Isn't that what all you girls from Ole Miss major in—professional husband hunting?
— Stuart Whitworth to Skeeter, The Help
Four years my daughter goes off to college and what does she come home with? ...a pretty piece of paper.
— Charlotte Phelan about her daughter Skeeter, The Help
"I went to Smith, and I was a history major, but I never had any plans to be a historian. I was always going to be a wife. I mean, the way I saw it, a woman's job was to run a home, organize the social life of a family, and bolster her husband while he earned a living."
— Emily Gilmore, Gilmore Girls, "I Am Kayak, Hear Me Roar"
Contestant: Just a few of the many degrees I hold include a BA, an MFA, and a PhD.
Mama: Yeah, but do you have an MRS?
Mama: Yeah, but do you have an MRS?
Joyce: So what are you studying?
Walky: Eh, I dunno. I'm mostly here 'cuz my parents want me to be. Officially telecommunications.
Joyce: My major is elementary education. But really I'm only here to hunt down the wonderful, godly man I will someday marry.
Walky: Oh. (Beat) That's stupid.
Walky: Eh, I dunno. I'm mostly here 'cuz my parents want me to be. Officially telecommunications.
Joyce: My major is elementary education. But really I'm only here to hunt down the wonderful, godly man I will someday marry.
Walky: Oh. (Beat) That's stupid.
— Dumbing of Age, "Stupid
"
"We are all familiar with the stereotype of women as pretty things who go to college to find a husband, go on to graduate school because they want a more interesting husband, and finally marry, have children, and never work again. The desire of many schools not to waste a 'man's place' on a woman stems from such stereotyped notions. But the facts absolutely contradict these myths about the 'weaker sex' and it is time to change our operating assumptions.
— Senator Birch Bayh (D-ID) on the signing of Title IX
I can tell you that the days of white, wealthy, upper-class students from prep schools in cashmere coats and pearls who marry Amherst men are over. This is unfortunate because it is this demographic that puts their name on buildings, donates great art and subsidizes scholarships.
—Anne Spurzem '84, "Alum Tells Smith College to Quit Admitting Poors"
"Honestly, until you find a spouse, I would advise you invest your effort and energy at least 75 percent in searching for a partner and 25 percent in professional development.
—Marry by Choice, Not by Chance by Susan Patton (2014)
