Here’s a recent ad from Match.com for a 37 year old woman in the Washington DC area:
“I’m a fun girl who looks young and acts young! I want to find someone to have fun with and he has to be cool! I know I’m supposed to say deep meaningful things but I think that people take life too seriously! I just want to have a good time and enjoy! I’m not into kids cuz I’m kinda still a big kid myself. I’m telling you now that I’m not into commitments but I like to have guys take care of me. I know I deserve to be spoiled cuz I’m worth it!”
Is is pathetic that a 37 year old woman is just a really shallow girl who sounds like a spoiled 14 year old? Perhaps, or perhaps not, depending on your point of view, but the reason we noticed this ad is really the last two lines – 37, and she still thinks she’s a Princess that needs to be taken care of. This woman, like so many other attractive women of her age, has never been married, and there’s a reason for that. There is a phrase for men who never grow up – the Peter Pan complex, but what can we call the growing horde of women who are still waiting to find the man that will put a tiara upon their head, and take care of them for the rest of their lives?
These modern day Princesses just don’t get it; perhaps they were spoiled by daddy (and still are). As attractive young women, they became used to men lavishing attention on them, but they just don’t understand that the Princess of 21 is supposed to evolve into a more mature and sophisticated woman, and being a Princess – being taken care of and “spoiled” by men - is just not going to fly. So they remain single, wondering why Prince Charming has not arrived in his Mercedes convertible to sweep them away. Eventually, they become aged and wizened Princesses, pouring out their empty lives to the only one who will listen, mainly paid service providers like hairdressers and manicurists.
How can men recognize the Princess complex? Here are some tips:
I’m not sure exactly why you would put up with a Princess – there are a lot of pretty women out there, and the Princesses of the world are really far more trouble than they’re worth. And if you’re going to go to that amount of trouble, why not focus on the younger Princesses – women in early to mid-twenties? As they age, Princesses don’t get any easier, just older and more demanding.