Burying the “Gold Digger” Stereotype: Why All Women Should Marry Rich

The term “Gold Digger” originated in the United States around 100 years ago. Since then, it has evolved into a pervasive and negative female stereotype. 

According to WebMD, “the stereotypical gold digger relationship is of a younger woman who goes after an older, richer man.” The gold digger is selfish, materialistic, and vain. She seduces men for money, which she uses for her own gain. But is this anything more than a myth?

Research shows that women who earn more money than their husbands are more likely to experience domestic violence. Marrying a man who outearns them lowers a woman’s risk of both emotional and physical abuse. It also reduces any future children’s risk of abuse. 

This article will explore the fallacies of the gold digger stereotype. Keep reading to learn about the history of this stereotype, how it affects modern life, and the science-backed reasons why all women should marry rich. 

What Is a Gold Digger?

In 1919, Avery Hopwood released the play “Gold-Diggers.” This play follows the story of “one of a band of pretty little salamanders known to Broadway as ‘gold-diggers’, because they ‘dig’ for the gold of their gentlemen friends and spend it being good to their mothers and their pet dogs.” 

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the term “gold digger” became increasingly popular. This may have reflected changing attitudes around marriage during the early 20th century. 

Historically, the idea that a woman should marry a man with more money than her was pretty much a given. Since women were largely prohibited from earning their own money, marrying a wealthier man was kind of the whole idea.

The rise of flappers in the 1920s and 1930s ushered in a new era of women’s autonomy and self-expression. And during World War II, women took over jobs traditionally performed by men. 

With each decade, American women gained more economic power. By the mid-1970s, they were even allowed to have credit cards. But as women gained more access to money, the gold digger stereotype only became stronger. 

According to Sharon Thompson, this stereotype is “most consistently employed in the context of financial provision on divorce.” In other words, accusing women of gold digging is an effective way to get them to sign a prenup. 

The cultural myth of the female gold digger developed as a response to women’s increasing economic power. Women accused of gold digging may feel that they need to sign prenups or make other concessions to prove they are getting married for the “right” reasons. 

This effectively limits a woman’s economic power after divorce and reinforces gender-based financial inequality. 

The gold digger myth also overshadows the reality that women who make more money than their husbands are more likely to experience domestic violence. Marrying men who outearn them actually reduces women’s risk of abuse. Let’s explore this in more detail now. 

The Gender Pay Gap and Domestic Violence Risk

Recent studies have shown that women who earn more money than their male partners are at a higher risk of domestic violence. For example, one study found that Swedish women who outearn their husbands have a higher risk of being hospitalized for domestic violence. 

According to this study, “one standard deviation increase in potential relative earnings increases the risk of a hospital visit for assault-related injuries by 16.6%.” 

In another study, researchers found that Australian women outearning male partners were 33% more likely to experience physical abuse. These women were also 20% more likely to face emotional abuse. 

In 2023, women in the United States earned 75 cents to the dollar of what men earned. The wage gap between men and women increased from 2022 to 2023. This is the first time that the wage gap has increased since 2003. 

On average, American men now make $14,170 more than women each year. 

Intimate Partner Violence and Homicide in the United States

In the United States, over half of all female homicide victims are killed by a male intimate partner. Of murder-suicide victims, 96% are female. 

Women in the United States are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries. Between 2014 and 2020, the number of women killed with a gun by an intimate partner increased by nearly 60%. 

Recent studies show that this number only continues to rise.  

Over at least the past 20 years, the United States has had some of the highest rates of female homicide among high-income countries. 

According to recent data, 92% of gun-related female homicides in high-income countries occur in the United States. Each month, 76 women are shot to death by an intimate partner in this country.

For almost two decades, the leading cause of death among pregnant women in America has been homicide. About 55% of these homicides are committed using a firearm. 

Women who are (or have recently been) pregnant have about double the risk of homicide in the United States. 

In one recent study, researchers noted that this risk is even higher for women who have limited access to abortion. They found that states with restricted abortion access had 75% more cases of peripartum homicide.

Digging for Gold? Try Basic Human Rights.

Avery Hopwood could not have known that his 1919 play “Gold-Diggers” would herald the birth of a female stereotype used to shame women into staying silent about their financial degradation. 

Nor is it likely that Hopwood would have approved, given the fact that he was homosexual. And busy at work on plays like “Naughty Cinderella,” “The Demi-Virgin,” and “Why Men Leave.” 

The idea of the gold digger came about at a time when women were experiencing unprecedented economic opportunity in the United States. The gold digger is lazy, entitled, selfish, spoiled, and untrustworthy. 

According to decades of legal research, men use the gold digger stereotype to limit women’s financial independence. Accusing a woman of being a “gold digger” is simply another means of shaming women into submission. 

In reality, women who make more money than their husbands are more likely to experience domestic violence. In the United States, more women are shot dead by intimate partners than in any other country. And the rates of intimate partner violence and femicide are only increasing. 

The leading cause of death among pregnant women in America is homicide. In most cases, the perpetrator is a male intimate partner. 

Women who earn less money than their husbands have a lower risk of experiencing domestic violence. This means that they also have a lower risk of being murdered during pregnancy. 

For American women, choosing the wrong husband could be a death sentence – not only for her, but also for her children. It makes perfect sense for women to mitigate this risk by making decisions that align with the most up-to-date scientific data. 

Marrying a man who earns more money is not a matter of gold digging; it’s a matter of survival. Women have the right to protect themselves, and mothers have the right to protect their children.