As someone whose blog is entirely devoted to my ridiculous dating life, I completely sympathize. My issue is that I, too, am educated and established, and in my life, for the most part, when I’ve worked hard for a goal, I’ve achieved it. Not the case with a man. And that frustrates me.

I too feel that sense of incompleteness that there is no man in my life. I don’t think this makes us weak. I think it actually takes a *strong* person to admit they are lonely. It is a very human thing to want companionship and strive for that in your life. For us successful women, it is often the missing link. Because for women, success has for so many years been defined as settling down, it is hard for a girl not to want that.

Just be patient… we’re all in this together!–>

I think about this stuff a lot. I’m 30, pretty darn successful in my career, very active socially, and I have lots of friends. But I’m heart-breakingly single, and at times it really bothers me. “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” Well, sometimes you want to ride that bike, you know? Wow, now that I think about it, that’s not a good analogy either way! But seriously, I do get really angry that these social constructs make me feel like I’m incomplete, and thus unsuccessful (dare I say failure?) because I’m a woman without a man. I know, I make my own happiness, and most days that’s enough. But sometimes…..

And re: Madonna…. she will always be the queen.

And you are all right, I did consider what standards men had to live up to, and how it’s not easy for either. If you read the NYT article you will also see it points to the issue of paying on a first date and the mixed signals there.

I guess it’s not easy no matter what, I was just writing from a female perspective.