Younger, Smarter Wife = Bliss

Critics descend on couple who met while married to other people

(NEWSER) - The New York Times’ normally genteel “Vows” column hit a nerve on Sunday, with its tale of John Partilla and Carol Riddell—who each left spouses to get hitched. It’s “part Brady Bunch, part The Scarlet Letter,” the paper cooed . Bloggers and commenters tore the paper a new one. “These things happen,” says New York magazine, “but we do question the decision to celebrate it in the face of your exes and children.” Now Partilla tells the New York Post he regrets the whole thing. More»

Benedict thinks pessimism about lasting marriage is driving trend

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he said, and tougher annulment standards would reflect that, reports the Catholic News Service . More»

(NEWSER) - Attention women: For the sake of your relationship and general world harmony, it's time to resume having sex even when you're not in the mood. So says Bettina Arndt, a female columnist for the Canberra Times, who wonders, "Whatever happened to wifely duty?" It's still possible—in fact, easy—to enjoy sex even if you're not jazzed about the idea beforehand, she says. More»

Break-ups marked by ceremonies, parties

(NEWSER) - An Atlanta divorce lawyer has a little gift for her clients: a mock coffin to bury their wedding rings in when the divorce comes through. "Funerals" for failed marriages—or just big parties—are becoming popular with the newly single keen to bury the past and celebrate a new chapter in their lives, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. More»

But wives spend less time on chores than they once did

(NEWSER) - Husbands create seven hours a week of extra housework for their wives, while they themselves spend less time on housework than they did as singles, a new study has found. But it's not all bad news for women. Researchers tracking housework hours of single and married people also found that women devote less time now than they did in 1976, while men do more than twice as much, the Ann Arbor News reports. More»