What 'Strangers' by Belle Burden Says About Women and Money |
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Women are conditioned from childhood to prioritize caregiving and relationships over financial security.
Financial dependence can develop slowly when women step away from careers to focus on family responsibilities.
Emotional investment in the relationship discourages planning for the possibility that the marriage could end.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
If you are a woman and haven’t yet picked up a copy of Belle Burden’s bestselling memoir, “Strangers,” I suggest grabbing a copy. A personal recounting of Burden’s marriage and divorce from a high-powered attorney-turned-hedge-fund-executive, it reads like a flashing warning sign for women who are married, engaged, or contemplating marriage to consider what would happen to them if their spouse decided to leave.
As she was a product of generational wealth and opportunity, including university and law school at prestigious institutions, it is at first hard to understand how such an accomplished and privileged woman could compromise her financial footing so willingly. As a divorce attorney, I’m not surprised. Not only do I see it every day, but on the cusp of my own divorce, I was, in many ways, like her. After having relinquished my financial well-being to my husband for years, I found myself with not even enough money to buy myself a chai tea.
Like Burden, I should've known better. Yet I, too, chose to leave my financial fate in my then-spouse’s hands. The question is, why did I, and why do so many other women do the same? The culprits follow.
Conditioning to........