Missing the point

With its usual display of bias and total lack of impartiality, BBC Breakfast this morning was featuring a item asking why are women leaving it later to get married. They trotted out the usual suspects as reasons - focus on career, more opportunities, travel etc. - and totally ignored the obvious answer.

I'll tell you why women aren't getting married until they are into their thirties on average .... blokes aren't asking them to get married anymore. They don't need to. You see, young men are driven by testosterone - they want fast cars, adrenalin surge excitement and sex .... lots and lots of sex. Thirty years ago they couldn't get fast cars, adrenalin surges generally came from football and fairground rides and the only way they could get lots and lots of sex was if they got married.

These days you can buy a fast car for peanuts (though they can't afford to insure it - but when the penalty for not having insurance is barely a tenth of the cost of a years insurance, why bother?), adrenalin rush sports are cheap and plentiful and young men can find plenty of women willing to provide for their sexual urges without commitment.

So they don't need to get married. Instead, young men extend their adolescence well into their twenties and even beyond in a guilt and responsibility free social environment. But the BBC doesn't get that point.