The George Clooney Effect

The only reason I am writing about this is because I just saw the story and it really helps to illustrate a point that I think all of us should think about when it comes to women and marriage.

According to the CDC, in 2009, there were over 2,000,000 marriages in the United States. The current divorce rate is approximately over 50%. With these kinds of stats you might think why would anyone get married? And that is not really the question. The question is why are so many people getting divorced? Is it because they choose the wrong person; they are not really ready to get married; they have preconceived notions about marriage that do not live up to the reality? It is probably a combination of all of the above and other reasons not listed. These statistics make me think that we need to think differently about marriage.

For years, there has been all this speculation about whether George Clooney will get married to one of the women he has dated. Articles have been written, his relationships tracked and his psyche analyzed. Most of these people following George's life like this think he should be married or at the very least they question if he plans to marry. I want George Clooney and any man who feels like he does to stay single. Don't get married George and will all of you stop asking him if he's getting married.

When a person has made it clear from their actions and their words that they will not be in that kind of committed relationship, we should go with that. I call it the George Clooney Effect. We need to stop making the George Clooneys of the world feel that they have to conform to our ideas of what their lives should be. Marriage is forever and it is really hard. You are bringing together two people raised in different households, with different values and trying to mesh them together in one life with as few complications as possible. Who would want to complicate this even more with someone who is indifferent or just not interested in marriage? You want to stand before your friends, family and maybe God, with someone who at least has the same beliefs you do about marriage. If you have to talk them into it, you should probably walk away.

When I saw a few days ago that one of the lead stories was George Clooney and Stacey Keibler breaking up, I thought to myself, "Why does this surprise people?" The woman is in her 30's, she wants a family I am sure and George Clooney has no intentions on getting married; at least that's what he had been saying for at least 10 years. I don't know why the lead story was not "Stacey Keibler Dodged a Bullet." She is not going to marry George Clooney, who doesn't want to get married by the way. She has a better chance of staying married if she marries someone else, instead of marrying George and possiblly becoming a single mother. This is the way we need to start thinking about marriage, not 'Poor Stacey Keibler. George wouldn't marry her.' I want women to see the George Clooney Effect, believe what the man says, don't convince him of anything and find someone who wants what you want.