I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash

I have come to a small revelation. And yet one so large that I couldn't possibly find a picture to summarize what I'm thinking. With a bit of help from Terry Pratchett - arguably one of the most insightful authors writing today - I have determined how and why fantastic girls always end up with jerks.

You know how you see a girl who's your standard fantasy shopping list of adjectives? Smart, funny, gorgeous, polite, classy, romantic and so forth? And then - when you meet her boyfriend, he turns out to be some knuckle-dragging half-ape, content to roll with the fact that he's dating one of the most well-rounded girls on the planet and take it for granted. And you sit there and wonder how and why. And why and how. But mostly - why? And how?

The standard answer is that some girls just like that. They - apparently - enjoy dating a jerk. This makes no sense to me. No one likes hanging out with people who make them feel like slime. Even people who are okay with being in a subservient role often only do so to reap praise from the person above them, whom they respect or look up to.

Ergo, there must be another reason. 'Nice guys' - or the type of guy that these fantastic girls arguably should be dating - tend to be just a little bit less forward, a little bit less cocksure, a little bit less 'male'. This means that they tend to assume such girls are 'too good' for them, or out of their league, or whatever else you want. Thus... they befriend said girls, perhaps, but never approach them romantically.

This girl - who is, by all rights, fantastic therefore is never shown romantic interest, because she's too intimidating. Since these girls also have some modesty, they never assume its because they're too 'perfect' - but instead assume there is some kind of flaw that they just can't see. Therefore, they lose a bit of self-confidence and are much more likely to try dating the first guy who actually asks them out - the cocksure, 'male' jerk. And since the wundergirl feels she has flaws, the jerk is able to exploit them to maintain the relationship.

Now... to see if this has any veracity or not.