Most of the time it doesn’t work if a woman with money marries a man who does not have a lot of money. Why is this so? I think it is because as much as people wish to deny it, there are certain biological realities that cannot be denied. Men want to protect women. Their ability to provide for the woman they love is part of their identity in a way that they do not even completely understand. Men’s ability to protect is obviously part of the plan of humankind because otherwise they would not have been built to be bigger and stronger than women. Although in theory, since two people getting married should share everything and become one, so it should not matter who has more money, the fact is, it does seem to make a big difference.
I find it interesting that often when men break up with richer wives, their next relationships are with women who occupy a lower position in the social structure. Sometimes a relationship can work between a rich woman and a man who is not rich, but it is the exception, rather than the rule. There are many possible reasons for this, other than the one I described above. Perhaps it is because men do not want to be perceived as gold diggers. Maybe they like being appreciated, and being able to introduce their women to a nicer sphere of life gives them a sense of achievement.
This all may change over the course of the next generation. It is possible that more men will be comfortable with marrying women who are richer than they are. But I don’t think so. Biology is eternal. When a man and a woman are at a restaurant, and the waiter is told that it is on one cheque and not two, the waiter always presents the man with the cheque. This is because there is still an unspoken rule that money is the man’s responsibility, and it is the woman’s responsibility to look good so that the man is proud to have her on his arm. It may sound sexist, but I think it is true.
