Hey, successful women. Did you know that it’s the age of the trophy husband? For real. I don’t know if I should celebrate, or cry about this news…

OK, OK. Let me back up. In theory, this finding isn’t depressing.

Helen Fisher recently conducted a study for Match.com that mined the brains of single people. One of the findings the survey discovered was that men are totally cool with dating successful women. Also: More men — 87 percent — are cool with dating a woman who is “more intellectual, and is better educated than they are.” A recent Atlantic article reported on the findings.

Fisher jokingly calls this the “Clooney Effect.” She coined the phrase after George Clooney got married to Amal Alamuddin, a successful human-rights lawyer.

This study has quite a few holes, though. The Atlantic lists just a few issues with the “Clooney Effect:”

Any psychologist will state that appearance is still the number one factor in bringing two people together, and that it takes more than a singular trait (in this case, intelligence) to create a strong, long-lasting bond. And it’s important to note that these statistics are heteronormative, applying purely to straight couples and not addressing gays and lesbians at all.

Now, none of this (except for the massive study holes) is terrible news. So, why am I so grumpy? Because it is considered news. I know that this topic, and topics like this, have been in the spotlight throughout the past year, but I can’t believe this is something that still has to be reported. Maybe it’s because I’m a feminist killjoy, or maybe it’s because the majority of men I have dated were totally cool with the fact that I have a graduate degree and they do not.

But I do realize that for years (and still currently), many women do run into the “powerful woman” issue when dating. I guess just can’t wait for the day when it’s totally old-hat for blue-collar male workers to marry female CEOs.

What do you think about these findings? Do you know a lot of successful women who have married “down?” Do you hate the term “Trophy Husbands” as much as I do?

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