50% Of Men Say They'd Break Up With A Woman For A Really Shallow Reason
The reason for ending things is quite superficial.
Prostock-Studio | Canva Are a few extra pounds enough to break up a relationship? Most men sadly say yes, according to the 2011 Great Male Survey from AskMen. They partnered with Cosmopolitan to conduct a survey of nearly 80,000 people and discover just how different men and women are when it comes to dating, intimacy, lifestyle, and more. And, as we all know, they were very different.
Men are quite unforgiving about relationship weight gain, while women seem to be more chill about their partner gaining weight.
Nearly half of the guys surveyed (48 percent) would say "sayonara" to a girl who's gained weight.
Meanwhile, only 20 percent of ladies would dump a boyfriend if he did. Statistics like that make you wonder where all the good men have gone to. How much weight gain sends them packing? The survey doesn't say, but we're hoping slight fluctuations aren't enough to cause a breakup.
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It's one thing to go on a date with a woman who wasn't truthful about what she looked like on her profile; it's something entirely else to be dating a girl for years and not being able to love her anymore simply because she gained weight.
People gain weight for lots of reasons, including grief and eating disorders. Are men keeping any of these things in mind? Love means accepting all of someone. Is the inevitable pregnancy-related weight gain included in these responses? According to the CDC, women can gain up to 35 pounds during pregnancy.
70 percent of the women surveyed said they would like to have children someday. Do men just think after giving birth women just magically deflate to their pre-baby body, with abs? Their partners carried a human being for 9 months, their bodies aren't just going to bounce back.
"Our bodies aren't stagnant — they are constantly changing and changing beyond our control," says writer Lea Grover in a piece called 'Do You Owe It To Your Partner To Stay Fit?' She goes on to say, "When you commit to marrying somebody, you're not agreeing to marry them as they are at that moment; you're agreeing to be married to them no matter how they are: sick, healthy, old, infirm, and yes, fat."
Grover advises people who break up with their partners because of weight gain or people who attempt to cultivate an unattainable image because they feel pressured by a partner: "If you're so insecure in your relationship that you believe it depends on your appearance, take your [partner] and go to therapy instead of the gym."
Kait Smith is an editor, writer, and social media manager, who writes on love and relationships.