Talk:Starter marriage

Definition of starter marriage
Anonymous editor 209.247.22.164 claims on the basis of "sources cited" that a starter marriage is "one in which the wife plays a major role in the running of the household and raising of the children while supporting her husband's career, only to be abandoned by her spouse for a younger woman, often after their offspring are grown." S/he futher claims, in a message on my talk page, that "There is no truth in the statement that a starter marriage lasts less than 5 years and has no children" and that his/her definition is "correct and substantiated by the source cited."

In fact, the source cited, Pamela Paul's 2002 book "The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony," is extremely clear on the definition of a starter marriage. By the definition there, which 209.247.22.164 seems not to have read, despite his/her claims to the contrary,


 * "Starter Marriages, like all marriages are meant to last forever. But they don't. Instead, they fizzle out within five years, always before children begin." (page 4)

There is no ambiguity here; 209.247.22.164's definition is not that in the text. The original definition in the article, which 209.247.22.164 has repeatedly removed, is correct. Uucp 13:14, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * The whole being abandoned for a younger woman bit sounds more like the women of The First Wives Club, if there's an appropriate neologism for that. Wl219 03:09, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Importance of Pamela Paul
There is disagreement on the article page about whether or not Pamela Paul's 2002 book should be credited with having popularized the term. I checked ProQuest for all appearances of the term "starter marriage"

1998 - 4

1999 - 4

2000 - 0

2001 - 4 (three of which were references to Pamela Paul's upcoming book)

2002 - (the book is published) 31

2003 - 20

2004 - 17

2005 - 34

2006 - 14

2007 - 26

2008 - 7

I think it's fair to say that usage picked up with the 2002 publication of Paul's book. Uucp (talk) 16:20, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I'll give you that its fair to say that it increased the use of the term in written publications then, as there is often a significant (years) delay before something that is well-used in popular culture but regarded as slang by publication editors and authors. Zaphraud (talk) 07:20, 15 July 2009 (UTC)