing but men still look down on intelligent women.

It is often said that intelligent women are those who lead an independent life.. And it is not easy, because there are still a series of social norms and clichés that tend to chain women around the tasks culturally attributed to them: the care of children and husband, as well as the care of the elderly in the home.

Fortunately, times have changed and women can choose what they want to do or with whom they want to share their lives... and they can even decide to remain single. This is what we will talk about in today's article.

The imposition of marriage: doomed to start a family?

We must start with a summary reflection: each woman must be free to choose her own destiny.. This includes the possibility of falling in love, starting a family, never falling in love, or going from flower to flower. There is nothing wrong with any of these options (or any other).

It is just that there are still certain stereotypes that place women in a subordinate role in our society, especially in terms of how they should conduct their love and sex life. Cultural patterns affect us all, and particularly women. Hence, many of the recurring sayings and phrases that try to tell women how to act in relation to their love life and motherhood: "look, you are 35 years old and you still haven't married", "marry Pepito who has a company and is a good catch", "in the end you will get over your rice".... Phrases with a deep meaning and that, even unconsciously, influence the way in which they act or fail to act.

Between happiness and resignation

Another oft-repeated saying is that "ignorance brings happiness". Indeed, it can be difficult for an intelligent it can be difficult for an intelligent woman with concerns beyond the typical to find a man with whom she can express herself freely and feel intellectually stimulated. freely and feel intellectually stimulated. Not to mention sapiosexuality.

The social pressure of her close circle can be quite annoying for the girl who, being intelligent, does not manage to connect with another person (whether of the same sex or not, because of course you can also be homosexual and bisexual in this life), unlike her friends, who seem to have a kind of magnet for love relationships. While the latter can reproduce the cultural slogan with less reluctance, the former tend to stick to their position.

A study confirms it: single women tend to be more intelligent.

So why do the most intelligent women tend to remain single? Is there some objective reason why heterosexual men or homosexual women do not make it a priority to maintain an affective relationship with an intelligent woman? Is there some kind of aversion, conscious or unconscious, towards brilliant women?

There may be a certain pattern whereby the most intelligent women are also the most demanding and therefore tend to remain single. It's just a hypothesis, but it could make sense, especially after the research titled. "Why do intelligent men choose less intelligent women?", which has been published in Daily Mail and Elite Daily, among others.

In this study, academic John Carney explains that less intelligent women tend to have much more free time because they are not able to obtain sufficient economic benefits if they study more or work more hours than usual, so they tend to pair up with men of higher intelligence who, statistically, are the ones who tend to have better jobs and salaries, which helps them to advance economically and enjoy a higher standard of living. John Carney's conclusion, which, of course, has unleashed a strong controversy.

The other side of the coin: men seek women... not so intelligent

It seems, however, that men's motivations when it comes to finding a partner also leave something to be desired from a moral point of view.. As Carney argues, they are looking for a woman who prioritizes their romantic relationship and family project over any other aspect of life, and of course there are women, usually the 'not so smart' ones, who are willing to assume this premise.

The dangers and problems of being an intelligent woman

And the fact is that, as is evident, being an intelligent woman has major disadvantages. Probably, if any woman had to choose between being or not being intelligent, she would have a major dilemma before her. Because, although a priori all would choose to be intelligent, the reality is that having a privileged mind entails considerable problems to face real life.

It is often said, and I think it is a cliché that is not at all misguided, that 'dumb' (if you will pardon the expression) women are not taken seriously by men. But in fact, intelligent women are taken seriously by male colleagues, perhaps too seriously, to the extent that they perceive them as rivals rather than potential partners.to the point that they perceive them as rivals rather than potential mates.

As it is, women everywhere live in constant tension: if they are less intellectually gifted, they are often perceived as little more than sex objects and housewives, and if they are intelligent women, they are perceived as an undesirable threat, as a competitor for that managerial position in the company.

Going deeper into the study

Carney's study study was conducted on a total of 121 British nationals.. The results have given a lot to talk about: when asked about heterosexual relationships in which the woman had a clearly superior intelligence, the respondents perceived them as problematic and less desirable.

When asked the question in reverse (the man being the more intelligent one in the relationship), respondents reported no hint of criticism or censure towards them, quite the contrary: they perceived them as more desirable.

Gender stereotypes that will take time to shatter

This is further evidence of the various stereotypes that, in the 21st century, continue to explain why women suffer discrimination in some areas of life. These gender prejudices also take their toll on women with great intellectual capacity, not only in the workplace with phenomena such as the glass ceiling, but also in social and emotional relationships, where it seems that being intelligent is perceived as something, in practice, undesirable.

Is it essential to have a partner to be happy?

We live in a society that requires us to have an orderly life: stable employment, a formal partner and, at a certain age, children and to form a family and a home. It is an approach that we must question. For some people, this model of life may be totally in line with their expectations and illusions, and this is fully respectable. But our generation still continues to accept some traditions and cultural impositions without further ado.

Some women, caught in this moral context, incessantly look for men who appreciate them and with whom they can share their lives.. In Spanish faculties, women are already in the majority. This means, among other things, that in the future it is quite likely that more women will choose to have a partner with a lower academic qualification than themselves. We are facing a confusing new social reality: while more women are able to develop powerful academic and working careers, men are not yet willing to give up their position of intellectual hegemony within the couple, a fact that is causing many 'intelligent' women to remain single.