All Posts Tagged With: "Mark O’Connell"

Remember our investigation into the dangerous lives of cougars from last week?  Well, yesterday the Washington Post reported that on dating websites like eHarmony and Match.com, so-called cougars abound:

Online dating services say women of a certain age want the white-haired gent, as long as he’s not too old. Women age 50 and older almost always tell eHarmony.com that they want a younger man — 10, 15 years younger, sometimes more. And on Match.com, a 50-year-old woman is typically seeking a man who is 48.

The problem?

Gender equality in the search for younger partners is creating a mating gap in gray love. A 70-year-old woman is looking for a 66-year-old man. The 65-year-old man is looking for the 54-year-old woman. And a 56-year-old woman is looking for a man who is 46! How does anybody hook up in later life with these wide differences in what men and women want?

But hook up people do.  (As we know from past posts, boomers enjoy sex!)  It seems like age equity is just one more hurtle on the path to finding a spouse…or a dinner date.  At times like these, we should remember The Marriage Benefit author Mark O’Connell’s advice, and ask ourselves, WWMOD?  On The Today Show this week, Mark cautioned against going into relationships with unrealistic expectations.  Takeaway for cougars?  Maybe staying married is a better option than running off with a 19-year-old.

Filed under: Boomers • Media

Dr. Mark O’Connell was on the Today Show this morning to discuss The Marriage Benefit. Check out the video here.

Filed under: Books

Ritchie and Madonna. Source: people.com.

If you’ve been keeping up with the tabloids (or The New York Times) this week, you’ve no doubt seen that a few prominent boomer marriages have hit the skids: Madonna is rumored to have had an “affair of the heart” with baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and meanwhile Christie Brinkley’s divorce trial continues to make headlines. At 49 (Her Madgesty) and 54 (Brinkley), both of these ladies have mastered How Not to Look Old, but perhaps they could use some advice from another Springboard author? In The Marriage Benefit, marriage therapist (and instructor of psychology at Harvard) Mark O’Connell argues that saving a marriage is almost always worth it. What advice would he offer Madonna, Brinkley, and their husbands? He might point to the seventh resolution in his book: Forgive and give thanks. O’Connell recommends that partners acknowledge their disappointments with each other without assuming that either person deserves more of the blame for the situation.

Do you think it’s possible for Guy Ritchie to forgive Madonna for her alleged adultry? Should Christie Brinkley have given Peter Cook another chance? Are celebrity marriages worth saving? Let us know what you think, and if you’re looking for more marriage tips, check out The Marriage Benefit.

Filed under: Books • News