When the Forbes website published a column urging men not to marry career women a few months ago, it provoked a storm of protest. I wondered what all the fuss was about. The charms of patriarchy have always seemed pretty obvious to me - if you are lucky enough to be the patriarch. I am reminded of their appeal whenever we spend time in the home of my mother-in-law, who is the world's perfect housewife. As we sink into the soothing rhythms of her efficiently run household, a yearning look crosses my husband's face. I don't blame him - I, too, often wish we had a wife. Indeed, what surprises me is the men who have opted for the opposite: the career gals Forbes.com warned them to steer clear of.

Demographers used to talk about the "marriage penalty" paid by educated women. But the days when boys didn't make passes at girls who wore glasses seem to be over. In fact, educated US women now stand a better chance of marrying and staying married than their less well-educated sisters, a socio-economic trend so marked that it has a name: "the marriage gap".