For the very first time I heard a man acknowledge that there are dating “leagues.”  When I say league I’m talking about exactly what you think I’m talking about.  My girlfriends and I talk about it all the time.  Men don’t recognize, acknowledge or respect the fact that there really are leagues.  Maybe that’s because they don’t have to.  It’s perfectly acceptable for a man in the “major” league to date a woman on a “farm team.”  They do it all the time.  How many highly successful, well-educated men have you encountered who are dating, or married to, a woman with a GED and a job that doesn’t even offer a 401k plan??

Go ahead and count.  I’ll wait.

Men can get away with this because it’s socially acceptable for a man to marry a woman who is not his educational or economic equal.  As long as she’s cute, presentable and can halfway carry on a decent conversation it’s perfectly all right for a man to date down.  This gives men an exponentially greater advantage in the dating game.  They simply have more options.

I’m fairly progressive.  I consider myself to be a rather open individual; however, I absolutely am not open to the possibility of dating a 30+-year-old man who’s working on his GED while working two minimum wage jobs.  It’s not happening.

I’m familiar with the women’s rights movement, however, I think men have taken it too far.  Yes, women are closing the pay gap.  Many of us now earn a wage equal to, or greater than, our male counterparts.  There’s less of a social stigma associated with a man earning less than his girlfriend or wife.  But men are taking the movement a little too far. Just because we want equal pay for the same job doesn’t mean we want to support a lazy bum. These are two separate and unrelated issues.  So, please, let’s set the record straight once and for all.  STAY IN YOUR OWN LEAGUE!  Maybe, just maybe, it’s ok to date up, or down, one league.  But that’s it.  Ladies with GEDs, multiple babies and babies’ daddies: STAY IN YOUR LEAGUE!  Stop chasing ballplayers, bankers and brokers.  Date the dude who works security in your building.  He’s in your league.  Fellas with a high school diploma, 12 baby mamas, NO JOB, living in your Big Mama’s basement, stop approaching professional women who have their stuff together!  You look dumb . . . unless you’re in Atlanta (but that’s another blog for another day).

The point is that everyone needs to bring something to the table.  Your kids, your drama and your bills don’t count.