Fnord wrote:
I was raised similarly, but in a suburban / edge-of-town environment.
Those people I described seem to be everywhere - I have yet to meet a self-made woman who "married down" economically, or a self-made man who wasn't married to a "hot-looking" partner (or dating as many "hotties" as he could afford).
Disclaimer: I live in the Anaheim / Los Angeles area, where beauty and wealth seem to be more highly prized (socially) than intelligence.
I have met "power couples" which is what the article writer seems to be advocating and, like you say, the self-made woman is
not marrying down economically.
The Los Angeles area does have some well known examples of self-made women who married down economically but they are celebrities. There's Britney Spears who famously married
far below herself economically to Kevin Federline. That didn't work. There's also Demi Moore who married Ashton Kutcher. That didn't work out either but it lasted a lot longer than Britney's did, perhaps because the gap was smaller.
Among non-celebrities? I haven't seen it either. Just power couples.