Is Monogamy Realistic?

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Are two people actually meant to sleep with one another - and no one else - for their entire lives? That was the leading question on the "Today Show" this morning. Apparently when Courtney Cox and David Arquette's 11 year marriage crumbles, Today Show correspondents run scrambling for the nearest existential question to validate the wave of pro-polygamist reality shows flooding cable television. 

As "Today" explained it, marriage was first created as a business arrangement to  signify the ownership of women as property and legitimize paternity for family lines. But as Maury Povich has proven time and time again, a marriage certificate no longer guarantees a husband's role as baby daddy. 

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I heard a new stat today that 1/3 marriages end in divorce or separation within the first ten years. I can only assume that number then goes up although I don't have any studies to back me up. 

Arquette told Howard Stern this morning that he and his wife hadn't had sex in over four months, which contributed to their current separation. As the ladies of "The View" said today, once the sex goes (if you're into that sort of thing) you should start worrying.

Fueling the separation fire this week is Christina Aguilera and her producer-husband Jordan Bratman. They just announced their split as well prompting another round of chatter about whether or not relationships can really last.

Are we hard wired as a society to attach to someone for a certain period of time, but not stay with them for the long haul? If my track record is any indication, the answer is a definite yes. But that doesn't mean that I'm discounting a life long commitment altogether.

Then again, I don't have the pressure of paparazzi examining my ring finger when I leave the house every morning or Photoshopping pictures of me with my main squeeze to "prove" that we're on the outs. Business relationship or not, many marriages do stand the test of time but those simply aren't the ones we hear about.

Do you know what Annette Benning and Warren Beatty have been up to lately? No, because they are happily married ergo boring to the In Touches and Us Weeklies of the world. Did you see Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell out at dinner last night? No, because the paparazzi were too busy stalking Courtney Cox on the set of Cougar Town. 

I bet she regrets the day she agreed to do a show with that title.

Maybe I just want to see a return of "Friends" but I think this trial separation for Cox and Arquette could be a great thing. Think about it - Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox are besties. Now they are both in their 40s, single, and ready to run LA like it's their own personal playground. If I were them, I would start with the Las Vegas boys of Thunder Down Under and work my way west. I mean, why not?

Ladies - I suggest we all dig up our Britney Spears-inspired school girl uniforms (you know you have them) and hit the college campus scene in a big way. 

Us cougars have to stick together!