ExposedNYC

I’m going to admit to being a total hypocrite right now. I laughed for a minute that the NY Daily News reported this weekend on the findings of a Cosmopolitan magazine study. Remember when each news outlet wanted to be the first to publish a story, and not just give the best twist on whichever one is floating around the internet currently?

And on that note, I’ll continue to comment on the story…Titled “Hook me up, don’t tie me down in city,” the article claimed that NY women are less worried about getting married than women in the South. They made these distinctions by having women rate themselves as one of four categories- “go-for-it girls”, “pleasure seekers”, “restless explorers” and “housewife hopefuls”.

My problem? I don’t see these as being mutually exclusive. The same way I’ve never been able to fully embrace the “I’m a Carrie” or “I’m a Samantha” phenomenon, I would have a hard time choosing just one of these categories. If I’m a housewife hopeful, does that mean I’m no longer aloud to seek pleasure? Don’t you also have to “go for it” to put yourself out on the dating market in order to find a husband?

The one statistic that caught my eye was that 96% who called themselves a “go-for-it girl” said that they could live a fulfilling life without getting married. Now, on first read, I find this promising, but for some reason my left hand is tugging at my skirt saying that somehow a relationship always seems to take a back seat to “having it all”. Dost tho protest too much? Would “go-for-it girls” also be satisfied with a career that didn’t take her to the top? Or friends who didn’t completely understand her?

Basically what isn’t clear to me is if this is settling for unmarried life, or just accepting that achieving all of our dreams may be a little over-ambitious. I tend to flip flop on this point constantly. Can we be successful at everything, or is it healthy for us to expect to compromise a little in certain aspects of our lives? Or are we setting ourselves up for disappointment?

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