Finally, the big day has come – your wedding day! You and your maid of honor have taken care of everything: the dress, the cake, the place cards and, of course, something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new. Good times! That matrimony isn’t as popular as it used to be isn’t new to us, but that it is better for men than it is for women – medically speaking – is new (at least for me).
A couple of days ago I stumbled across an article by Roger Dobson of The Independent. He started his article, which deals with a study done by Stefan Felder of Magdeburg University in Germany, with:
Wedding rings should come with a health warning - at least for women.
Of course, I was immediately interested in what this would be about, and as it turns out, women should rethink their girlish dreams about their personal Prince William, a blissful wedding day (including that cheesy, Disney-like carriage!) followed by eternal love and happiness, because:
Marriage helps husbands to an extra 1.7 years, but it knocks 1.4 years off the average wife's lifespan, according to the study of more than 100,000 people across Europe.
Huh. Remember what I said about coffee in my previous blog? Coffee helps women to work more efficiently. Well, I think I’ve just found the reason why coffee beans are feminist, as I put it. Perhaps they know that us females don’t have any time to waste as soon as we’re married off!
However, one reason for the shortening of women’s life-span might be that women take on a double role as housekeepers and also as breadwinners – which seems strange to me, as I assume that most women did both before their wedding as well. However, a second reasonwas also named:
The researchers also suggested that the effect of regular sex could be detrimental for women's longevity, while benefiting men's, thanks to hormonal changes.
Right? Well, as those scientists said, it is only a suggestion that this could be a reason, so nothing’s proven (yet?)! However, another factor is the partner’s age: if women are in a relationship with a man their own age it is healthier when they are with a younger man (sorry, Mrs. Robinson!) as an article by Ian Sample of The Guardian shows.
But apart from dying earlier – especially when being involved with younger men – it’s not all bad news: marriage can also have positive effects on women (thank god)! An article by Martin Beckford of The Telegraph says that marriage is good for women’s mental health, which shouldn’t be underrated either, right? If a woman loses 1.4 years, then it’s good to know that the years that are left are most likely good ones!
However, what are 41.4 years of being single compared to 40 years of marriage? Matrimony is not about extending or shortening one’s life-span. It’s for people who want to spend the rest of their lives together - however long that may be. Even if the divorce rates are really high, and 50% of the couples find out that they’re not made for each other reasons, the other 50% stay together, which is not a bad rate either – especially considering that hardly any couple needs to stay together for financial reasons, or other, anymore. For those who’ve found their match (like the two in the picture) and want to take the plunge, those 1.4 years won’t matter at all.
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