I believe in North America, both genders do not:
a) mature emotionally, or
b) embrace the finer points of their own gender
until a much later age... say late 20s early 30s... And if it hasn't happened by then, it probably wont at all. Haven't you met a few people in your life that are 50 but never seemed to get out of that high school mentality? How are two people supposed to come together in circumstances like that?
Today we have much longer life expectations, are not taught how to understand our emotions or manage our personal boundaries very well at all, there are very few celebrated rites of passage anymore, we are not taught how to keep good financial order in our own lives, it goes on and on... in many ways, there are multiple "lost" generations living within our borders and I think it leads to difficult interpersonal relationships on every level, but we lament our romantic relationships (or lack thereof) the most.
With women specifically.. they have many more options today than their traditional roles have afforded them and this has happened all in a relatively short timespan. Our culture hasn't really had a lot of time to respond to this on either side of the gender coin. We all still celebrate the price charming/sleeping beauty fable whether we like to admit it or not, yet neither males nor females understand if it is ok to want to play either role anymore... so we all hold back, or go forward wanting some ideal when in reality we're probably rushing things.
Is it gold digging if a 24 year old marries an "established" 36 year old so she can take the financial and career risks in order to start a family while she is young and healthy enough to do so? I don't think so, I think it's smart actually. This reality of imablanced emotional intelligence/maturity, wealth, "life options", confused cultural norms, etc makes developing healthy relationships within your age group very difficult.
I think for the most part, both men and women have lost their ways. Masculinity is and has been on a decline for sometime... where is femininity? On the rise? I'm not sure... I think perhaps maybe. I think all of this is a reflection of a selfish, effed up society.
As an aside, there are a lot of people in this thread that come off as bitter, as if they expect the opposite sex to never make any mistakes in life, or that they should not be expected to want the best for themselves yet they forgive themselves for the same two things... its ok to be single people. Odd thread.
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