Love is Natural. Society is an Artifact.

Perhaps it's the sociologist in me who's finally emerging. Or perhaps my years as a clinical social worker, listening to unhappy couples struggling with trust, jealousy, and commitment, set me on this course. For over 15 years, I specialized in Eating Disorders (Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa), learning the social pressures, trauma, and identity issues that plague contemporary women. Divorce rates hover around 50% as the nuclear family splits into fragments. Marriage was originally a property contract, ensuring estate protection and forging alliances between powerful men and nations. But women are no longer chattel, objects to be bought, traded, and sold. Women have economic and social freedom in modern societies that demand new social adaptations. They are vigorous, strong, resilient members of the world. Must jealousy always supplant love? Must "the other woman" be the fierce threat; or could she be a BFF? Must one style of living be imposed on everyone; or is it time for alternate choices?