Career Girls? Give me a break

Men: Don't marry a woman with a career because you'll run a higher risk of having marital problems (read: divorce).

A recent column (www.forbes.com/home/2006/08/23/Marriage-Careers-Divorce_cx_mn_land.html) posted by Forbes editor Michael Noer dispenses this advice to men. And I've got to side with his female counterpart in thinking, "You've got to be kidding."

Hey. I'm a career woman. And I'd like to do the whole marriage thing someday. I even have a willing participant picked out. (Note to self: Don't forget to call George Clooney.) But apparently, I'm what's wrong with marriage today.

Why should I even bother to get married? I'm doomed to be the reason it fails. Darn you, stupid career! You're ruining my life!

Noer goes on to say "recent studies" show that career girls, as he calls us, are more likely to end up divorced, cheat on their spouses, and not have children. First of all, I object to being called a career "girl." I'm not a girl. Nobody has called me "girl" since I was 12. And secondly, hasn't just about everyone seen at least 10 minutes of Desperate Housewives?

In all seriousness, if we were to consider that Noer's point has any truth to it, what implications does this have for all the women in veterinary medicine? At least 80 percent of graduates coming out of veterinary schools today are female. These women choose to have a career. And I'd guess that quite a few will get married, if they aren't already. Will this female-dominated profession be a victim of sky-high divorce rates? Will the women of veterinary medicine become a cadre of old, dried-up bachelorettes and divorcées? Doubtful.

The editors at Veterinary Economics know the topic of life balance weighs heavily on your minds. We've published article after article about juggling a career, family, kids, and personal pursuits. Not once has a source told us it can't be done, that you must give up part of yourself - and ignore a big set of your talents - to successfully manage another piece of the pie.

Those of you who are happily married and proudly call yourselves career women, I bet that's part of what your husband fell in love with. How could he resist? Your determination, work ethic, drive, compassion, empathy, and ambition - just to name a few of your wildly sexy, working-woman characteristics - probably impress the heck out of him. Right?