Breakups Are Tougher On Men

Although I always take generalizing by gender (or race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.) with a grain of salt, YourTango has an interesting article on 3 Sad Reasons Men Stay In Bad Relationships WAY Longer Than Women. To her credit the author does provide some good supporting references.

...because science shows that breakups are actually much tougher on men, it’s the Y-chromosomes that seem to be more likely to stay in a relationship long past its expiration 

In fact, the NCHS shows a staggering 80% of US divorces are initiated by women.

On average, and I emphasis on average, men invest more emotional and financial resources into a relationship/marriage and women get more out of it should it end. The wedding ring is a proxy for the relationship. Men typically buy it and ask the woman to marry him. Women keep it once they divorce. We will not have true gender equality until men and women, again on average, invest equally into the relationship/marriage as well as equally take out of it should it end. Once that happens, the gender discrepancy on who files for divorce will disappear.